Dear family and friends,
Greetings from our river town of Winona, Minnesota, beneath the scenic bluffs of the Mississippi River, within the Midwest’s driftless area. This year has been another eventful one for us: We have become Minnesotans! We have already become accustomed to lefse, walleye, hotdish, deep-fried candy on sticks, wild rice, shopping at Hy-Vee, Minnesota Nice, and long underwear. Learning to ice-fish will surely follow soon.
We didn’t start out in Minnesota, or even in the same state. At the beginning of the year, Chris was in his second year at as a visiting assistant professor of mathematics at Bucknell University, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, while Sarah was in her third year as a postdoctoral researcher in particle physics at Argonne National Laboratory in suburban Chicago. We were both on the job market. Sarah spent so much time in the air (flying to interviews) that she attained frequent flyer status.
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In January, Chris attended the Joint Mathematical Meetings in Boston, where he ran into many friends he’s made from his adventures in mathematics. He also walked along much of the Freedom Trail, visiting such historic sites as the location of the Boston Massacre.
In February, Sarah attended a collaboration meeting in Austin. She was able to meet up with her friend Jessica, who introduced her to the breakfast taco.
In March, Chris visited Sarah in Chicagoland for Spring Break, during which, there was a serious heat wave. We went to the zoo on π Day in T-shirts, even though the trees were still leafless. At the same time, Sarah accepted a tenure-track position in the physics department at Winona State University.
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In May, we met up in Toledo, and we went to the art museum there. Then, later in the month, we both went to New York City, where we visited the 9/11 Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, MoMA, and Times Square. We attended a musical on Broadway and visited our friends Peter and Tracy. Then we moved Chris out of his apartment in central Pennsylvania. Soon thereafter, we visited our new hometown of Winona, Minnesota and found an apartment there.
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Then, it was off to Japan for Sarah, who attended a neutrino conference in the lovely city of Kyoto. In addition to learning about the new advances in her field, Sarah visited a holy shrine, where she drank “good luck” water, and had dinner in a theme park with ninjas (and, terrifyingly, physicists tossing throwing stars). At the same time, Chris rode the Empire Builder Amtrak train from Chicago to Portland, a 46 hour trip, with wonderful scenery. He visited family in Oregon, and he and his parents took a trip to Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia, where he was able to meet up with his friends Chris and Ashley.
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In July, Sarah’s parents flew out to Chicago, and we all took a trip to Michigan. We visited the Dutch Village and beaches in Holland, Michigan. Then we journeyed to Mackinac Island, where we sampled the local fudge and pasties. We also saw Independence Day fireworks on a boat in Straits of Mackinac, under the Mackinac Bridge. In addition, we crossed Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and visited the Canadian and American cities of Sault Sainte Marie (Ontario and Michigan, respectively), taking in both the Sault Locks and the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre.
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At the end of July, we took possession of our new apartment in Winona, and then spent a week in the Twin Cities, where Sarah attended another collaboration meeting. This included dinner in the NOvA module factory (at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota) as well as a trip to the NOvA far detector site near Ash River, Minnesota (about an hour away from International Falls). In the week after the collaboration meeting, we packed up all our possessions (well, the ones we didn’t give to Goodwill), and in mid-August, we moved to Minnesota and began academic positions at Winona State University.
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In September, we visited the Minnesota State Fair, where we ate deep-fried Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and registered to vote. We also had a visit from Chris’s Aunt Pat and Uncle Nathan.
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The rest of the year, we have mostly spent exploring the surrounding area. There was a weekend in mid-October that was perfect for looking at beautiful leaves. We have made numerous trips to La Crosse, Wisconsin, as well as many of the small towns on both the Wisconsin and Minnesota sides of the Mississippi. In October, Chris travelled to Duluth to attend a math conference at the University of Minnesota Duluth. In November, Sarah’s parents came to Winona for Thanksgiving. We showed them the sights around our beautiful river city. We went to a craft fair, explored Winona’s Polish Museum, and the Watkins museum and company store.
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In December, we finished up our first semester at Winona State and prepared for our holiday travel to Oregon.
We wish you the best in the coming year.
Love,
Sarah and Chris
Winona, Minnesota
December 2012