There are moments in life when many things come together to make an experience extremely special. I think we had one of those "moments" this year. We really anticipated and were excited for the year; we made some deeper friendships than we imagined possible in this short time; the professional involvements for both Tracy and me were very interesting, dynamic, and stimulating; our church experience was fantastic; Stellenbosch turned out to be a wonderful location for our family; and the Western Cape is a magical location with so much to do. It all added up to a fantastic year.
Finally, I need to do some thank-yous.
* Calvin College and the Alumni Association for sabbatical funding.
* Stellenbosch University and Wikus at the CRSES for taking a chance on an unknown American engineer. And Jos for all her guideance through the year.
* CPUT for providing the opportunity to teach two classes, especially Mark and Howard with whom I worked most closely.
* Mark, Eve, and Jess at the Sustainability Institute for a stimulating year.
* The University of Stellenbosch students and staff members who participated in the Sustainability Think Tank (STT) for allowing my leadership during the course of the year.
* My students at both CPUT and Stellenbosch who worked so hard and from whom I learned so much.
* My parents and Jonathan for watching over our finances, house, and car back in the U.S.
* And, finally, Tracy for her love and support throughout the year and especially for bringing the kids home early by herself. That was a saintly act.
And, with this, I say goodbye to the blog.