--- /dev/null
+[[!tag tags/misc]]
+
+A year ago today, on 11 June 2013, daughter Elizabeth and I smelled smoke,
+kicking off an adrenalin-pumped afternoon evacuating our home, which was
+located very close to the point of origin of the
+[Black Forest Fire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Forest_fire). The
+short version is that we ended up losing our house and most of our "stuff",
+but all the people, pets, and a few of our most prized possessions escaped
+unscathed. If you need more details, I told a
+[longer version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJcnllq3VYY) of the story
+at Linux Conf Australia in Perth this January.
+
+This has been an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy... but a year
+later, I'm pleased to report that life is largely back to normal and things
+are moving along just fine! The 2-bedroom apartment we found to live in
+while rebuilding has been sufficient to our needs, but we can't wait to move
+in to the new house under construction on our property in a couple more
+months. And after graduating from [Oberlin College](http://oberlin.edu/)
+with a degree in physics and minor in the classics, we're very pleased that
+Elizabeth is back with us for a while this summer before she starts the next
+phase of her life as a research assistant and PhD candidate at the
+[ASU Center for Science and the Imagination](http://csi.asu.edu/) in
+August. And [Altus Metrum, LLC](http://altusmetrum.org/) is successfully
+back in business producing some cool new toys...
+
+We owe an immense debt of gratitude to you, our many friends both near and
+far, who have shown us so much caring and support in the last year. Thank you!