HOMELAND

Dad has noted that the land in Northern Nebraska, where the Niobrara River meets the Missouri River, is direct. "Frank" is the way he describes it, as in the land hides nothing, it is upfront, bitter, beautiful and largely untouched. Winters here can be brutal. Lewis and Clark spent one season here at what later became Fort Niobrara. The yellow cliffs are South Dakota, less than a mile away, but "very different" than Nebraskans. The people who come from this part of the world, are like the land, frank.

TO GRANDMA'S HOUSE

Grandma's house. Not quite like the Christmases of yore, but still very good. It snowed like the old days. A nice thing.

VINTAGE HIGGINS

Here are several photos circa 1978. That's Mom and Dad at the East German border, Dad in Lucerne, Switzerland on our 1999 father-daughter adventure across Europe. The elder statesmen in the photos is my grandfather, Clayton Higgins, who is and was, in all ways unforgettable.

SICKENING

I was very sick before Christmas and we were forced to wait a day to travel. Matt carved my initials in an apple to make me feel better. I did. Then I barfed all over the bathroom a bunch of times. Here also is the Nebraskaland truck that was beckoning me homeward.

SOMETHING CHRISTMAS THIS WAY COMES

THANKS GETTING

Mother and Father Watts had a great idea that we spend Thanksgiving day at the Milleridge Inn which is a small colonial village dating to 1672. We had a lovely meal and the banjo playing octogenarians were a particular favorite.

JUMP UP, GIVE THANKS

On Thanksgiving morning, we hastened down to Columbus Circle to watch the Macy's Day parade balloons go by. We were too late, and Amy cried a teeny bit, but all was much better once we decided to walk home through Central Park. It's peak folliage season in NYC and the trees were perfect. It was also 60 degrees and sunny which made the 3 mile hike even nicer. One can witness our happiness and thankfulness in our sky high leaps for joy. Basically, we thought it would be neat to jump off rocks and take pictures.

FIREBRAND

Matt's brother, Rob is a lieutenant in the FDNY. He was honored at a dinner for his bravery after entering a burning building and dragging people to safety. All in a days work for the city's bravest.

FOXY WHEELS

Here's our new lil' lady. In September, we got ourselves a new car and it's the best car in the universe. Love, love, love our energy efficient, parking friendly golden goddess.

HARDLY SPOOKY

To those who, like me, are far too old for hijinks.... Halloween in NYC is naturally rad, but our adventure was the wildest and raddest of all! We started on a Columbia Sponsored booze cruise on the Hudson, cabbed downtown with some stranger wearing pajamas, heckled the really hot and cool in the Meatpacking District, skulked to the Village and harassed some Aussies (sorry Tahn) with our swords. Matt also had a showdown with a Sushi Chef but later broke his blade while fashioning a "Z" on the pavement and on the hood of a taxi. When I showed my parents these photos, both Mom and Dad were concerned that I was in the arms of some strange Devil. They both agreed I was tempting fate and "not acting appropriately in such a big city". The giant inflatable penis, on the other hand, left them unfazed.

PACIFICA

We spent an afternoon on a beach in Santa Monica. For this Ioworker (that's a combo of Iowa and New York, if you didn't catch on) the weather is just too good to be true. Some say that 70 and sunny gets old, but I cannot imagine what kind of drugs or whatever else that person is doing. We swam and frolicked in the waves. That's Matt down in the corner waving. He will find no humor in what I think is the cutest, cutest of all pictures.

Here also, is a photo of our hotel room and our makeshift work station. Here is John, Amy Sophia and Matt in Los Angeles' Union Station. John and Mike took us on a field trip of the mass transit system of LA. A remarkably clean and history rich system. The station dates to 1939 and is some fete of design. It's also the terminus of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.