A Christmas Story

I know it is a little late, but I thought 'the family' might like to see some photos from our Christmas. Weather was a factor, more than usual, this year. TOPWLH and I four wheel drive'd it to Grand Haven on the 23rd, between two storms. So we woke up in the Friedgen house on Christmas Eve morning. The girl COTU, who loves silky pajamas, was reading. Mary, Bloody Mary was the book she was engrossed in that day. Historical fiction. Her favorite genre.

Later that day we opened some gifts. This one was a list that OSLO and the SLO's had put together of all the reasons that they appreciated their father/grandfather this year. Nicely laminated, on Christmas paper. Very thoughtful, and much appreciated. A nicely framed photograph of grandfather, daughter and grandchildren came with it. His gene pool.

OSLO really liked the scarf, gloves, hat, sweaters and pajamas chosen for her by her children. I must say that they have excellent taste. I have, among other things, a new soup pot. Exactly what I wanted. Happy New Year to you all.

Season's Greetings

The Centers of the Universe were quite excited to have their grandparents spend a couple of days (and nights) with them. Roads have been treacherous along the lakeshore for about a week, and having the COTU travel back and forth to Grandma's house seemed ill advised.

The official snowfall for DECEMBER in Muskegon is 64.4 inches thus far. There has been 50.3 inches so far in Grand Rapids. Holland snowfall is probably closer to Muskegon than Grand Rapids, but either is a lot. Something around 20 is normal for both places.

Back to Back to Back

A pretty nasty storm blew threw here Thursday night through about 1 pm on Friday, depositing about 10 inches of snow in our driveway over the course of about 10 hours. It made for some white knuckle driving into the airport on Friday night to pick up TOPWLH, who miraculously found the only available window of opportunity and arrived less than two hours late.

The roads were too bad to risk having the gene pool out on them, but TOPWLH and I ventured north in our four wheel drive truck and visited them briefly yesterday, before the second round of snow and wind and drifting began late Saturday.

So far another ten inches of snow has fallen today, but the big deal is the wind. A 61 mph wind gust was reported at Spyglass this morning. The 'system snow' has been replaced by 'lake effect' which is likely to continue until the next storm arrives, currently predicted for late Tuesday afternoon.

There's not much to do but hunker down and wait it out. I apologize to my Minnesota readers who are dealing with their own version of the same thing, but I needed to vent. There is some talk that this may be the gloomiest month on record, with about 4% of available sunshine so far. So happy first official day of winter, family and friends.

John and Julian

About 9 guys -- all pretty much engineering types -- had dinner together at Portofino's recently. The food was excellent, I hear. For those of you not familiar with Portofino's, it is near the ferry building, seen here. Since central heating is not the norm, several of them wore jackets. Coolish for June -- er -- December.

Vermin

The only good thing about temperatures in the teens is that there are no warming shacks for squirrels. Our temperatures fell from the upper 40's last night to about 15 or so by mid morning. The resulting 'flash freeze' made for some tricky driving today, but it looks like the Minnesota blizzard missed us. Just some lake effect today. More snow is on tap for Tuesday night. It is shaping up to be a tough winter.

Yule

The tree is up, with some -- actually, a lot of help from the gene pool. Complaints were made about how skinny the tree is. I tried to downsize even further a few years ago, to a table top tree, but somehow I got outvoted. That seems to happen a lot.

Final Final

I gave my last final exam today. This is the room where I have spent 3 hours every Tuesday and Thursday morning since late August. From 8:00 until 11:00, give or take a few minutes. The last student finished up a bit before 5:00 this afternoon. After all those hours, I would have thought that I would have noticed that door in the back corner of the classroom before this. I wonder where it goes? It is in the science building, as evidenced by the periodic chart hanging on the back wall. I wonder if I'll miss it?

Some Snow

There was enough wind yesterday to blow away the snow that fell at the top of the bluff.

It piled up a bit more in the sheltered areas. No more storms forecast until Tuesday.

Basement View

Winter has settled in, with an unrelenting dumping of snow. The current winter storm warning goes through late tonight, with a lake effect snow warning continuing after that. The down side of life in the lee of a big lake. One report stated that we've had 14.5 inches of snow since Friday morning. I don't think it's been that much here, but our driveway was plowed out overnight, and it has completely filled in again.I found the headphones to my CD player/radio, and managed to keep myself motivated for a while on the treadmill this morning. I can't complain about the view, but it takes a while to adjust to a different form of exercise. I notice the difference a little exercise makes, though.

As mentioned elsewhere, the season is truly finis.

