Hess Times 2006

Hess Times
2006

The Eliasons
Mary, David, and Drew continue to enjoy perfect weather and outdoor living in San Diego. Last March Drew entered a new preschool/day care at the University of San Diego, where Mom is a third year law student. He chatters, he runs, and is an affectionate and charming three year old. (His grandparents might say “perfect” but we recognize our bias.) David continues to work as an engineer for Kyocera-Wireless, was promoted in April, spends lots of time with Drew, and is a strong support for Mary. She worked for the Scripps Research Institute, and for a professor, studied, played soccer, swam, and chased Drew. She will be interning for a federal judge next semester. Mary hopes to take the bar in July, adjourn to Hawaii with family for much-needed rest, and then enter of world of intellectual property law or administrative law. Mary and Dave joined Joe and Virginia for a beautiful wedding in Toronto in July, and a few days in Ontario and Niagara Falls afterwards. With their usual zest for life, they rode Maid of the Mist in the very front of the boat. They took Drew on his first visits to Yosemite and to Disneyland. Pirates of the Caribbean was a big hit. The family will be here for Christmas and then head to the snow for a few days.

Jon Drew Hess
Jon lives and works in San Francisco, and makes a cameo appearance every few weeks in Los Altos. We keep our subscription to the soccer channel just in case, and we send him home with all kinds of food. We know him as Jon but others know him as Drew. If you are in the Borders in Union Square, ask for Drew. He took a screenwriting course at Stanford and is working in a bookstore but it would be great if the next big thing dropped in his lap. So he is looking around for his next opportunity. He plays soccer, and softball, snowboards, and boogie boards, and enjoys the rich and diverse cultural life of the City. He (and his friend Courtney) joined Joe and Virginia in Kauai in October, drove them everywhere, and cooked fish on the grill almost every night We could get used to this. He has offered his services on future trips, especially to tropical climes. Visitors please note that his room on Vineyard Court is morphing into a true guest room.


Joe
Most years Joe just works, with a few adventures playing golf or building telescopes. Not this year. Joe will have traveled over 100,000 miles on one airline this year, sometimes with 24 hours notice, at times with 24 hours between trips. When 2006 began he was traveling to Calgary and Montreal. Then he went to Buenos Aires and Santiago, followed by Sao Paulo and Rio and Campinas. In less than one week. He liked brushing up on his Spanish but didn’t appreciate the four attempts to mug him in Argentina. In Chile, he managed to rent a car and visit the coastal city of Vina del Mar, driving through a bit of their wine country. Joe enjoyed Chile and plans to take Virginia there on vacation. May –during the immigration marches in the U.S. —found him in Mexico City, encountering two anti-American demonstrations. We have lost track of whether it has been 8 or 10 trips to Latin America this year, but do know his passport will soon need extra pages. Virginia was fortunate to accompany him on one trip to Buenos Aires in August, and they took a weekend trip to Iguacu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil. In addition to hiking very close to the falls, they explored the rain forest. Joe played golf with Jon on the side of a Kauai mountain, and with Mary and Dave he rode a cigar boat through the rapids of the Niagara River. He played the piano with Andrew and talks to him often on the phone. Oh and he did build a new telescope for the Hawaii trip, but it was too big for the luggage.

Virginia

A pleasurable year. Much of it was spent in Los Altos, either while Joe traveled or was on call to travel. In late January she attended a Rice Alumni Association (ARA) meeting in Houston, followed by a trip with her sister Margaret, Mom, and cousin Ann to a ranch southwest of Dallas. March brought baseball Spring Training in Scottsdale with Joe and her Mom— a good escape from Northern California. Joe and Virginia spent a precious Easter in San Diego with Drew and his parents. In early May she went to Sea Island, Georgia, where her sister recently built a house. With Margaret and her Mom she spent a tranquil week on the beach, mesmerized each evening by the sunset over the marsh. On the way back west she stopped in Houston for the ARA meeting. Virginia greatly enjoys serving on the ARA board, as the people are cordial, and the university president and others seem to appreciate the advice. Her own high point was Disneyland with Drew, although returning to Argentina after 29 years was a thrill also. Fall usually means Stanford football, and this year the tailgates with long-time Stanford friends were much better than the team. Virginia’s birthday trip to Kauai was postponed from June to October, just in time to celebrate Jon’s 26th birthday with him. Kauai is more laid-back than Maui, has excellent snorkeling and hidden beaches, and has become her new favorite island. Book club, an occasional blog, bridge, gardening, and photography—she pursued them all. More than a year after this second retirement, she can confirm that she does not have the housekeeping gene in her body, and will also look for “the next big thing” in 2007.

Homer
Homer sends best wishes to all of his friends, those who think he is a Wheaton terrier instead of, ahem, a mix, as well as those whom he greats with leaps and bounds and doggy smiles. He is our home’s heart, an always cheerful greeter who loves to follow his humans from room to room. He still chases Mr. Squirrel and loves to bark at the Big Brown UPS Truck. He especially wishes happy holidays to the people who compete to dog sit when we travel, to Jon’s friends from high school who still get a frenzied recognition, and to our houseguests whom he awakens with a friendly face lick.

Peace and health to all in 2007.
Virginia (vfhess@alumni.rice.edu) and Joe (joehess@speakeasy.net