Merry Christmas!
Below in white text is the Christmas letter that was mailed. Below each paragraph is a red "translation" text. I do try to give more info than is in the letter, but I usually fail. Sorry.
Once more time, as they say. You know when I was last in Tokyo? Never. And Osaka? Even before that. Mount Fuji? I sense a theme here. What could it be? The woman sitting next to me (and Rochelle) couldn’t figure it out either, and didn’t ask me any more questions after that. But that was several years ago, so maybe she would understand if it were to happen again, but it was on an airplane, so maybe not. At any rate, it’s almost the end of 2025, so let’s get to it.
Well, it is almost 2026, and I’ve never been to Japan. Isn’t
that interesting. But Arrin, Jonah, and Marcus have, though not together. A few
years ago when Rochelle and I were traveling somewhere I no longer recall, a
woman we didn’t know boarded the plane after us and sat in the seat next to me.
As she got settled, I turned to her and asked, “Are you from Tokyo by chance?” Somewhat
startled (she had no appearance of being Asian), she looked at me and said,
“No. Why would you ask that?” I said, “Well, there are a lot of people from
Tokyo and I thought you might be one of them.” I, of course thought it was at
least a bit funny. She just turned and minded her own business from that point
forward, as did I. I still think that’s a little bit funny and quite a memory
for starting out the year’s review. An acquaintance of mine from Utah or
California, who had been an LDS missionary in Japan, used to say, “once more
time.” And I remembered that as I sat to write, and that triggered the memory
of the woman on the plane. I don’t know how my mind works. But I think it works
just fine. You may disagree. I know some folks do. But again, it’s almost 2026.
It
occurred to me, one day this year, that this Christmas missive is somewhat
similar to Don McLean’s American Pie. If you are just cold, but not frozen, you
might not understand, but then, if you are both cold and frozen,
you might, perhaps, appreciate brilliance where it is found. At least, so they
say, that’s the analogy. So, maybe just take the last train to the coast. And
count the commas, and the other punctuation.
One day this past summer I was driving somewhere and Don
McLean’s American Pie came on the radio. It is a really great song, you know,
so if you are too young or old to know/remember it, Google it and give it a
listen. I did while I started writing the letter today and it reminded me what
a great song it is. But I digress. Back in the summer, as I listened to the
song, I thought, “you know, this song is a lot like your Christmas letter. People
that don’t know what goes on in your life have no idea what you are writing
about. So I made a mental note to write about that moment in this year’s
letter. So I did. Aren’t you glad? It also caused me to reflect on how much the
younger folks that are alive today do not know about things that have shaped my
world view. Few were alive to see the Apollo 11 moon landing. Few recall/know
much about the Cold War. Few have seen Dr. Zhivago, which I love, or know of Mr. Spock,
whom I admired. Most weren’t even alive to see 9/11. So why not elect a new
Mayor with ideas that have been tried before? References to punctuation are unrelated to anything. But it fills space and
time; maybe even the space-time continuum. Maybe you can create a time/space
warp by using quantum entanglements and see the brilliance. When I was a
teenager at a meeting of LDS young men, some young men were giving a brief
report on a winter campout they had gone on. It was snowing, one said, and
things were slippery and cold. As they tried to cross a creek on a log that had
fallen into it, this young man fell into the water. He stood up and said,
“many are cold, but few are frozen.” (See Matthew 22:14; Doctrine and Covenants 121:34)
You know, if I wrote all this in the actual letter, it wouldn’t fit on one
readable page. Isn’t space-time marvelous?
A
handful of days, it seemed to me that it would be delightful to have someone
perform an interpretive dance based on Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle. What,
don’t you believe in Lev-itation? Well, I wear Levi’s. Doesn’t everyone? Or at
least a lot of people? Shouldn’t the Maximum Principle be an enjoyable pursuit?
I can’t understand why not, especially if you have paid for all the days and
they offer you the special chance to leave early. Some folks like kumquats.
Another concept that occupied my consciousness this year (and
isn’t that what it really is all about? – the space-time continuum, and Q that
is) is the idiosyncratic nature of individual preference, but the evident
commonality of individual difficulty in recognizing the particularity of their
specific preferences. In other words, De gustibus non est disputandum. So
why wouldn’t I want to ride a bicycle in the rain on a mountain road with no
shoulder? Why wouldn’t I prefer a warm island with a nice beach and plenty of
sun? Or a watercraft that travels more than 8 miles per hour? Why wouldn’t you
want to see someone present the work of Pontryagin, a good old Soviet, and his
comrades? Could we do a dance to it? Maybe we could go study a painting in a
museum and then discern what mathematical concepts it gives rise to in our
conscious. Then we could make a meal that combines those elements and feed it
to our communal friends and associates. And the leftovers could be given to everyone
that didn’t come to the party. Or to the chickens and dogs. Why didn’t they
bring chicken? She is certain she ordered it.
