Early December

General

The unusually warm December has made construction work and furniture making more enjoyable in one sense ( I'm not freezing in the barn), but harder to do because the temptation to go for long walks is nearly irresistible. I'm not sure why I wrote nearly, having taken long walks on 4 of the last 6 days, including two with my wife. Nearly everyone who drives past while we are walking waves and a few even stop to chat.

We visited Historic Deerfield, a town full of original colonial and federal era structures, furniture and other artifacts, and home of the Deerfield Academy. I was there to study some details of furniture construction as well as enjoy the beauty and history of the town. I highly recommend it as a place to visit.

Thanksgiving was a real pleasure. Daniel was in from Ft. Collins and then off to a meeting held by the DOE on ideas for a high intensity neutrino source. He managed to stay here for a few days in between visits to his friends in Boston. It was something of a sacrifice because our terrible internet service makes it hard for him to get his work done. We also had Chris and Tracy ( stepson and daughter in law for those of you new to my ramblings) and their three children, (Audrey 11, Walter, 9, Henry 6) friends of Daniel's and their two children, and my middles sister and her husband. This is the smallest Thanksgiving group my wife has cooked for in 30 years. Daniel couldn't take his usual mountain of leftovers home, no nieces or nephews were here and we still ran out of pumpkin pie and turkey in less than a week. Life is hard sometimes.

We spent several days in the past few weeks stopping in at local artists and artisans, spending money because they made pretty and sometimes objects and we felt their skills and efforts deserve some support. We kid ourselves into thinking we know someone who can use the items or that we need them in our house. Maybe we are not really kidding , my feelings on this vary with the time of day. Some of the stuff is we bought edible and I know I will use that!

Speaking of purchases, someone please tell Bardia I bought a new tweed jacket. Couldn't resist since it was made in USA of Scottish tweed.

My Physics

I am continuing to read up on linear algebra so I can be fluent when dealing with the matrices in general relativity. The jury is still out on the faster than c neutrinos. It could be error or some new physics, but I'd be surprised if special relativity is overthrown by these results.

Ridge Stuff

I hope the Physics Olympics team is doing well. I expect to see you folks early in January.

Recs

Two more recs to write and then a bunch of mailing to do for those who have not ended up going to one of their early schools. I have heard of one success and one dis appointment so far. Keep me posted. If you had early applications (ED OR EA), I will not send out your later ones unless I hear from you. . I will let each of you know to whom I have sent recs. Many of you have already heard from me on this