Christmas Letter 2024 from the Gray Nomad

Greetings from Albuquerque. Its mid-winter, and this pic shows how mysterious the snow and mist can make Sandia Peak look, as snapped from my upper deck.

The year started with a bang on my 80th birthday in January. My step-daughter Kim came with Mary Ann from Kansas and they helped organize the party. Lots of pickleball friends gave me a roasting, with tons of laughs. At this ripe age, I’m truly grateful to family and friends both here and in Kansas.

Last month completed my fourth year with Forbes.com, the online digital version of Forbes magazine. I’ve contributed almost 160 articles in that time. It’s been an honor. I spend about three days writing each article about fossil energy and the transition to renewable energies like wind and solar, directed at Forbe’s business readers but my articles are generally readable by intelligent laypersons.

The first half of a new article is tough, figuring out what to write about and getting the starter words down. But the finishing half brings a certain fulfilment. Occasionally in 2024 the editor’s chose to make my article an “editor’s pick”. The last two times this happened, my articles got 75,000 and 35,000 hits. For most other articles I write, I try to get at least 1,000 hits. I’m forever grateful to my editor and Forbes.com for taking a chance on me being able to adapt to a news reporter.

My assistant Gillian stores these Forbes.com articles in my website www.IanDexterPalmer.com so in there you can find and read any or all of the articles I have written, as well as my personal blogs. If you’d like to subscribe to the website (its free and your email is protected), you will receive a new email each time I send out a new personal blog, and in the email is a link to the new blog, plus access to all the Forbes articles. If you’re not already a subscriber, just click on the subscribe box in the website, and enter your email.

About a year ago, I decided to patch together a bunch of my Forbes articles into a book. It took about 6 months of hard work, but the book was published by a UK company, and the hardback version turned out very nicely. The book is called How Oil and Gas Companies are Pivoting Toward Climate Change. By emphasizing fact-based data I tried to make it a “neutral” book. You can read about it in my website www.IanDexterPalmer, where you are reading this now. The website also has some reviews of the book, some from experts, and some from intelligent laymen. Here is one courtesy of Randy Bunn, an attorney from Tulsa, Oklahoma:

“Dr. Palmer presents a balanced and objective view of an industry which receives a great deal of criticism these days, and yet provides a commodity without which our modern society cannot currently function. He tells the reader how we got to this point of fossil energy dependence and how even the large oil companies are investing resources in alternative sources of energy such as hydrogen, ammonia, solar and wind energy among others. It is clear that change is coming in energy production and consumption. Dr. Palmer sets out a clear vision of what is being done and what needs to be done to make the eventual transition from fossil fuel to renewables. It is a book that will serve the oil and gas industry insider as well as the person on the street who is concerned about getting to work, and the health of the planet.”

In January of 2024, Mary Ann and Kim and I spent two weeks in Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix. They have an arts-walk every Thursday evening, and an arts and craft market on Saturday mornings, which I love. One trip we bought Mary Ann a brown wig that has a reddish tinge. We all think it suits her very well. The weather is terrific in winter: 60-70 F max daytime and the sun always shines.

Of course this is perfect for rock-hounding, and we all went to Saddle Mountain, about 30 miles west of Phoenix.

Mary Ann sat in a comfy chair while Kim and I walked around and collected fire agates. In January 2025, we are going again with Lisa, and we hope to climb to the top of the Mountain. We’ll see if grandkid’s Kelby, Kara, and Jaden can keep up with Kim and me!

In late September, Kim and I zoomed off to Utah, where I had read there were lots of rocks to be picked up. West of Moab lies San Rafael Swell, which means its an enormous range of hills and mountains rising out the flat plain.

Goblin Valley is a sight to see. Also the slot canyon, which is the best I’ve ever seen. We both felt a little claustro when the walls pinched in on us, so we turned around and went back. The rock in the pic is a red agate, and very pretty. Kim and I found buckets of these.

Christmas is upon us, and I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Christmas memories. When we were married, Mary Ann and I long-ago spent a Christmas in Tucson, Arizona.

Its serious desert down there, and really hot in the summer, but in winter its wonderful weather on most days. We went to church for a candlelight service on Christmas Eve, which has always been special to me. Back at the hotel, it started snowing, but they had a hot-tub. It was dark when we settled in the hot tub, which was outdoors, where it was still snowing. This was remarkable, because it rarely snows in Tucson, and here we were hot-tubbing in the snow on Christmas Eve. This was a Silent Night and a Holy Night to remember!

God bless you all this 2024 Christmas.
The Gray Nomad.

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Your sun shall no more go down,

nor shall your moon withdraw itself;

for the Lord shall be your everlasting light,

and the days of your mourning shall be ended.

[Isaiah, chapter 60]
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