Ames high reunion

Emily's best friend Brenna stopped by around 6 pm yesterday evening, and the three of us drove to the Healy's house on the NW side of town for a open-house get together. I saw Matt H for the first time in probably 5 years. We ran together at Macalester. He's in medical school at the University of Minnesota, living in Minneapolis and doing rotations at a hospital in Hastings, MN. Seems to be doing great.

Matt's brother Luke H and his wife Brenna have a beautiful, 8-month baby girl named Katie Rose, who looks a lot like Luke. She is a real bundle of energy! I was holding her on my lap, with her legs straddling my knee, and she was constantly kicking her legs, bouncing and laughing hysterically. She was holding a refridgerator magnet in her pudgy little hands, deliberately placing it in one hand, then the other, and then instinctively shoving it into her mouth and chomping down, with slobber soon covering both her hands and the magnet. I stood her up on the floor, holding her gently around the upper torso and supporting her under her arms with my forearms. She was shifting her weight from side to side, bouncing vigorously on one leg and then the other, laughing, almost screaming with delight, and still holding her magnet. My hands were wrapped clear around her body, and I could feel her little heart beating forcefully in her chest cavity. Absolutely incredible. I can't wait to be a dad!

Emily, Brenna, and I left around 9:30 pm. Brenna talked about her experience voting for Obama at the Iowa caucuses on the way home. I'd never appreciated what a complicated process it was! Form groups of support for individual candidates, eliminate candidates that aren't viable, shift allegiances, with some candidates reaching viability in later rounds, and repeat, until all the remaining candidates are viable and nobody wants to switch their vote. Send candidates to county, and then to the state convention, where the process repeats. I still don't really understand it, but it sounds fun!

Iowa time

Dad dropped Emily and me off at the Enterprise car-rental place just off of Hwy 5 in Eden Prairie yesterday morning. Dodge Caliber, baby. It was a relatively easy drive down to Ames. There was a light drizzle most of the way, and only a quarter mile or so of visibility, but it was relatively warm, with temperatures in the mid-high 30s, and no ice. We saw about a half-dozen cars in the ditch, however, including a rolled pickup truck, which looked like they'd been there overnight, and many cases of tire tracks disappearing into the snow, but no car. I was surprised to see a new set of guard cables running along the median side of southbound I-35 much of the way down to Ames. Periodic tears and holes in the cables, maybe one every couple miles, testified to scores of accidents along this single stretch of highway. Unbelievable.

We arrived at Barb's place a little after noon, and Barb, Neil, Andy, Emily and I got down to opening presents. We had a quick lunch, and Emily went for a run, while the rest of us watched TV, took naps, read books, and worked on crossword puzzles. Neil and Barb prepared a splendid meal of Christmas ham, broccoli, potatos, sweet potatos, salad, and croissants.

Today was another lazy day. Emily and Barb took Willy to the vet, while Andy and I watched some TV and poked around on the internet. Andy and I dropped Emily and Barb off at the mall to do some shopping, while Andy and I headed over to Jax sporting goods, which has a great selection of camping and other outdoor equipment. We picked up Barb and Emily at the mall then headed home and watched Survivorman most of the afternoon. Made me want to do some winter camping this winter before classes start.

Merry Christmas!

It was a quiet, relaxing Christmas Day with the family. I woke up fairly early and played some cribbage with Dad while enjoying a chai tea. Dad won. We, that is Mom, Dad, Emily Lucille, Gretchen, Emily Jean, and I, were all up by 9 am or so to start opening presents. We all put a fair amount of thought into our gifts, so we were all quite pleased with ourselves.

Mom made a great breakfast, with French toast, sausages, and fruit. After breakfasat, Emily Jean and I went for a walk around "the loop." It was a sunny, no-too-cold day with temperatures in the low-mid 20s. Quite a bit warmer than yesterday.

Around noontime, I helped Dad pull snow off the roof of the garage and then clear it off the driveway, with Dad using the shovel and me running the snowblower. I carried that unmistakable odor of oil-mixed-with-gasoline exhaust with me for most of the afternoon.

