New year, new life

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

I’m back. Sort of. I’m here at my good ol’ desk in our still new, but super homey, digs at 760 Margrave Drive, enjoying the comforting bustle of the newsroom on a production day: my colleagues typing away, the printer zapping out proof pages, our jovial sales staff giggling down the hall, and the familiar sounds of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians—one of my favorite pieces of “writing music”—playing softly on my headphones.

But, my thoughts keep turning back to the sweet little baby and his beautiful mama at home in our bedroom, which never looked more comfortable than when I had to leave this morning.

So, yes, our new son, Clyde Leonard Bynum, was born on Dec. 1, and Margot and I have managed to keep him alive, happy and healthy for a month now. Not sure if that’s a small miracle or a major one. We celebrated his one-month birthday, as well as the beginning of the new year, with a quick weekend jaunt down to San Francisco, where he got to meet a couple of his aunts and watch his older sisters go nuts shopping in the Japan Center malls. Baby’s first road trip was a success.

And don’t get me wrong. I’m excited to be back at work at a job I love. I’m also thankful to live and work in this strange and beautiful community. I’m excited about this issue. Arts Editor Kris Vagner wrote a great feature story about Stewart Indian School, highlighting a part of our local history that too easily gets overlooked.

And I’ll be back to my old self—cracking dumb jokes, hungry for new tastes, annoyed at local politicians, and excited for local music—again in no time. But do you know what I’m most excited about right now? My adept diaper-changing technique. The serene, dream-like beauty of a mother nursing in the middle of the night. The warm and fuzzy magic of watching an infant learn to smile.

Happy new year!