2019.12.09
letter home v
hey all,
an extended and temperate autumn finally gave way on Dec. 1st of this year, with temperatures crashing down from the balmy mid-50° days we had been enjoying to below freezing. this morning we awoke to find the whole of Budapestcovered in an increasingly deep layer of snow, something we celebrated by immediately heading out in the swirl of fat, lazy snowflakes to crunch our way towards and through the changed landscape of Budapest's city park.
shockingly enough, this is the first time either I or Manon have had snowfall in the place we're living. this entire winter ordeal is fairly new to us, but we've been coping for the last couple days with friends, food, and thermal baths. some old friends from the south of Germany stayed with us this past weekend and we celebrated by producing a massive Thanksgiving meal, walking the frigid city, and sinking into the baths of Rudas below the cliffs of Gellert Hill.
the last few months have been full of visitors. just a few weeks ago, Ann left after staying with us for two months and during her stay we also were joined by my uncle Paul and Ram, an old friend of mine from California. before that we got to see Zach and Sandhya for a short but wonderful visit. it's been amazing to see everyone in person and get to show them around a city that is increasingly feeling like home.
piano work continues unabated. we have a massive amount of work cut out for the year to come, dominated by yet another massive piano. much of my time is spent imagining different futures from this point we find ourselves in. I have many ideas about extending this piano work in new directions and I hope I get to share some of that as the concepts get more concrete over the next few months.
during this time of year, we feel our distance from all of you more fully. we have relied on the proximity of our family (related and chosen) and the advent of the holidays to make time for all of those we care about, even when the daily churnings of our year prevented us from seeing all of you more. now, distant as we are, we think of you all often.
with love,
sam