Looking Forward, Thinking Back

The year is speeding to a close, as Nye and I prepare to wing to New York.  I'm not sure that we're really ready, but we are extremely excited.  Nye has been bouncing off the walls in anticipation for a week.  I've been doing my best to cover all possible bases.  Present shopping, house keeping, end of year deadlines at work.


Season - Solstice    The seasonal transition here in San Jose is fun and not at all  like back east.  The Fall days with their "ocean" mornings of gray, until precisely 10 am, are gone now.  Most of the trees that will loose their leaves dropped them sometime between the 1st and the 15th of December.  (I love seeing the small mountains of leaves awaiting pick up by our local composting crew.)  While there are still flowers on my tomatoes I think they're probably done producing.  No doubt while we're gone there will be some killing frosts.  Hopefully the garlic and snow peas will survive. I'm not really much of a gardener but I do love that I have all these lovely things that I can eat in the yard.  Days can be up to 60 degrees but nights do get chilly in the low 40's.  After the New Year if the weather stays cold overnight we'll see the tops of the mountains dusted with snow and frost in the yard.  I wish it would rain, though since my lovely natives really need the soaking.  I probably jinxed it by putting in the drip irrigation system! The big change to the landscape is that transformation from golden brown to lush green in the chaparrals.  I love driving toward the range to our east at this time of year.  The color and shapes always remind me of the a pride of sleeping lions  

Chapters   So as the we unfold the seasons, a new year, and all the new chapters yet to be written, I'm thrilled to announce that I have a new chapter of my own.  Just recently I had my first chapter published in a book.  I co-authored it with my colleague Lisa Ellsworth.  It is published in Museums at Play: Games, Interaction, and Learning and our chapter is called Leveraging Play, Unlocking Imaginations.  Writing it was quite the challenge but well worth the effort.  I'm hoping to get to work on a second chapter after the new year.  A friend/colleague has requested a piece about institutional collaboration and I'm eager to do some reflecting upon the past few years of work. 


Words    I've been collecting words and phrases that I enjoy for quite some time.  (Every once and while I'll come across a little collection from my past hoardings.)  There were two words that I came across recently that I really enjoyed - haimish and gaman.  They come from very different origins but both seem to be inspiring to me.  Haimish is a yiddish word that suggests, domesticity and unpretentious conviviality.  To my mind it is at the very heart of the best social gatherings.  It makes me think of a warmth of family and friends; and the sharing that comes with being in both a peaceful and engaged state.  Gaman (我慢) is a Japanese term of which means "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity". The term is generally translated as "perseverance" or "patience." I don't want to trivialize this word but it strikes me that it expresses a beautiful way of being.  The small slights, petty struggles, and annoyances of everyday living fade before it's perspective.


Holiday Wishes    Soon we'll be enjoying time and stories with friends back east.  (I'm hoping for a warm fireplace and the kicked back comfort that can only be found in front of one.) From our small family I'd like to extend the very warmest wishes for the holiday season.  

We wish for everyone, peace & good health!

With love, Sara, Nye and Archil   

[aka SNAP Press]