The Holiday Season 2009

There is an argument to be made that home is where you are, wherever that is. When you visit a place with an open and welcoming spirit, you can make it your own, for however long you are there. We start our Christmas letter in this way because 2009 has been a year in which we have made many places our temporary home, where nearly every month we were traveling to visit friends and relatives, to relax, and to see new places.

Since our children now live in two places: Eagan, Minnesota, and Washington, DC, those are two of our regular destinations. Indeed, we started the year with a visit to Washington, not only to see our son, Chris, his wife, Jaime, our little granddaughter, Maddie, and our daughter, Lindsay, but also to attend, along with about 2 million of our not closest friends, the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama. We will remember it as spending about seven hours in the cold, but also as a celebration of our country’s election of a leader who has the ability to inspire us not unlike JFK inspired us when we were young.

In February we abandoned the cold of Madison for about three weeks with our now annual trip to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. An indulgence to be sure, but the weather, the beach, relaxing with a good book around the pool, the warmth of the Mexican people, and enjoying the company of new friends, makes this place a magnet that we cannot resist. And so we don’t, nor will we in 2010. If you need to contact us in February of next year, return e-mails will be sent from there.

I think the most memorable travel of 2009 for us was spending 20 days in The Netherlands in July. We participated in a home exchange, turning our home over to another family as we took up residence in Dordrecht, one of the oldest Dutch cities, not far from Rotterdam. Holland is a small country, and you can easily take the train to many cities and after seeing the sites be home for dinner. So we visited places like Delft, Rotterdam, The Hague, Maastricht, Utrecht, Gouda, Bruges in Belgium, and more. We visited European friends and had some who visited us while we were there, and we had a place for them to stay—our Dordrecht home. The final three days, we spent in Amsterdam partaking of its canal walks, museums, and restaurants.

During our time there, we visited some art museums with more masterpieces in one room than most museums have in their entire collection. Of course, everywhere there are canals and bicycles and buildings from the 1600s and picturesque views just waiting for John to take pictures of, and he did a lot of that. Home exchange is a great way to visit a country, and it substantially reduces the cost. We are fortunate to have had this opportunity and the good sense to take advantage of it. Flying back through Minneapolis, we were there just in time for our granddaughter Amber’s fourth birthday party and finally back home in Madison.

Not too long after arriving home in early August, we were off to Washington again for Maddie’s first birthday and how much fun that was. She is in the picture that accompanies this letter on her mommy Jaime’s lap and sitting next to her cousins, Amber and Kyle. While in Washington, we try to see whatever the current exhibit is at the National Gallery, and if Congress is in session, to attend whatever Senate hearing looks interesting.

In September, it was off to southern Utah to visit John’s mom and his sister, Caralee and her husband, Jimmie. We were not aware of the beauty of this part of our country, and it is no exaggeration to say it is simply stunning. In one week during our visit, we went to Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Thank goodness for digital photography because John couldn’t take pictures fast enough. Because we were in the west, we took the opportunity to split up, Nancy to California to visit family and friends and John to Oregon to do the same. Finally back in Wisconsin for a few weeks before yet another trip to California in October for our niece’s wedding and a visit with friends in the Palm Springs area.

And then to Minneapolis for grandson Kyle’s second birthday. Back in Madison, we happily welcomed our entire family for Thanksgiving, during which time the picture on the card was taken. Interwoven during and between this travel, John kept CWL going with five new titles in the Briefcase Books series, with more to come in 2010. Maybe he is semi-retired and maybe not—he hasn’t figured that out. And Nancy managed to keep up with her volunteer activities.

So on to 2010, a new grandchild in June, and making a home where we find it, sharing our times with friends and family and having yet more adventures—we know we’re not near done with those, and we hope you’re not, either.

Happy Holidays and Happy 2010

John and Nancy Woods

Human Nature and Our Instinct to Help Others

In a widely e-mailed article in the New York Times, We May Be Born With an Urge to Help, I submitted the following comment, which was posted at the end of the article.

My take on this comes from this basic premise: the brain cannot abstract itself out from the world in which it exists. There are only two things that have meaning to us as thinking beings: relationships and processes (and process is about how relationships change through time in a purposeful manner). To make sense of ourselves is to make sense of how we are related to and part of the world. The self is quite literally the sum of our relationships to the world. To look out for that world is to look out for ourselves. To harm that world is to harm ourselves. There is a lot of pain and misery in the world because many people are not aware of this fact of our human nature.

That there are negative consequences to doing ill to others and the world in which we exist affirms the premise laid out above. That there are positive consequences when we look out for our world also affirms this premise. Just consider when you felt best about yourself. I can almost guarantee it's when you have been generous, kind, compassionate, and helpful to someone else or made some kind of contribution that makes the world a better place. Now think about those times when what you've done causes you to feel anxious, unhappy, or nervous. It's almost always when we have exploited others in some way. These feelings are the body's way of providing feedback on when you have done something either good or bad to yourself.

It's not that children have a tendency to help others. It's that in doing so they naturally feel better about themselves. That’s built in to our nature. To the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" My response would be "No, I am my own keeper, but this means I am my brother's keeper." Why? Because when we look out for that of which we are a part, we look out for ourselves. It really is as simple as that. And when things don’t work out as we expect, we can learn from the experience and do better next time. You can read more more about some of these ideas at www.cwlpub.com/brain.htm.