Rochelle has very good friends and does lots of fun things. But was she miffed, vexed, riled, displeased, irked, or nettled, that she couldn’t wear flip flops at BYU? It isn’t your grandmother’s BYU creamery, and funerals are really long, so it is good we didn’t have to plan one, and good that Gus could paddle out to her, except that she made it so hard when she held on. And the quickest way to drive from SLC to Twin Falls, is through some town in Indiana. Believe it. Google doesn’t lie – it’s AI at its best. Did they sing that song in Wicked? I didn’t hear it. You’ll have to ask her for more.
Are you tired of reading this yet? Rochelle and I went various
places this year, but with one exception, we had been to all of them and have
done all of that before, so maybe we’re getting boring. One of those many
things was going to a football game at BYU. Rochelle observed that the nature
of dress and grooming standards has changed. Probably there’s good in that, but
then flip-flops were pretty dangerous back in the day. Just ask Don McLean;
many are cold... Rochelle and her closer friends did things and
went places too. I don’t know many of the details, but lots of ladies came to
the house one day, and none of them fell into the pool, but some flowers did. I
went into the office in DC. She also fell into the lake without a life jacket
and had a panic attack. Really. She was rescued by a grandson. It had vague
similarities to a swim she took in Hawaii many years ago, but closer to an
actual tragedy this time. Thanks to Gus, Lucas didn’t have to endure a long
meeting. Sorry, I guess there were two places we went to which we had never
before been. Somehow Google Maps tried to route us to Indiana on our drive from
SLC to Twin Falls. Despite having been close many times, we had never set foot
in the Twin place before. So Eli Manning and Payton are funny most times. What
song would you sing at your mother’s memorial? Ding dong. I did promise it
would make the letter this year at that other place we had never been before.
It was quite a laugh. Then there was that special video that a certain
celebrity sent Rochelle for her birthday. No one has ever seen anything like it
before. It was just amazing. The best ever. Just ask Bryan.
As for
the kiddos. You should mostly ask them, but Rachel’s fam is still farming, and
Shiloh is nearly bald by comparison, but now they have a legit farmer’s
daughter (16) with a Secret Sasquatch watch and a delightful persona in all
ways. Her Three Sons – didn’t you ever see that show? They’re great too (13)
(10) (9). Don’t stab grapes with a banana, just rescue Roch. Do run and jump
everywhere, be smart and good and kind, and make sure you sleep where George
Washington slept. All that is inevitable.
Rachel and fam are great, as usual, living in the 18th century most of the time. They built a solar powered warming oven and someone forgot to take the juvenile chickens out. Dinner! The horses eat carrots and apples, among other things. The family is learning to distinguish between fact and fertilizer. Shiloh transformed from Sampson as a surprise to most. He also got half of a new lower extremity joint. Maybe he’ll be able to jump higher and run faster. A young woman in the household acquired a driving permit and will soon be official. Who knows when, but she’s the epitome of elegance and charm. Just like mom. The next boy has grown amazingly in many ways. He’s quite a conversationalist, and will build a robot to help in the coming AI revolution. Will he go to the Academy? I already mentioned the third, who saved the day, and much more. He does like video stimulation, but who at that age doesn’t? Then there’s the baseball, soccer, basketball, football, ping-pong, and most other things player. He’s actually pretty good at such things. We’ll see how it comes out.
Arrin’s
fam has no more babies now that the vine is (1). The boys (11) and (7) are not
vines, but they do grow well and love a Shell and have their aptitudes. The
company went public, so do you see a pattern in all this? When you go to some
countries, you need an entry visa. Just ask Marcus, and the older boy. But
don’t ask the lady on the plane if you need one for Tokyo, or Osaka, or Mount
Fuji, or elsewhere in Japan.
Baby Ivy reached the advanced age of 1 recently, so a few half
steps and soon she’ll be dancing up a storm. Arrin’s employer went public,
which implied a lot of work for her through most of the year, and previous. It
sound like a fun run. Marcus still works in the same place, except that he
doesn’t get to work from home every day, as he did once or twice. The boys are
bright and have friends that Pop Richard likes to talk to. Some of them talk to
him, but most don’t. Maybe they take the hint from the boys. But everyone loves
Shell.
Ben of
course, is equally yoked and living the fully modern life in the garden with a
new Mayor elect. He and Chan conveniently made it easy to remember their
anniversary. There were two parties, May and August. Lots of fun, and lots of
Café Rio left over. Do you want us to ship some to you? Sorry. That’s it.
OK, it’s almost a wrap. A year or so ago, Ben and Chan asked us what we thought of May 2 as a wedding day. We love it, we said. That’s why we got married that day. So 45 years later, B&C joined R&R as celebrants of the day. R&R have never forgotten the day. They will not soon forget the 45th celebration either. The party was lots of fun and beautiful. So was the after party three months later. But now they’re done, living in Brooklyn; standing the opposite of the olden days in many ways. It’s quite a nice place actually. OK No mas!
We wish you the best for the holidays, and remember Holy Days is the origin of the term. Merry Christmas!