Just after sunset, Dad, Gretchen, and I went for a ski down the bike trail. I was on Grandpa Arne's old skis, which Dad and I had prepared for winter camping in March, but which we didn't end up using. Gretchen was on Mom's wooden skis, while Dad was on his own pair. We skied east to Minnetonka Blvd, then Dad turned back. Gretchen and I kept on and turned back at the Cottagewood hockey rink. It was one of the first times Gretchen had ever skied, and she did quite well. She had a mild case of the typical beginner's shuffle, but I think she was having trouble getting good kick.

Mom made a superb dinner, with fresh, homemade bread, smoked turkey, a beef and split-pea soup, and fresh salad. Incredibly good. We all picked Dad's brain for details about the family tree. He knew quite a lot, but pulled an "You'll have to ask Grandpa Arne" on multiple occasions. After dinner, I loaded the dishwasher and then took a shower, while Gretchen and Emily Jean retired to the basement to do some geneaology research on the computer.

Family time!

Every year I look forward to Christmas Eve at Aunt Martha and Uncle Renner's place. Christmas wouldn't be "Christmas" for me without it, and I can't remember a year when I didn't go. The traditions have evolved slightly over time (it's been a couple years, for instance, since Martha taped our names and chores to the glass door facing the main entryway), but some things never change. Martha always cooks a fabulous meal, and most of the Anderson clan is usually there. The menu varies somewhat from year to year, but we always have Rumagrout, a Norwegian dessert consisting of white rice drenched in a thick sauce of butter and heavy cream and sprinkled with sugger and cinnamon.

The food is wonderful, but my favorite thing about Christmas Eve is seeing all my family in one place. This year's attendees were patriarchs Arne and Rusk and their progeny, including: Renner and Martha Mitchell and their children Abigail and her boyfriend Scott, Mary, and Stuart; Jeffrey and Martha Odland and their daughter Jane (eldest daughter Ellen and her husband Carlin in CA); Kimball and Margaret and their children Soren (that's me!) and his wife Emily Jean Duffelmeyer, Emily Lucille, and Gretchen; Lucinda and Roy McBride and their daughter Lacinea; Susanna and Doug Erickson and Susanna's daughter Maley (son Sedge in OR); Whitney and Susan and their daughter Julia and her husband Luis and daughter Giovanna Bella (eldest daughter Laura working); Colin and Kitty and their daughters Katie and Amy; Amy and her friend Garrett and Amy's children Travis and Olivia; Martha Oneida and her boyfriend Dave Anderson. David Anderson, son of Arne's brother Pat, was also present. Is that it?

We had arrived a little late, as we had hung out at the airport until about 5:30 waiting for Gretchen's flight to arrive from Portland. Emily Jean and I had arrived from Detroit around 3:30, and Emily Lucille had arrived some time before that. We didn't make it to Renner and Martha's until a little after 6 pm. But I still got to see everybody.

My little, year-and-a-half old cousin (or rather, second cousin) Giovanna Bella is an absolute doll! She was toddling around all evening, her hair tied up vertically in two, sprouting pigtails, saying "Mama? Mama? Papa papa?" She wanted to know where her parents were, but wasn't particularly concerned at their absence, and seemed happy enough picking crackers out of the basket on the coffee table, taking a drooling little nibble, and then putting the cracker back. Just as I predicted, I was her favorite cousin! I'd sweep her up in my arms and whisper in her ear, "Dáme un beso," and then she'd lean in toward my face and give the sweetest little kiss on the cheek. Made my heart melt.

An enlightening taxi ride

The taxi arrived at 11 am yesterday to take Emily and me to the airport. We were lucky to have a great driver, Ahmad, who shares the taxi with his brother Amir. We'd gotten a ride home from Amir earlier this year, and he left us his card. We tried calling Amir first, as he was so great the first time, but he wasn't home, and so his wife told us to call Ahmad instead. The brothers are from Iraq, live in Dearborn, and are married to two sisters. They left Iraq during the first Gulf War, and they've been living in the United States since 1996. Ahmad works with an Arabic-speaking community theater group in Dearborn, and he's apparently in Kuwait right now looking for work as an actor.

