some excitement

I got a call this morning from first-time great grandparents, telling me that Terra had a baby boy this very day, named Roscoe Philip. All must be well. When I told Cyndi that she was a great-aunt, she made the same joke as my dad: well, I knew I was great.... Wonderful news.

Ariel just gave me a call. I knew from a message she left me that she was in Hartford, Connecticut this weekend. For what exactly, I don't know. She called to tell me she got an assignment to report on some program at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (the National Library of France), along the Seine, in Paris. For a week. In two weeks, just before Thanksgiving. I'll have to get more information from her, but it has to do with the fact the library is the official repository of everything published (in all media) in France, a monumental undertaking. So she's looking into a place to stay in Paris and brushing up on her French.

And the week before, she travels to Georgia to report on sustainable design at the community organic farm she worked at before Fairbanks. (You may remember: Serenbe, near Palmetto, just south of Atlanta.)

These are part of her work at IEEE. I know she's also producing radio podcasts. There may be some connection to Science Friday or the National Science Foundation, or both. I'll have to get that sorted out and let you know.

In any case, Ariel is very excited. This is all very new news.

And David told me all is well with Terra and Roscoe. Sandra is there already. David won't see Roscoe until March. Everyone is excited. Both Cyndi and Ariel were delighted when I passed on the news.