December 18, 2024 “Winter is a teacher of vulnerability.” – Robin Wall Kimmerrer  “It is precisely at the point that the night is longest and darkest that you’ve actually turned a corner.” – Omid Safi, of winter solstice Dear Friends, How have you been? The past two months have been the busiest I’ve had in five years. My son is applying to high schools in New York City, and for those of you who’ve been through this process, know just how intense it can be! I’m so relieved that we’re finally approaching the end of this journey, and when I looked up, I realized it’s almost the winter solstice. Sometimes I marvel at the rapid pace of technological change in my lifetime. I was born in the late 70s in a Chinese city still in the early stages of industrialization. We had running water, but no hot water. Electricity was unreliable during the summer, and bicycles were the primary mode of transportation. If you ventured into rural areas, people were still drawing water from wells, …