Both Amir and Ahmad are generally very supportive of the U.S. intervention in Iraq. They hated Saddam and were glad to see him go. Amir attributed the surge in violence following the invasion to foreign terrorist fighters entering Iraq from Syria, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere. He emphasized, however, that the coalition authority had made some major mistakes early on, most notably dissolving the Iraqi army. Without the army, border control was nearly impossible, which made it easy for terrorists to enter Iraq. Once inside, there was no Iraqi army to stop them. And many disgruntled former soldiers and/or their weapons ended up supporting the insurrection. Besides this major mistake, Amir said that the Paul Bremer and the coalition authority really didn't understand Iraqi culture or history, which led to other blunders and bred distrust among the people.

Amir said that things have improved considerably since the low point in 2006. Violence is down, the economy is improving, people are learning how to make democracy work to improve the country, and the U.S. military is earning the respect of the people, partly due to the training they've received in Iraqi culture. Perhaps Iraq really will become a beacon of civil society and democracy in the Middle East. But could the disastrous events of 2003-2006 been avoided with better planning and advanced training?

Wintry mix

Yesterday evening I strapped on my classic skis and headed across the street to Allmendinger Park. I spent an hour or so trudging around the perimeter of the 8-acre park, laying down a nice track. There was a thin layer of fresh snow atop about 10 inches that had fallen over the weekend, so it took multiple laps for the track to firm up. Except for the SE corner of the park, where people like to let their dogs play, my fresh ski tracks, snaking around through the oaks, around the baseball diamond, and through the park's big open area, were all that had spoiled the freshly fallen blanken of snow.

Whereas yesterday's weather was ideal for skiing, with temperatures in the low-mid 20s and a lightly falling snow, this morning was cursed by temperatures in the low-mid 30s and what the meterologists have taken to calling a "wintry mix." This is simply a catch-all for slushy snow, freezing rain, and so forth. I tried skiing again this morning anyway, but it was hopeless. Besides having absolutely zero kick, on account of a misting drizzle soaking an already wet track, some joker and her dog had trampled all over my ski trail, literally walking foot-in-track for about 25% of my loop! Ah, well.

It was nice to get some more skiing in this week, after spending all day Tuesday running errands and getting ready for our Christmas trip to Minnesota and Iowa. I deposited a reimbursement check from UC Berkeley, mailed a package to Mimi in Empire, MI for Emily, and then attempted some last-minute Christmas shopping. Target was an absolute mad-house, but I managed to pick up some hooded sweatshirts that I'll convert to Zingerman's uniforms for Emily's birthday. I spent far too much time wandering around REI, browsing literally every inch of the store, before finally settled on a pair of ExOfficio underwear and a set of camp silverware for my dad. I'd hardly eaten anything all day, so I walked next door to Whole Foods and got myself a late buffet lunch, then bought taco supplies for dinner.

I picked Emily up at Zingerman's around 8:30 pm then started in on dinner. We didn't start eating until 10 pm, but the tacos and Mexican rice were excellent. We worked a little on packing before heading to bed.

Last day at MSU for awhile

Yesterday, Gary S and I carpooled up to Michigan State. The state highway authority reported that the freeways were icy and blown-over with snow, and Traffic.com reported several accidents in the area, so we ended up leaving Ann Arbor at 9:50 am, about two hours later than usual.

Once on Hwy 23 headed north, things were a little dicier than we had anticipated. It was snowing quite heavily. A strong wind was blowing snow across the highway like a low-lying fog, and the accumulating snow was starting to creep onto the roadway from the shoulders. Conditions improved after we merged onto I-96, which was much clearer, but as soon as we hit 55 mph Gary's car started to wobble like mine had on Sunday! So we took it slow, and pulled into Gary's parking spot behind Marshall-Adams Hall around 11:20.

I worked on preparing my Econ 420 course (intro to econometrics) most of the afternoon. I got really hungry at 1 pm, so I walked over to Grand River Avenue to get some food. Steve and Berry's was having a huge going-out-of-business sale, so I stopped in and bought $100 worth of Michigan State paraphernalia for $35, supplementing my family gift-giving. I also stopped in at Moosejaw, but I didn't find anything I wanted. Finally, starving, I ordered a bacon cheeseburger and fries at Flats, and worked on my course while eating, before heading back to the office to work some more.

