Have A Happy New Year

OSLO, the COTU and family enjoyed their trip to Gasparilla Island yesterday.  I'm told that it was their favorite location so far in this part of the state.  Last night Brad fixed pork chops and steaks on the grill, and they all spent some time in the spa.  Except for some plumbing difficulties, everything is going smoothly thus far.

This morning OSLO and I took a walk before they packed their things up and headed north to spend the New Year's in Orlando.

Their destination is the Universal Studio theme parks -- the COTU are excited about seeing the Harry Potter themed attractions.  Their plan is to spend two days there, then return here late Sunday.  They'll still have a couple of days left to hang with the grand 'rents before they head back home late Tuesday.  That's next year.... It must be time to say those words again.  Happy New Year!

The Storm

Look what blew in behind the storm that came through here yesterday. Visitors from the north. The other two members of their traveling party were still doing breakfast and showers when we headed out for a morning walk, but all five of them are here. We are happy to see them.

They brought some cooler weather with them -- it's a good ten degrees cooler here today than it's been the last two weeks. Still, a high of 65 seemed to sound fine to them, and they have gone off to explore Boca Grande and Gasparilla Island for the day.

The Calm

Christmas was pretty quiet here, so I don't have much to report. Our dinner menu was traditional, except for dessert, where we decided to acknowledge our southern location, and had Key Lime pie.

I took the photo above of the butterfly outside our front door as I was returning from a walk around the neighborhood and the park on Christmas morning.

The cactus in this photo looks like it is about to bloom.  It also looks like someone had tried to string Christmas lights on it and gave up.

Winter in this part of the country sure looks strange.

Baiku

Sun warm on my back
Butterflies float in my face
Pedaling circles.

Long shadows cast
Whirring tires break the silence
Winter solstice ride.

Pondering

Subtitle: What I Think About While Riding My Bike.   Numbers, quite a bit.  A lot of geometry issues come up.  The Pythagorean Theorem gets a regular work out -- and just how much is the square root of 2?  The rules of triangles in general, figuring out which route to take.  Also, lots of word problems -- time vs. distance, mostly variations on how much further, how much longer?  (We never outgrow "are we there yet?")

Bigger numbers.  I've ridden 149 fewer miles so far this year than I rode in total last year.  While I certainly won't ride that much in the next 10 days, I'm pretty sure that I could, given sufficient motivation (and a better bike.)  Even so, I will likely be within spitting distance, or at least shouting distance, of last year's total by the end of the month.  Which leads me to ponder these questions.  Given this year's obstacle course, what the heck happened last year?  And where did the phrase "spitting distance" come from, anyway?  It's gross.  And so it goes.  (Bench photo courtesy of a ride today on my Fuji Absolute.)

Florida Winter

This year we decided to go without a land line here. Our cell phone package isn't really suited to being put on hold for long periods of time by the cable company, either. So if you need to get in touch with me, it is either the cell phone or email or Skype. We did get a gmail phone number through Google Voice that will also work. I can email it to anyone who thinks they may want it.

The roofers arrived at 7:15 this morning -- something about not working on the roof during the noon day sun, or something. The new ridge cap is on, but it isn't shingled over yet.

We Skyped with OSLO and TJ yesterday, and there is no snow on the ground there yet.  Yay.  Our front window, that was broken when the house was broken into this fall, was fixed this afternoon.  I made soup this morning.  I think that's all the news that I have that's fit to print.   (The photos are of Ollie's Pond Park, one taken on Saturday and the other one taken today.  You can tell that it is winter by the lack of leaves on the trees and bushes around the edge of the pond.)

Southern Exposure

Nothing is as easy as it used to be.  We have had no TV, no internet and no hot water since we got here.  Add in a leaky roof and a broken front window, and it has been a rocky start.  On the plus side, this is what it looked like outside my back door yesterday.  The sun has warmth even if the showers are cold.

I've accumulated a few Florida miles, but only a few.  Yesterday I rode my hybrid to the other side of Spring Lake and found a bench or two to photograph for the blog.  I hung out there for a while contemplating the fact that we've bought 3 new water heaters this year.  Life seems too complicated.

Today's ride was also short, a quick trip to the beach complex to check out the sea grapes.  

The cable guys were here for three hours this afternoon, and we now have both internet and TV.  A trip to Wal-Mart for a wireless router, some fumbling around with settings, and we're up and running.  The roofers and the GlassDoctor will arrive on Monday.  Progress.  I need a nap.

Santa's Elves

The Centers of the Universe (COTU) arrived on Saturday to help out with the details of getting ready for an early Christmas at Grandma's house.  "Scratch" sugar cookies are a tradition -- mostly so that we can re-tell the story of the year when TJ was just beginning to talk.  It was one of the first times that I involved the kids in the making of the sugar cookies -- from scratch, of course -- and I sent some of them home with them.  The next time he visited he went to the refrigerator, opened it, and asked "Do you have any more of that scratch, Grandma?"  (I love that story.)

