How I See It: Reflections on spirituality, technology, and the art of everyday life

Christmas Letter 2003 Copyright © 2003, By Odell Sneeden Hathaway III Dear Friends and Family, Another year is coming to an end, and as we look back, we both want to take this opportunity to wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. With the year’s close, we’d also like to give you the gift of ourselves—so here’s a little about our year. As the year opened, we snuck off to Hawaii for some much-needed rest. Not long after returning, Linda was hospitalized for over six weeks. She doesn’t want to go into details, but it was a very serious illness—touch and go for a while. Much of spring was spent helping her recover, and she continues to make progress every day. During the summer, we celebrated our second anniversary with a weekend at the coast—a little place we know called Otter Rock. We had a wonderful dinner in their dining room. It’s the only restaurant we know of that serves sparkling apple cider, so we shared a bottle. With eve...

Christmas Letter 2002 Copyright © 2002, By Odell & Linda Hathaway Dear Friends, Another year is coming to an end, and as we look back, we’d both like to take this opportunity to wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. With the close of the year, we also wanted to give each of you the gift of ourselves, so we thought we’d take a moment to share some of what’s happened in our lives this year. There are no major changes this year like there were last year. We’re both still living in Vancouver. The biggest change in our lives has been the adoption of a dog. Her name is Dakota. She’s part Collie and part German Shepherd—and all affection. We were going to the pet store to look at a fountain they had when Linda saw her and instantly fell in love. Of course, Odell has always wanted a dog, so two hours later, we adopted her! The rest of our family is doing well. Trillian, Minnie, and Samantha still don’t always get along, but what can you do? Thi...

Christmas Letter 2001 Copyright © 2001, By Odell & Linda Hathaway Dear Friends, Another year is coming to an end, and as we look back, we’d both like to take this opportunity to wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. With the closing of the year, we also feel we’d like to give you the gift of ourselves, so we thought we’d take a moment to tell you about what’s been happening in our lives this year. The biggest change, of course, came in August with our wedding. It was just beautiful, and we’re so happy that so many of you were able to attend. The time we spent with those who came was wonderful. We’re so grateful for all the helping hands and hearts that made our day so special. Our hearts and thoughts were with those who couldn’t make it. Immediately after the wedding, we were off on our honeymoon—a cruise of the Caribbean—and we had a great time! We visited five islands and enjoyed Curaçao the most. It was our first cruise, and we know ...

Christmas Letter 2000 Copyright © 2000, By Odell Sneeden Hathaway III Dear Friends, I’m very sorry that I was so busy with planning the wedding and everything that I didn’t manage to get my Christmas letter mailed until January—but I don’t want to lose touch with you, so here goes. Well, another millennium is almost over, and somehow we’ve managed to survive a year of Y2K, global warming, Survivor , Who Wants to Be a Millionaire , politics, and Chad. Another thousand years draws to a close, and we stop to look back all the way to the birth of a small child just two millennia ago. As the year and millennium close, I find myself looking back and wanting to share some of it with the people I consider my friends. As last year was ending and we were all facing the supposed end of the world due to Y2K, I wrote to you about a wonderful woman named Linda and how I was in love with her. But the fact that she lived ninety miles away made things difficult—and, let’s face it,...

Christmas Letter 1999 Copyright © 1999, By Odell Sneeden Hathaway III Dear Friends! I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy year 2000. It’s hard to believe that another year has passed and that we’re looking at the end of the millennium next year (the new millennium starts in 2001). This has been an eventful year for me. I spent most of it working on the Y2K problem. Fortunately, I’ve completed all my upgrades, and all my customers are safe to start the 2000s. This spring, I had a rather serious accident. I was mowing the lawn in my backyard—I have a stream back there and have to lower the mower over the edge to cut the grass. While I was doing this, my left leg slipped out from underneath me, and my body pivoted around my right knee. It was very painful, to say the least. I managed to avoid going to the doctor, but I could just barely walk for weeks and couldn’t go upstairs using that knee. I had to use my good leg to lift myself. This really...

Christmas Letter 1998 Copyright © 1997, By Odell Sneeden Hathaway III My Dear Friends. Well, it seems that we're approaching another Saturnalia, and with it the joys and memories of the holiday season—a time to remember old friends and look back on the year that’s coming to a close. This year for me has been, compared to the last few, a quiet one. No moving to a new state, no buying a new house, and unfortunately no falling in love. In 1994, Weaver and I were talking, and he suggested that I should find someplace new to live—someplace to put down roots. I think I really surprised him when the next week I announced that there’s no place in L.A. to do that, and I was going to move to Oregon. It’s been four years—years of some of the greatest change I’ve been through. This year was the year for putting down roots. In meaning and in reality. I’ve done a lot of gardening this year. I have a new hedge in the back by my stream, and in the front there’s a new Norway m...

The Stupid Little Moon Copyright © 1997, By Odell Sneeden Hathaway III Most fairy tales start “once upon a time.” But before I can say that, I need to explain something to you—something about merry-go-rounds. Something about them that everyone should know. When you’re riding a merry-go-round and you want to look at someone not on the ride, you have to turn your head, or they’ll flash by before you can see them. Like when you want to look at your mom or dad—you have to turn and look at them. If you stare straight ahead and don’t move your head, you can only see them for a second, and then they’re gone. All you’ll see next is the back of your dumb sister. If you know this, you’re smarter than the moon. And now I can tell you my story. Once upon a time, there lived the moon, the earth, the sun, and a merry-go-round. The moon and the earth lived on the merry-go-round. They spun around and around, and while the merry-go-round turned, they spun too—so they could see t...