Life

Among other things Steve said at his retirement celebration, today, was this. “I hope I have as much fun in retirement as I’ve had working at UVM.”

My tears didn’t come until I left the party.

Friend to me and many, many souls here at UVM; visionary, curmudgeon, provocateur, playful adopter and vocal advocate of disruptive innovations. I will miss your voice, calling to us from a divergent path, pointing toward a new, interesting destination.

Now that you’ve migrated much of your virtual essence into the cloud, I expect frequent pings (tweets, facebook updates, Asian video chats…) telling me what you really think. And keep the cool music and design posts flowing.

Let’s go out to lunch before summer is over. I’ll buy you a martini.

Wow. I took a two-week vacation over the holidays, and it was delicious. We’re all a little sad that it has come to an end, but it will be good to get back to our respective vocations.

I think we had a pretty successful 2008, and I’m looking forward to what 2009 has in store. There are a few things I’m planning on working toward, this year.

One lesson that this vacation has taught me, though, is that I need to make space to be with my spouse and son. With our busy schedules, this will take some conscious effort.

Beloved Wife starts her field work, today. I know she’ll do well. NatureBoy goes back to school; he’s thrilled. (Did I mention that he got straight As on his most recent progress report?)

I’m looking forward to going back to work, too. Well, I better tackle the remaining morning tasks.

Happy New Year!

I’m purging the email that accumulated while I was out for a few days, and I noted the text below in someone’s signature.

Simple guidelines to happiness:
Work like you don’t need the money,
Love like your heart has never been broken and
Dance like no one can see you.

Maybe it’s trite and lacking in depth, but it caught my attention. And the theme I see in all three lines is to let go of fear. That’s a message that I need to absorb.