Our Lives Together

What makes and keeps a couple happy?

And answer it:

Nothing makes and keeps a couple happy.

How can that be? Simple – a couple is neither happy nor unhappy. Only individuals are happy or unhappy. What really needs to be asked is:

What is it that makes two people happy to be together, and happy to be alive?

Now we have a question that deserves a real answer:

A rich tapestry of shared experiences, and the certainty of love showed for one other.

To share experiences, we both feel that a wide range of common interests is essential. In our cases, interests tend to run more to passions. As the old saying goes "Anything in the world worth doing, is worth doing with passion." Our passions, in which we either revel together, or support each other, are:

A love of the outdoors and outdoor adventure.

From an early age, David has been fascinated with the outdoors. His mother is responsible for introducing him to skiing, hiking and bicycling when he was a pre-teen. When he met Bonnie , she was leading over 50 trips a year for various outdoor organizations. She since has cut down her trip-leading, but now serves on the board of directors of HI-American Youth Hostel and the MIT Outing Club. On almost every weekend of the year, at least one day is spent telemark skiing, whitewater kayaking, or mountain biking.

Some stories might give a better idea:

Our mountain biking trip to Moab Utah in 1998

Read the Pinwick papers

Jewish observance as an integral part of our lives.

Sharing our Jewish faith is something that we do every week, not just a few days a year. As members of The Progressive Chavurah, in which David is the Treasurer and Bonnie the email coordinator (chav-net, as we call it), we join with our community in welcoming in the Sabbath, observing the holidays and learning events. For the past couple of years, David has led, or co-led, the Kol Nidre and Neilah services on Yom Kippur.

Not all observance needs to be solemn; much is joyous or occasionally irreverent. Each year at the Holiday of Succot we build a succah, a temporary structure in which we eat our meals for eight days:

On Passover, we open our home for a large Passover Seder, and on the afternoon before Yom Kippur, we host a large meal to prepare for the fast of the coming day. Not to be forgotten, we do try to get into the spirit of Purim.

Travel and exploration

We work hard. We work really long hours some days. Sleep seems to be a luxury some days.  At certain times of the year, our days run into each other, with dinner starting at 1 AM, 2 AM, 3 AM. When we sit down to eat as the sun rises, we know it's time for a trip.

And so, off we go.  Usually, we manage to fit in several week-long trips a year, plus many long weekends. People who work the way we do often travel the same way.  As a result, we end up even more tired at the end of the trips than the beginning.

Some pictures of our trips to Death Valley, Tuscany, Colorado, the eclipse in Hungary, Belgium, the South of France and other places give a sense of the kind of travel we love to do together.

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Last modified: Tue Dec 28 15:18:14 EST 1999