I hiked up Desolation Trail with Scott Wiersdorf. It had rained a little bit the night before, so the trail was neither dusty nor muddy—perfect for hiking.
Figure 1: Hike overview
Lots of pretty plants on the way.
Figure 2: This flower is called Arrow Leaf
Figure 3: Some pretty ground cover
Figure 4: A neat old tree that got split
...My grandfather G William Wiersdorf passed away Monday morning. He was 82 and survived COVID, a decades-long existence with MS, and World War II. While his health wasn't the best, none of us were expecting this. You can read his obituary here.
UPDATE 2023-03-18: I've translated my grandpa's obituary into German. Here it is:
G William "Bill" Wiersdorf verstarb friedlich am 13. März 2023 mit seiner liebevollen Frau Kathy an seiner Seite.
...It's interesting for me to reflect on how my aspirations have changed as I've grown up. When I was a little kid I wanted to be a computer programmer like my daddy. I wanted to have my own cubicle and a work station and write Perl programs all day long in Emacs.
There was a phase where I had to shake my head at that—a cubicle-dweller? Seriously? After experiencing some open-office work spaces, the shoulder-high walls afforded a privacy and sound muffling that any hipster coder would be envious of.
...This year I discovered the profound joy of giving toys to a little girl. Our daughter is beginning to babble and walk, and nothing has brought me more happiness than playing with her and watching her grow in her capabilities. She's still young enough that she has no clue as to what is going on, but she did like getting some new toys wrapped in paper and bows! Christmas is so much better giving presents to your kids than it is getting presents as a kid.
...It’s my first Christmas being a dad. The end of the school semester was unusually stressful; I didn’t have much time or energy to anticipate Christmas. But I’ve felt a marked lack of eagerness for getting presents. That feeling wanes each year—something I’m grateful for—but this year I only felt an eagerness for a time of peace and celebration with my family. Peaceful it has been.
My family isn’t perfect. (My baby daughter is about as perfect as they come, though!) The time I’ve gotten to spend so far and the time that I will spend with them is precious to me. My wife and I have focused so much on celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ that this commercialized junk we put up with has been all but absent from our home. We have a few books about Santa Claus that we read to our daughter, but we’ve listened to strictly Christ-centered music. (A Charlie Brown Christmas counts, though!) There’s been a spirit in our home that has brought me comfort and peace in this tumultuous year—more than any before it.
...I feel uncomfortable with many symbols. I might have opinions about a subject, but there’s rarely a camp that has some symbol, flag, slogan, etc. that I’m comfortable with adopting because that camp does not accurately reflect my opinion. All too often, a slogan takes on more than its surface meaning, and that can make using that slogan tricky.
...It’s going to be another long night. My baby has reached the point where she’s too tired to sleep. She alternates between screaming at 90+ decibels and sleeping fitfully. She only transfers from the crying state to the sleep state after prolonged, labored rocking and soothing. She transfers back to the base crying state on her own after a few seconds.
...It’s cliché at this point to say that 2020 was a rough year. I’m grateful in that I and my wife were relatively unscathed by the pandemic. I had some personal health issues however that by themselves made 2020 a bit of a struggle. I learned some important lessons.
...I love Easter. In my mind it is just as important as Christmas. Indeed, if Christ had not died for our sins and been resurrected, then there would be no reason to celebrate His birth.
I recorded a short, simple vocal arrangement of “O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown” by J. S. Bach with my wife.
...The other day I responded poorly to some school assignment related frustration. An hour later after I had calmed down and resolved the issue, my wife gently chided me for how I acted. I expressed gratitude for her well-placed correction, and said that I had been having a bad day leading up to that. I then added that that was an explaination, not an excuse, and my wife understood the difference between the two.
...