I have always enjoyed the exchange of Christmas cards. It was the best way for me to keep in contact with friends made around the country and the world as comes with a vagabond academic career. This changed when I moved to France in 2006 and the cost became prohibitive. Since then I have written a short recap email of my doings for the year to share with friends.

However, I did not send a message in 2007 because there was too much going on in my life. But I  did send a message later in January 2008. The key part of that message that explained my changed circumstances is given below. The 5-Minute Bible Stu... Sanford, David Best Price: $1.38 Buy New $4.79 (as of 05:21 UTC - Details)

I changed employer: Lafayette College Air Liquide
I changed profession: Academics Industrial R&D
I changed my lodging: Academic housing House (I bought in the US) Apartment in Paris (twice)
I changed my town: Easton Paris (also small town to major metropolis)
I changed the country where I live: US France
I changed languages (not totally): English French
I changed living arrangements: Alone Roommate (girl friend)
I changed personal status: Single Married
I changed family status: Childless Father

By  2018 my thinking was now focused on a very different topic, retirement. I included this quote from Dostoyevsky. The Bible in 52 Weeks:... Moore, Dr. Kimberly D. Best Price: $3.08 Buy New $4.29 (as of 10:06 UTC - Details)

Mostly I think about retirement much as Dostoyevsky did about his imprisonment in Siberia (from The House of the Dead):

I lived on expectation, I counted every passing day; if there were a thousand more of them to pass at the prison I found satisfaction in thinking that one of them was gone, and only nine hundred and ninety–nine to come.

This year I quoted Lenin of all people

My best wishes to you for the upcoming holidays and for 2025. As for 2024, wow!, what a year it has been. As Lenin is supposed to have said: “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” But despite all of the war and division in the world, our lives have been focused inward. In fact, our family problems have dominated every single day …. coming-out-of-a-dark-wood/. …  Anyway, we try to move forward day-to-day and to see the beauty in the world like the plants on our balcony in Meudon.

In my preparations for the holidays I visited Notre Dame de Paris, only 25 minutes by train from where I live. It is a small miracle that it was restored, saved from fire and modern designers. However, it does have a new look that is bright and white, not the somber and black like so many other gothic cathedrals I have visited over the years, including Notre Dame itself. The contrast with the previous condition is too clean for some. It just doesn’t seem as old as it used to be. What I do like in the restored Notre Dame is the interplay of color with the bright white in the interior, especially the painted ceilings in the chapels around the altar.

I leave it to Jonathan Pageau to comment on the new modern altar situated in the Gothic splendor: The Restoration of Notre Dame – Did They Get It Right? – The Symbolic World. Also note, that while the crowds have returned the work is not finished. It will be nice to finally see her without cranes and scaffolding.

My last words to you dear LRC readers is: Bonnes Fêtes!; and may we all have a lovely, delightful, and healthy 2025.

The Best of Ira Katz