Jen and Jeremy's Year in Photos

Happy Holidays! We’ve reached a milestone with this, our 20th annual photo card, and we hope it finds you well. No matter how long you’ve tolerated our shenanigans, we want you to know that we appreciate connecting with you here in the comments and elsewhere (email, snail mail, real life, etc.). We love your updates! For us, 2024 was dominated by home improvements, healthier living, learning new things, spectacular phenomena, and meeting life’s challenges with compassion.

Seeing the total solar eclipse, the aurora, and the comet this year renewed our sense of being on a planet that is moving through the cosmos and subject to random beauty.

We ski at least 6 months each year — more if we’re lucky. Outdoor human-powered winter pursuits build character. It’s good for dogs, too! (Winter/Spring 2024 – Crested Butte/Nederland, Colorado)

Benefits of uphill skiing: early morning workout, no need for sunblock, and first tracks. (February 2024 – Crested Butte)

Jeremy takes aim with an infrared rifle during a biathlon clinic. (February 2024 – Crested Butte)

Total Solar Eclipse: Jen suffered a sudden FOMOment (Fear Of Missing Out moment) in early April, resulting in a last minute road trip to “Somewhere in the Path of Totality with clear weather and good sky view that doesn’t require trespassing.” With great luck and strategizing driving routes with cloud forecasts, we found such a location at Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. We experienced totality for 4 minutes and 2 seconds. It was the most incredible sight Jen has ever witnessed. Jeremy rated it 8 out of 10. Yuki liked the king beds.

The solar corona at totality (left). Baily’s beads and solar prominences during totality (right). (April 2024 – Mammoth Spring, Arkansas)

Spring means hiking, trail running, baby animal spotting, and the return of migratory birds. (Spring 2024 – Nederland/Crested Butte)

In May, we had the good fortune of experiencing our first Aurora borealis – a rare occurrence over Colorado. Unexpected dazzling jewel-toned displays from our driveway. Jeremy rated it 9 out of 10. (May 2024 – Nederland)

Local mushrooms were bashful this year, but the wildflowers stepped up. Here, a green gentian undergoes exhaustive reproduction. The plant spends up to 60 years as a small and unremarkable rosette of leaves. At the end of its life, it grows as tall as a person and blooms. (June 2024 – Crested Butte)

Carpets of showy fleabane and butter-and-eggs flourish along the Slate River Valley. (July 2024 – Crested Butte)

Our beloved neighbor spent the summer expanding our deck around the lee of the house. It changed how we use the space and improved our feelings about the perennial wind season. Best of all, we can finally hang bird feeders!

October 2007 (left) and October 2024 (right). (Nederland)

As the stunning wildflower season wound down, Colorado kept the party going with a stretch of brilliant autumn gold. (September 2024 – Crested Butte)

After 11 years of hiking, running, and skiing all around the mountain, we finally summited Mt. Crested Butte at the peak of fall colors. (September 2024 – Crested Butte)

The mountain draped in floofy warm hues. (September 2024 – Crested Butte)

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) completed our night-sky trifecta this year! Jeremy was particularly excited to see the anti-tail (left: the faint ray pointing in the opposite direction of the comet tail), an optical effect that occurs when the Earth passes through the comet’s orbital plane. Jeremy rated it 7 out of 10. (October 2024 – Nederland)

Giving thanks for fresh snow, good health, big smiles, and an invigorating uphill ski on opening day. (November 2024 – Crested Butte)

With best wishes for you and yours in 2025,

Jen, Jeremy, and Yuki

There’s more on the 2024 Cutting Room Floor!

past years: 2023, 2022, 2021,2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005

December 25th, 2024: 3:50 pm
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