Tonight was the extended family Xmas dinner. About 45 people showed up. Its difficult to remember them all.  I know all of the cousins, a quarter of their spouses and none of there kids.

It was good to catch up with everybody. Even though I share nothing in common with them, I enjoyed it very much.

At my parents, it's snowy and frozen. 10F if you'd like to know. Back home it's 55F.

Mom is in the hospital. Her heart was racing this morning. It does that from time to time. She will be OK.

She is supposed to rest more, but she's not good at that. Yesterday was the Family XMAS dinner. Rather than making Dad and I do most of the work. She pitched in and worked hard. Now she's paying for it today.

Dad said, that when her heart races, all she is supposed to do is to lay down and rest. However she is so high strung, that she can't rest. She has to go to the hospital, or the thought of it makes it worse.

Am visiting my parents now. I took a red eye into Toronto, spent the day with a few friends, and there kids, then drove up to my parents. The weather is very plesant here, though plesant for the Ottawa Valley means snow and just a little below freezing.

It's almost Christmas. The weather is very warm here. I've been taking the motorcycle out every weekend.

The fall leaves have washed away. Now the forests are green again with sword ferns and fir trees.

I've been feeling something new lately-- moments of peace or calm. Sometimes it happens on the motorcycle. Other times it happens when I'm walking along a stream, or just sitting and listening to good music. I haven't felt that for a long time.

The Uninvited...A few weeks back Sandy threw a pre-Thanksgiving party. We were invited and accepted. But then I got a call from Sandy. He Uninvited us! He was very apologetic but told me he needed the party to be very calm and RO was not a calm man.

I blew him off.

Then, weeks later, BIB and I were talking. BIB mentioned that Sandy invited him over for the pre-Thanksgiving party, but then called him up and uninvited him. An ex of BIB's would be there and Sandy needed the party to be calm, so rather than risk the drama, he un-invited BIB.

It was very weird.

We are having ä big winter rain. I had to do some last minute gutter cleaning and repairs, but that is finished now. My wet feet are being warmed up by the fire.

RO and I spent the last few days at a resort on the pacific ocean. It was windy and cloudy the whole time we were there. None this less, I had a great time. The resort had great food and a nice spa. And I discovered I can spend hours watching the waves roll in. Very peaceful.

It's RO's birthday today. We are heading to the ocean for a few days. It'll be the first time he's been away from work in a very long time.

The ocean in Washington State is not the pleasant paradise you'd hope it is. It's always cold windy rainy and cloudy. Take a look at this ad which spoofs our ocean beaches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XBOorGPE-Q

So, this will be a quiet vacation. Lots of hiking. I've also booked us in at a spa.

I've decided that I want to hike all the trails on Cougar, Squak and Tiger mountains. These are small mountains. If I stick to it, I should finish in less than a year. Cougar mountain is already mostly done.

Saturday, RO and I went to a wine and oyster tasting. It was a good experience. The manager said they shucked and served two dozen oysters per person.

We won the door prize-- gift cards and a good bottle of wine.

Andie and Erik are expecting a kid. They are having a baby boy, due in March.

When Andie and Erik got married RO and I wondered if it was a shotgun wedding. They were married last April. I guess March is out of the shotgun zone.

No rain this weekend. Instead it's sunny and cold. I hike up Squak Mountain on Saturday. Then on Sunday to Coal Creek falls. Afterwards I took the bike out for a ride. I got very chilled as I drove. My hands got stiff. Still, it was great.

This blog is eleven years old. I forgot all about it's anniversary. Facebook appears to be taking over from blogs. I haven't abandoned the blog for Facebook just yet, as the blog lets me write a little more.

Oh yeah, SJP, I know you read this. Say 'Hi' to me sometime!

I took the motorcycled for a ride today. Perhaps one if the last rides before winter sets in.

Its very relaxing to ride. Motorcycles are the opposite of automatic. You have to focus on its operation every second-- the manual transmission, the two breaks, the throttle. The speed of an automatic is self regulating. Hold the gas pedal steady and the velocity stays steady. Not so with a manual motorcycle. Constant adjustments are necessary for corners and hills.

Then there is the fact that a motorcycle's small profile means more drivers don't see you. So I also must focus on driving defensively and constantly plan the next ten seconds of my route to avoid the places a careless driver could stray into.

The result is that while I ride, all my day to day worries are pushed out of my brain.

At the end, when i get off the motorcycle, when I no longer need to focus or sit properly, I feel very relaxed and at peace.

Old Mail

RO and I have been cleaning out the house. We found a stash of four year old mail that we never dealt with. It was sent to this address but intended for the prevous owners.  There was a Christmas card and an anniversary card.

We tracked down the old owners, Bing makes that easy, and we had an interesting conversation.

The anniversary card-- the previous owners are now divorced. The sender of the anniversary card is dead.

The Chrismas card-- send from a couple that's now divorced.

Yo and his girlfiednd the Angel were laying in bed at the Angel's apartment in Bellevue. Outside they heard a drunk lady with an blackcent shouting at the top of her lungs.

Yo said to the Angel "What's a black woman doing in Bellevue?"

The Angel answered "Are you racist?" She was a bit offended that Yo would make such a comment.

As if prompted the black lady shouted "Am I the only black women in Bellevue Washington? Where are the other niggers! Certainly not here."

Yo kept his mouth shut.

Fall came so quickly.

A week ago, it was mid eighties and sunny. Today it is mid sixties and rainy. Typical Seattle fall weather.

RO and I have bought two rocking chairs for our front porch. Something to sit in with a nice wool blanked over your lap and enjoy a glass of wine wine while we watch the drizzle.

I am aware how old this makes me sound. I would say that I am growing happy with simplicity.

BIB and I went hiking today for the first time since early August. He was worried that he  couldn't make it up the mountain; that he lost his conditioning. He did just fine. He is dating a man. They like each other. Both of them are healthy and HIV+. I wish them the best.

My neighbor's car's windshield was getting cloudy. Not foggy on the inside. The glass was turning opaque.

He knew his insurance company paid to replace broken windshields but wasn't sure if it would do so for cloudy windshields.

So he smashed it with a baseball bat.

The weather has been wonderful here. I very much appreciate it. Last year, right after Labor Day, the rains returned. This year, it's sunny with highs in the 80s and overnight lows in the 50s. Perfect weather to be outside. Perfect weather to sleep.

Sunday, Clem and I went swimming at the local beach. There have been no life guards since Labar Day. None the less, the beach is packed with everyone having fun.

I got a nice new BBQ. An infrared one, on Tommy's advice. It makes wonderful rotisserie chicken.

Last night, RO and I went out for pizza and beer. We stopped in at the new bear bar. I many of the guys there where old acquaintances-- Behr, C4, J, L,S, people I haven't seen in a very long time.

About six months ago C6 had a heart transplant. He said he feels wonderful now. C6 carries a picture of the man whose death gave him his heart.