[[!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!