Thanks, Wireless

TOPWLH was complaining of the heat yesterday. 75 degrees, blue skies and sunshine he said. Funny, it almost sounded like he was in a different hemisphere, or something. Before it started snowing, the geese were flocking together for a mass flight out of the bay this morning. The shoreline looked quite a bit whiter by afternoon, and there is a winter storm warning until 4 pm tomorrow. The geese are gone, at least for now.

My November mileage report is about average for the month, 175 miles. I have good records for the last 7 years, and November this year was third from the top, fourth from the bottom. My long ride this month was 21 miles, the warmest temperature I rode in was 72 degrees on the 4th, the coldest was 33 degrees -- today. I rode three different bicycles during the course of the month -- today I rode the Elite for what is probably the last time this year, as the roads were clear and dry when I left -- about 15 miles. I was about a mile from home (return trip) when the first of the flurries hit my face. So I was well ahead of the promise I had made to OSLO that I would turn and head for home as soon as the first flake hit. Any rides in December will likely be short and on the Bianchi Advantage, with its fat and knobby tires. (Read 'traction.') The Ruby, as mentioned earlier, is in the basement. She's been in to the shop for a new chain, new ball bearings in the rear hub, a thorough soak and clean of the drive train components and the removal of a strip of aluminum from a rear brake pad. Apparently I should be wiping down my rims more regularly. Last winter got pretty serious about this time of year, and I rode only 78 miles in December. My personal rule is that only months where I ride 100 or more miles count as 'in season.' So an 11 month biking season in '08. This has happened twice before, in '02 and '03. I have never had a 12 month season.

Eat Walk Eat

The Gene Pool joined us for a pared down and slightly altered version of the traditional meal. We ate too much, and eventually ventured out into the neighborhood for some fresh air.

No one was harmed in the filming of this. We eventually returned to re-engage with the available food, and made a good dent in Lillie's cake.

Ruby's in the Basement

Benches With A View

May 2007. More snow and ice here today, though not as much as Monday. Kollen Park, on the south side of town, looking mostly west over Lake Macatawa.

Ferry Building

Auckland, March 2006. The brown brick building is the Ferry Building on Waitemata Harbor.

I H8 Snow

This is from Monday, with a similar amount of lake effect forecast for Thursday night into Friday. RB (Recumbent Biker) stuck his head in my office this morning and announced he'd biked yesterday. "What?" I screeched. "It's icy out there!" Apparently not where he lives. Zeeland. Grrrr. (This link expresses my general outlook of late. And it is kind of funny.)

Totally Jammin is 10

I believe that it was Unkie Herb who coined the name Totally Jammin. In spite -- or because -- of this, Unkie Herb is one of the boy's favorite people. He loved the video birthday card. Thanks, UH.

At Least 6 Inches of Snow

It isn't done snowing, either. The biking season has been replaced with the four wheel drive season. So it goes. Here are some photos I recently received from Charlotte Lee. They were going through Aunt Louise's old photos, and she had saved these. As a middle child, I resent the 'birth order' assumption, so these are in order of birthdays, throughout the year, last to first.

Somehow I still ended up third.

Left Arm

There were snow flurries in the air off and on all day. The Bianchi Advantage made its first appearance for a short ride around and through the woods this morning. So far there's only been a little slushy accumulation, but the clouds are dark and threatening more to come. The girl COTU is feeling a little bit under the weather today. Feel better soon, NF. We love you. And you have to be better by Tuesday so we can come and eat some of your brother's birthday cake. :-)

Fourteen Miles

It is mid month and inspiration is very hard to come by. I considered throwing in the towel, but I did take a bike ride and a picture this morning. I rode west and eventually ended up in Idlewood -- firearm deer season started this morning, so north is not currently an option. The roads were dry but temps were in the low 40's and the wind was harsh. Waiting for better weather is futile this time of year, and I do like to get out on my bike and see the change of seasons up close if possible. This is the picture -- looking back down the Idlewood hill towards Tunnel Park.

Time Machines

It is a cloudy, gray day -- and I have corners of the house I haven't looked into for years, too. TOPWLH had a 'procedure' done today, and he isn't supposed to be left alone for the rest of the day, so it seemed like a good time to dig through some old boxes. Here are a few of the things I found, mostly in order of the year in which the photos were taken. The girls are close enough in age that I'm not sure I got their order right. Very few babies were ever anywhere near as cute as the Prairie Princess. About 1984, maybe '83.

Except for Wireless, of course. Her doting parents chose the pink tulip display because it matched her outfit. Really. I'm not making this up. Tulip Time, probably 1984. Apparently it is occasionally warm in Holland in May.

And then there was this one, awfully cute as well. Though he looks to be holding his nose in the photo. Maybe 1980?