Conditions were much improved on the way home, and the wobble in Gary's car was gone. Must have been the small amount of ice built up around the inside of his rims, which we had dislodged upon arriving that morning.

Gary dropped me off at home, and I took the car to drop off some movie rentals and buy a couple small, auxiliary fog lights at the auto store. I'm planning on using them to build a homemade bike light, and they're absolutely perfect. They are very professionally built, with metal housings and sturdy mounting brackets, and they use HID MR-16 lamps. They come with 35W bulbs, which are too powerful, but I'll replace them with 10W or 20W bulbs when I get around to building the bike light.

Emily got home around 8 pm and starting making a tasty risotto with chicken, peas, and bacon for dinner, while I worked to straighten up the house. We ate, then watched TV and poked around on our computers before heading to bed.

A strange day

Ryan K and I had made plans to go skiing at Huron Meadows near Brighton today. The wind had been gusting at 30 mph all morning, and the temperature was a cold 10 degrees, but we decided to go for it.

I picked Ryan up at 1 pm, and we headed up Main Street and out of the city. We'd barely merged onto M14, however, when the steering wheel started wobbling and the skis and poles started rattling around like crazy. Had the car's tires turned into ellipsis? We stopped in at a gas station, and I kicked huge chunks of snow and slush out of the wheel wells, thinking the icy buildup was perhaps interfering with the tires. But back on the freeway the wobble returned. So we turned around and swapped my car for Ryan's.

We stopped in at Independence Lake county park on the way up, as I'd read that they groom for skate skiing, but the place was deserted, and we didn't see any evidence of skate grooming. So we kept on to Huron Meadows. It was brutally cold and windy, and snow drifts had covered much of the trail. We skied back and forth on a wooded section of trail several times, soon realizing that we'd picked the worst possible day to go skiing. Ryan's fingers were starting to freeze, so he headed inside to warm up, while I skied for another 20 minutes or so.

When I got back to the chalet (i.e., the golf course clubhouse) Ryan bought me a hot cocoa and then proceeded to tell me, nonchalantly, that he'd fainted and fallen while I was gone! He'd been warming himself by the fire, then started toward a table, and the next thing he knows he's hitting the floor. Must have been a bad head rush, brought on by the strenuous exercise and/or temperature changes, because he was perfectly fine by the time I got back.

We drove back to Ann Arbor, with me at the wheel just in case, and parted ways. I took my car to the carwash peaked underneath. Sure enough, there was quite a bit of ice and slush packed into the backsides of all four rims, probably from plowing through snow all weekend. So I blasted the rims from underneath with the high-pressure water gun. Back on the freeway, the wobble was still there, so I returned to the carwash, and blasted the rims some more. This time it worked. The wobble was gone! Amazing that just 1-2 cubic feet of snow could throw the wheel balance of so much.

Birthday boy

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a good day. We got nearly a foot of snow the day before, so I spent the morning waxing my skis, prepping them for the season after letting them go for a couple years. I got "happy birthday" calls from my Mom and Dad, sisters, mother in law Barb, and Jouhara, Emily's study-abroad host sister from Morocco, who really likes practicing her English. Emily and I walked to Jefferson Market and Cakery for a birthday dessert. I had a slice of peppermint-chocolate cake. The frosting was too rich for my taste, as usual, but the cake itself was moist and delicious, and I washed it down with a cold glass of milk. Emily prepared a delicious Italian meatball and kale soup for dinner, and we fortunately happened to have a loaf of Zingerman's tasty "brewhouse" bread in the freezer. There's nothing better than dipping a heavily buttered slice of warm, rustic bread in a steaming-hot bowl of homemade soup. After dinner we walked downtown, meeting friends Ben K and Meghan M for coffee at Starbucks and a film at the Michigan Theater on State Street. We saw "Slumdog Millionaire," a splendid Indian film about an orphaned boy from the slums of Mumbai overcoming his brutal childhood. Overall a really nice birthday.

To remember facts as they were ...

Several months back my grandpa Arne urged me to start a small, personal journal to record my thoughts and the events of my life, to, in his words, "remember facts as they were." As a gift to my future, elder self, today, having just turned 30, I have decided to take my grandpa's advice.