It came a flowret bright
Amid the cold of winter
When half spent was the night.
Portland, Oregon
6 December 1990 -- St. Nicholas Day
From the card, you can guess that I am still in the Rose City after one year. I feel firmly planted in Portland in spite of some rather grim news: Tektronix Graphics Workstations closed down on October 11, leaving 175 jobless. Luckily there is a plant closure law in Oregon, so that I got sixty days of full pay whilst I look for other work. It now seems clear that I'll be able to keep the house and live in the Northwest, a prime objective in moving up here. I may go to "mine gold" in California for a short term as a consultant, but I plan to return soon to Portland and home.
This also means that a lot of the work I did went into a product that may not see the light of day. Still, the medieval practice of burning one's first design may make sense: the second design usually has fewer faults! I still publish the results, and they may show up somewhere else in the future.
On other fronts, the move has been overwhelmingly positive. I have never felt so good about a place where I lived. It has been a lot of fun having my own house to spiff up, and plant a garden (and the first of many roses). And two reliable and pleasant housemates, and a highly unusual one-eyed cat with strong bonding patterns. (Now if my fairy Godmother would transform him into a lover and get rid of his fleas... Love please note: I have time for you now while I'm not putting in time at the office! Satisfaction with place begets satisfaction in other areas. Although True Love has yet to make an appearance, I have come closer than ever to realizing the committed relationship which has ever been my strongest inmost desire.
Health holds up, though I was derailed from learning cross-country skiing by a misstep on a staircase which still has me limping slightly. Other than that, and the perennial desire to trim down to fighting weight, things are just fine.
[Travel] Fixing up the house has kept me pretty close to home this year, with only a couple of trips back to California for meetings. However, next year there is a total eclipse in Mexico and two best old friends now in Japan who beckon for a visit. Next year.
At this years end, the Magic Answering 8-ball seems to say "Situation unclear. Ask again later." In spite of the uncertainty, I feel like I'm flourishing here, and that is as much as one could ask for.
Come and visit! There's plenty of space. Call first, though, to see that I'm here! Adding warm personal regards of my own to the festivity of the season, I reaffirm that you are all my friends, and I am
Yours,
[GDK]
And you think that love is only * For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter * Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun's love * In the spring becomes the rose.