Thanksgiving joy

Some things never change. It is still fun to gather with family for a holiday feast. Some family members are farther away, so once upon a time we called them on a phone, the old fashioned kind with a cord. Now phone live in pockets and only have cords when they need a charge, and the once mysterious picture phone call that was a treat one year for my grandfather's birthday is a regular occurrance. I wonder what my children will think is old fashioned from their childhood 30 years from now.Will they look back on the primitive laptop computers.Giggling with a toddler long distance is more fun than ever.Some technology never changes.Today we still use the same tools to carve the bird as in the good old days.

Managing food and pictures is an old art, which will never change as long as children are allowed forks at the table.

Eating with one's fingers works the same charms.

Sometimes I manage to catch them with smiles.

Finally the cook finds time to eat.
Glowing coasters are very entertaining.

Wandering about downtown

On Friday I was wandering about downtown, when I noticed that there seemed to be less water than usual spilling over the "falls." After a week of rain, which put me off my bicycle, I expected more than this.

All I found was a damp dam, moss and a small trickle. Around noon, I walked by again and there was a little more water wandering over the top, but nothing like last spring. For a city that claims the falls on everything in print and the doors of every city vehicle, one would think that keeping up appearances would take a higher priority.

Maybe we will have more water next June for graduation, which takes place about a 10 minute walk from here.

Take heed of this notice

I recently attended a meeting for my boy's ski team at a local health club. They seem to take a dim view of parents who let their children wander around. I did not have any children with me, so I was safe. I am impressed that 16 year olds qualify as adults. I thought that was when they were finally old enough to cause real trouble.

Halloween aftermath

This is what my niece did to her pumpkin. This is what I did to mine.

Fall is passing too quickly

Today the promise was rain mixed with snow. The mix would have been nice, but mostly we received a fine drizzle all day. I spent my time inside catching up with stacks of things in my office. I notice what I cleaned up, even if nobody else can see anything missing. I also had a fine chat with my sister about Thanksgiving and graduation and a few other things, which reminds me that if anyone who did not receive my email wants to come to graduation for my first child, it will be June 5, 2009 at the local arena. We would love to have lots of company for the event.

I thought I might put the snow tires back on the car today, but too many other people had the same idea, so I put it off. After being informed of the two hour wait, I asked when there was no waiting, and they suggested 7:00 AM when they open. If it was not raining now, I could move the tires from the shed to the back of the car tonight, but I am not sure I want wet tires in my car all night. I am not sure I want to store wet tires all winter either. Last spring the tires had a funny smell when they went back on the car. Maybe by Monday or Tuesday it will be drier. It is funny how fewer people are out buying snow tires on sunny days.

Winter is on the way, and my kids are looking forward to the snow.

Rain and leaves

Yesterday it rained, which caused all those pretty leaves to fall. I guess someone should pick them up now.

These sensible trees are keeping their leaves for a while longer. At least until it rains again.

Rain on election day did not dampen our spirits over here on the blue left coast. We did not walk the line, because we all vote by mail over here now. I miss the good old days of going down to the polling place to visit with all my neighbors. My brother had plenty of time to visit with lots of neighbors yesterday.

Today the sun is out, and I took a nice ride this morning. It is getting colder, but I will keep riding on days when roads are dry. I could get fenders, but that would mean I might need to ride when it is really sloppy out. Who needs that? I did see snow tires for the bike, but that is going a little too far for me, although the studs would make a cool noise when I ride.

In other news, I may not ride like Lance, but I agree with this statement he made about the Tour and the French press: "To them panache is the guy who suffers, who's swinging all over his bike and is about to fall off. I never found that an effective way to try and win." I try to stay on top of my bike too, but I do not do trials in windtunnels to sculpt my body.

What I see on my rides

Wandering around eastern Washington on my bike this fall, I found freshly mown fields. I found beautiful blue skies.

I found distant barns.

I found scenic vistas.

I found an opinionated corner.

Fresh fall leaves

Sometimes the best displays of fall color are no farther from my door than the back yard. Most of these have drifted down to the ground by now. Berries add a nice color to the mountain ash display.It was nice looking out at them for a couple of weeks. Now we are waiting for snow to paint the yard white.

Reflective shots

My girl is taking a digital photography class at school. Her latest assignment involved taking pictures of reflections. We took a trip downtown to find reflective surfaces worthy of capturing. Of course I took a few pictures while we were out.I was down here a earlier with my camera shooting from a different angle. Everyone loves the tower that was once part of a train station.Shiny buildings are fun too. Phantom was doing its last show in there while we were out here. My girl is there at the top of the stairs.Still waters above the dam. She must take after her cousin. She never misses an opportunity to play in fresh fall leaves.

Last Saturday was busy

We had two races and the local ski swap last Saturday. I managed to watch one of the races and make it to the ski swap. For some reason, I did not take pictures of the ski swap. My boy raced on the cross country course that my girl's school uses for all of their races. The little kids did not run the whole course, only the last mile of it, but it gave them a taste of what high school races are like, so many years from now, when they are old enough for high school, they may still want to run.
My girl's race was late enough that we would not have made it to the ski swap in time to find good skis for her brother, but early enough that we could not drive down and back before she ran. Some days are like that. Pictured here are the beginning, middle and end of his race.