Our family photos, as well as an archive of our family letters, can always be seen at http://www.terragalleria.com/family/

Seeing how awesome a total eclipse was in 2017, Tuan marked the 2024 calendar to ensure we could witness the event as a family, especially since the next chance in America would be in 2044. Of all the states on the path of totality, Texas usually has fewer clouds than other locales further north, and Lanchi doesn't like the cold. In addition, only Tuan had traveled in the area before. To avoid overpriced plane tickets, we flew days in advance of the eclipse and also stayed days past. The most emblematic landscape of the American South is the swamp forest with trees growing out of the water. Caddo Lake in Texas is lined up with the largest flooded forest of bald cypress trees in the world, making it the new premier nature photography destination.  The area, including the historic town of Jefferson, turned out to be a relaxed destination, as was Poverty Point in Louisiana, which 3000 years ago had the largest earthworks in the Western Hemisphere. Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas was quite busy, but still not exciting enough for the kids, so despite being located on the trajectory of the totality with a slightly better weather forecast, we went back to Texas. The morning of the eclipse, the sky was cloudy, but we lucked out in Waco as the clouds cleared out just minutes before totality. That evening, rainy weather hampered the daily flight of thousands of bats from the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, but we enjoyed Terry Black's BBQ. Even the vegetarian (Tuan) found the sides excellent. Supposedly there is one even better BBQ in Texas, but we already stood in a line wrapping up around a block. In San Antonio, after a lengthy clearance process to gain access to an active air force base, Tuan photographed the smallest of the national monuments, consisting of statues of military working dogs covering about 3,000 square feet. Then Minh-Dan took advantage of Texas gun culture to fire an AR-15 at a shooting range, something that California wouldn't allow. More locally, we went on two family outings in the Northern Sierra Nevada that we had been eyeing for a long time, a snow trip out of Donner Pass with cross-country skiing and sledding, and a short backpacking trip starting from Carson Pass.

In the first half of the year, Minh-Dan signed up for a membership at a 24-hour gym and obsessively kept his exercise schedule. On the second day of the trip to Texas, not wanting to miss a workout, he got up in the dark to be dropped at a gym while Tuan was on his way to a sunrise shot. On the evening before the eclipse, Tuan drove him all around town to look for a local gym that would be open. His persistence and expensive protein-rich diet paid off, as he gained muscle and endurance, tackling the trail with ease.  Wanting to make some money, he sent dozens of job applications. He dressed in impeccable business attire for interviews until he landed his first marketing job in the summer. Although the company's practices appeared sketchy, Minh-Dan embraced his first job with enthusiasm, working long hours in direct, door-to-door sales all over the Bay Area until he realized that the commission-based pay was not commensurate with the efforts and that the lure of fast promotions to management required even more time commitment. He learned all he could about the business aspect of the job, then he left the company.  Being a seasoned interviewee, he quickly found a less demanding job as an event security guard. With a more flexible schedule, he increased his academic load at SJSU and for his second year changed his major from marketing to finance.

Vi-Van's mental health steadily improved. She continued majoring in art at Evergreen College and kept good grades. She enjoys socializing with Omar and her other friends. The conversations continue well into the night as they play online games.  In the first half of the year, she overcame her struggles to get out of bed in the morning to regularly join the three sisters Ti, Phi, Lanchi, and Tuan for hikes in local nature preserves. Ti's dog Tazzie and Phi's dog Pickle are great walkers, but we now carry Peanut when hiking uphill. The exercise is much needed because her medications cause her to gain weight.  In the second half of the year, inspired by Minh-Dan, she found a job at an ice cream shop. Out for their wedding anniversary dinner, Lanchi and Tuan happened by chance upon the shop. It was surprisingly popular. As a result, she received substantial tips and saved more money than Minh-Dan despite working fewer hours. Unlike in her previous job, she managed her shyness around other people well.  However, as she got tired of the job (scooping ice cream is hard!) and of her exploitative boss, she is now looking for work in a field closer to her interests.

Because both children go to school and work, our two cars are frequently gone. This is seldom an issue since nobody else in our household is employed.  Tuan usually drives only twice a week to a nearby trailhead. He rides with Minh-Dan to the grocery store, and with Ti to Bi's house for surfing.  Although Vi-Van still prefers to avoid driving to San Francisco - Lanchi and Tuan dropped her there once - she can now handle the minivan with confidence. Minh-Dan doesn't have that kind of hesitation, driving all over the Bay Area, several times to the Monterey Peninsula for a weather window to redeem his birthday skydiving jump, and even down to Southern California to go shooting with his cousin Tien who studies in Pasadena. We wish they - and in particular Minh-Dan - would be more careful. We had to rescue them when an insufficiently inflated tire blew out and also when a tank ran empty. Accidents and traffic violations caused our insurance rate to skyrocket.

Lanchi keeps busy growing and selling her rare plants. She also continued attending Bay Area art fairs. Thankfully, Ti has become skilled at woodturning and can help Lanchi with her inventory. Lanchi's mother discovered a new interest in playing a Vietnamese card game. This activity helps keep her mind active and can be shared. Lanchi and her sisters take turns playing with her in the evening, and during renewed weekend get-togethers. They then keep watch on their mother at night. The exception was in October when they traveled to Florida to see their aunties and uncles.  That trip offered more than they anticipated, as several elderly aunts and uncles got hospitalized. Their hectic hospital tours in Orlando also coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Milton. Their return flight got cancelled and they had to shuttle back and forth an aunt from North Carolina during the evacuation.

Having watched nearly every movie on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest American Films Of All Time", Lanchi and Tuan turned their attention to international cinema, using the meta-list compiled by TSPDT, an aggregate of 16,000 lists of the most critically acclaimed films. Many leave us puzzled, but all are interesting. The exception is war movies, which Lanchi doesn't want to watch.  However, by failing to screen the synopsis of "Come and See" we ended up watching the darkest of all!
Turning sixty, to better control glucose blood levels, Tuan tightened his diet and doubled down on daily morning exercise. The effort yielded modest results but also frustrations caused by joint problems. On occasion, he joined Lanchi with yard work, moving soil, and digging holes.  He was encouraged by a long-awaited successful ride during the summer, so when the winter season brought colder temperatures and harsher waves, he bought a warmer wetsuit instead of pausing surfing.  Besides a trip to the National Park of American Samoa with his friend Tommy, he continued to focus on local areas. He spent much time reflecting on his photography practice.  Although the year felt unproductive, he made enough progress photographing the Coyote Creek Trail to seed a book that would mark a new direction.

We wish you and all your loved ones a lunar year 2025 of the Snake full of happiness, health, prosperity, and success, and hope to hear some news from you.
Tuan, Lanchi, Vi-Van, Minh-Dan, Peanut
3373 Meadowlands Lane, San Jose CA 95135 (+1) 408-706-0894