This one has 1970 written on the back of it. I do not know the name of the dog. (The results of the procedure were good, except he is supposed to eat a bunch more fiber. Aren't we all?)

Not Yet

First you rake the leaves, then you put up the Christmas decorations.

Kirchheimbolanden

Circa 1959, Germany. The SLO's love this photo, taken in the army barracks. That's a poster of Elvis on the wall. Probably not in the Smithsonian, but there because the German girls thought there was a striking resemblance. (Late Edit: TOPWLH says that this story may not be accurate. It is two photos, both of them are of TOPWLH. He also said that it is a good story, so he's okay with it.) The date on the letter inside the envelope below is May 27, 1970. I have a round tin full of old letters and such from around that date, from my brother, PFC Gene Miller. (This military money was in the tin.)

The letter lists 7 things he has not yet done. Number 6 was "Been promoted."

I also ran across a copy of a conversation between PFC Gene Miller and Mount Rainier. I think ownership of those letters sits with the author, and he should probably take custody of them. (Thank you very much.)

Lockdown

By order of the Ottawa County Health Department, the college will be closed until Wednesday morning. 400 peole have gotten sick so far. All of the academic buildings are locked, and our keypad access has been disabled. The office is off limits while cleaning crews try to kill off any lurking viruses. So while I have plenty to do, most of what I need to have in order to do it is behind locked doors. Times like these call for a bike ride. I don't know what the cold weather equivalent of "mad dogs and Englishmen" is. Perhaps sled dogs and Laplanders? It wasn't bone chilling cold, but there was still snow on the roof line when I returned. It takes a few rides in the cold every year for me to acclimate. And apparently I am not afraid of being labelled crazy.

I probably wore more layers than were strictly necessary. In spite of evidence to the contrary, I don't like being chilled. And I put hot water in my water bottle -- which was cold but not frozen by the time I reached my turnaround spot. Sand in the parking lot has built up enough to make it somewhat tricky trying to ride in and out of the State Park. I was not the only one there watching the waves crash on the pier, but I was the only one who had gotten there on a bicycle.

Same Spot

OSLO was not hard core enough to be willing to ride today. In fact, neither was I. If I were 10 miles from my annual goal, and today was December 31, then maybe. But not today -- snow showers and rain showers mixed. Kinda ugly. It was not ugly back in late July of 2005, though. At least not where I was. The location is buried in the photo -- sometimes it works if you just wave your cursor over the photo, sometimes you have to double click on the photo first, then wave the cursor over it.

Name This Landscape

Cold, rain, wind. No bike ride, but then no norovirus either. I found these photos of a place most of us have been.

Does it look at all familiar to anyone?

Hope College Closed

The flurry of emails regarding sick students started about the time I got home from work yesterday. Today the County and State Health Departments decided to close the campus and send everyone home at 1:00 pm after about 120 students became ill from what they think is a norovirus. It will remain officially closed at least until Tuesday at 8:00 am. So far I feel normal, and the word from the office is that none of our department faculty members have gotten sick yet. Tomorrow the cold and rain and snow will arrive here, they say. If so, today I took what may be my last ride this year to the PSPS. The photo of the stacks of picnic tables is from a park along Lake Mac -- just another sign that summer and fall are ending. More or less simultaneously.

Way Too Windy

March 24, 2007.

A Long Winter Coming

70?

This part of Michigan hasn't had a string of 70 degree days in November since the Reagan administration, I'm told. Today was the first day, with two or three more in the forecast. Warm days don't happen this late in the year without a strong south wind, and my legs were tired from yesterday's ride with OSLO. I took a short ride anyway. How could I not? The squirrels, vermin though they are, know that winter is coming, and are building nests.

Mad Dogs and Crazy People

GFR and Gzmoohoo long ago established their credentials for that group, as mentioned here. Today OSLO joined that 'elite' category. It was 39 degrees when we left the house, and with a SE wind, we also abandoned the most important corollary to the Auckland rule (ride out into the wind.) I thought we had both overdressed -- I was wrong. We even got caught in a few sprinkles about a mile from home, leading me to declare to OSLO that she was now officially a hard core biker. The PSPS sells cappuccino from a machine -- enough caffeine and sugar to fuel the ride home into the wind. Brrrrr.
Closed circuit to those who commented on this post. They made the girl COTU smile.

Maybe

Dear Wireless, -- I'm not ready to commit to NaBloPoMo, but if I don't post today it will be too late. So I am in for today, at least. :-)

November theme day is upon us. This bookcase is incredibly dusty, and the contents probably haven't changed much in 25 years. Some of the books originally belonged to the parents of TOPWLH. NaBloPoMo and theme day. Two birds with one post.