Keith and Jessica's Letter Jan - Dec 2010

December 5, 2010

Dear Friends,

Here is our bi-annual holiday letter. We can’t seem to make it annual. Last year, we actually drafted a letter, but didn’t send it because Jessica thought it too happily glib and trite in what had--for many-- become troubled times. But it’s not all that bad and we attach it in its unfinished and now dated state below. This year we do have more to complain about – Bikes for the World is scrambling for new storage space (after six years of free and very convenient space). Significant budget cuts at the World Bank are causing Jessica to cancel consultant contracts and spend time on internal administration rather than on key issues for client countries. Political turmoil and in some cases violent conflict afflict Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, where Jessica's projects are. A painful back muscle spasm over several months interrupted Jessica’s fitness regime earlier in the year. And of course, later in the year, we found the results of the November US election to be depressing. Certainly, at least some of these pale in comparison to problems that many others face.

But on the other hand, we continue to have many, many things which bring us joy. Here are a few of the highlights:

In our immediate lives……

• After numerous serious scares with Keith unexpectedly going into acute insulin shock (low blood sugar), he is now using a monitoring device to measure his blood sugar on a continuous basis, which dramatically reduces the risk of lows (fatal in the short term) and also enables him to better control the incidence of highs (which cause nerve and cardio complications in the long term). Meanwhile, Jessica’s back is now recovered, and she hopes to soon stop using her work overload as the excuse to not return to her former exercise practices.
• Keith has two new employees at Bikes for the World, one of whom is working weekends, enabling him to spend several Saturdays this fall at home with Jessica, for the first time in several years. Here is a link to the BfW webpage and the link to some other recent BfW publicity.
• Jessica’s work at the World Bank is achieving results, as reflected in a competition recognizing successes of a sustainable land management project in Tajikistan (TJ CAWMP link), in the resolution implementation problems in a farmland restructuring project in Tajikistan (thereby empowering poor family farmers) and a land and real estate registration project in the Kyrgyz Republic (where the achievements of the earlier project had been recognized in 2008, KG LRERP link) and as demonstrated in plans for continuing Bank engagement in forestry sector in Bosnia & Herzegovina (after the project-financed State Forest Inventory showed that the forest lands cover more area--over 62% , the largest in Europe--and are in much better condition than previously believed).
• Of course, one of the seminal events of the year was the February “snow-maggeddon”. Both Kate and Alex were in Arlington for an extended weekend visit when it snowed close to 2 feet. The DC area does not have sufficient equipment to clear this amount from the streets efficiently, so we were marooned for days. After some frolicking and digging out our walkways, both Alex and Kate made it back to Vermont and North Carolina before our local street was fully cleared, in time for their classes. And fortunately, we never lost our electric power.
• Jessica, Keith, Kate and Alex, together with Jessica’s sister Margy and Bethany’s son Graham all spent a week together this summer at Philbrook Farm in NH. Jessica and Keith really treasure these times together, knowing that as Kate and Alex’s lives move on, such opportunities will become more exceptional. We had some good weather for hikes, including Mt. Adams (the second highest of the Presidential Mountain Range) which even Jessica climbed, much to her amazement.

In the lives of our children …….

• Kate is busy in her second year of a master’s program in library science at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, with a focus on reference. She is living close to campus in an apartment with two other graduate students. She was even busier this summer here in the DC area when she held a total of three part-time jobs including two internships – one at the Congressional Research Service and the other at the Arlington County Library, plus her old position at the local Barnes and Noble bookstore.
• Alex graduated Magna cum laude from Middlebury in May and the following month began work as a research analyst with Industrial Economics Group, a small consulting firm in Cambridge MA. He is undertaking GIS analysis, data quality control, and other tasks on several interesting and worthwhile assignments – the damage assessment of the Gulf Oil Spill, proposed habitats for newly declared endangered species, and the consideration of whale migration routes in fisheries management. He is also enjoying weekend hikes in the White Mountains, trips back to Middlebury (and a blossoming romance with a senior there), and establishing his own apartment with a fellow Middlebury graduate.

In the lives of other family members…..

• Both Jessica’s and Keith’s 89-year old mothers continue engaged in the events of the world, their communities, and families, in spite of increasing physical limitations.
• Southwestern Virginia is becoming a Mott family hub. Jessica’s sister Bethany, and her husband David and two sons Graham and Brian have now moved to Floyd VA. After an extended job search and great troubles selling their Florida home, Bethany now has a job with a university library, and they have purchased and moved into a new home on a scenic farm with room for all their animals. Furthermore, Jessica’s brother Jeremy and his wife Judy have now moved to a new home in Roanoke VA, and after stints in a hospital, a nursing home, and assisted living, Jeremy is now well enough to live at home, although he is very disabled from Parkinson’s disease. Jeremy’s daughter Mary and her significant other Jake live in nearby Blacksburg and are building a house in Copper Hill VA.

In an additional blog page we are sharing some family photos we had taken over 2010 and 2009. We hope to hear from those whom we’ve not been in regular contact. We send our best wishes for you and the world we all share.

Warm greetings,

Keith and Jessica