It’s great to be back home with Sara and Chris. But getting Bannack back for a little bit is the real Christmas prize.
Merry Christmas from the Casey’s in Montana. Here’s the living room after the presents were opened and the dinner was eaten. A long and happy day!
Here’s a little Christmas card from Kenny who’s been stationed in Afghanistan since around August. There is Kenny, bating Santa with cookies and beer.
Christmas cards and stocking hung on the wall. Announcements board and lots of food that people get sent to them and don’t want so they leave out for others to scavenge from at their leisure.
Also Kenny was promoted to Sergent a few days ago. When I asked if that was like an orange belt in karate, Kenny set me straight, “it is the lowest level leadership position on the enlisted side.”
Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Flight Engineers Cady Coleman of NASA and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency offered Christmas and New Year’s greetings to all people on Earth from the orbital outpost on Dec. 21 as they flew 224 statute miles above. Kelly, Coleman and Nespoli are part of the six-person crew that includes Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Kondratyev, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka.
Listen to these astronauts send some heartfelt and nerdy holiday greetings to all of us earthlings. Amazing.
Also, if you are ever curious: How many people are in space right now?
This year’s Christmas show at the Archie Bray had some of the best work I’ve seen in recent memory.
Standouts for me were the dreamy and intense sculptures of Kelly Garrett Rathbone. (I’m saving up for one.) David Peters had some beautiful crucible like cups and floral “gold pans” that looked like solid iron. It was my first time seeing the work of Jeff Campana. His carapace-like pots are made up of delicately joined slabs with glassy smooth seams between them. And maybe I’m turtle-minded after returning from Saipan, but this small piece by Bethany Krull was another favorite of mine.