The girl compared the cookie making process with what she is currently learning how to do in her ceramics class.  Not all that flattering to my cookie dough.  She liked the gingerbread man shape the best, even though it isn't really a Christmas character.  Nor does she eat sugar cookies.  But she's a patient baker.  As is TJ. 

Sunday the rest of their crew arrived for snacks and the exchange of gifts, then dinner.  Totally Jammin' made a chocolate pie for dessert -- the only kind of pie that he'll eat.  The cookies (and fudge) are gone, but there is still a little chocolate pie left.  I've absolutely had my allotment of refined carbs for the season. 

After the gifts, but before the dinner, five of us took a walk down to Tunnel Park.  There was a strong wind from the south, so we took the beach north, and walked back through the neighborhood to avoid the irritation of sand blowing in our faces.  DR, above, had to borrow an old jacket of JB's -- or freeze.  Actually, I think he did both.  The wind was both cold and fierce, and anyone without ear covering ended up with frozen, aching ears.

DR took the high road -- up the long stairs and down the running hill.  OSLO, the COTU and I went through the tunnel.  The stairs from the beach to the tunnel are completely blown over and buried under the sand, as you can sort of see in the background of this photo.   It is the first time we have celebrated Christmas at the beach house, and a walk on the beach seemed somehow appropriate to the occasion. 

Winter

Mall walking will be the exercise mode of choice for a while.

Season Over.

No Cows

I don't know where to even start looking for cows around here, but I do have access to a lighthouse, which has probably shown up on my blog even more often than cows have shown up on Mr. MooHoo's blog. Like the cows, I never get tired of it.

Taking photos into the sun, even in December, is not a sure thing.  The picture above turned out okay, but the end of the video below, where I pointed the camera at Big Red, and thus into the sun, went all weird and splotchy on me.  Fortunately I know how to do some basic editing, and I managed to cut out the worst of it.  Other than that bit, I like the video. 


These last couple of days our TV weather people have been encouraging us to be thankful for Lake Michigan, which is doing an admirable job of keeping us too warm for snow.  I think our lucky streak is about to end, with accumulating snow probably arriving tomorrow night.  It isn't supposed to be a lot however, and temperatures are expected to rebound into the upper 30's to near 40 on Monday.

It's been hard to keep my exercise discipline going this week.  I have to keep reminding myself that exercise has gone from being a good thing to being a necessary thing.  And I don't think shopping really qualifies as exercise, though it is more tiring.  We have three holiday related gatherings this week, plus we had dinner last night with some old friends.  That's a lot for people with our limited social skills. We may have to leave town in order to recover.

Too Cold, Still No Snow

The snow is still missing us here. That can't last much longer at this late date. I don't think that my last ride of the northern season has ever been to the PSPS. This year might be that year.

My secret weapon, an old cashmere sweater worn as a base layer, did its job and kept my core warm enough.  I rode straight north on Lakeshore to the PSPS cut-off at Idlewild.  I arrived too late for pigs, again.  I got a coffee instead, and cooled it off with the very cold water in my water bottle.  It was a sunny day, light breezes, only above freezing by a handful of degrees.  Firearm deer season is over and  I didn't want to miss a rare opportunity for December miles in Michigan.  It was nice to be out in the countryside again.

December comparisons are fun.  I've already passed two previous Decembers' mileage totals -- 5 miles in '08 and 11 miles in '05.  Today's ride also kept my streak of non-zero months going for another month.  (The last month with no recorded biking miles was January of '04.)   The COTU and I will be doing some holiday stuff this weekend, and next week looks cold with lake effect snow forecast through Wednesday.  So this might be it.  If so, it was one of my favorite rides to one of my favorite locations.  Normally I'd want some time off the bike before southern biking begins, but I've had a lot of time off the bike this year, and I'd be happy to keep riding here right up until we leave for Florida.

Hunkering down was a waste of time.

Lansing, about a 2 hour drive east of here, got 8.8 inches of snow yesterday. Battle Creek, about a 1.5 hour drive to our south-east, got 5.5 inches of snow, and Kalamazoo, an hour south of here, got 3.5 inches. This is what it looked like here today. (Sunny and low 40's.) Not a single flake.

A couple of days ago I said something along the lines of "now the season can be over."  Faithful commenter BDE asked this question.  " I noticed you said "now the season can be over." That does not mean it will be over. Or have you packed up your biking gear?"  Well, very astute question.  She was quite correct.  "Can be over" is not "over" -- it just meant that I'd accomplished everything that was kind of a big deal to me.  Mostly avoiding the lanterne rouge position in my own parade, if that makes any sense.  Today was an extremely nice day for the end of November, and I swear that I could even feel some heat from the low lying sun.  One of those solar flares reported by TT, perhaps?  Anyway, I got in a nice ride on Ruby, among the blueberry fields, and I can't imagine a better way to end this month.  I'll continue blogging, but the daily posts will end with this one.  It looks good for a December ride or two here, at least.  So -- carry on.  You all did great.  I enjoyed the show.

Just Blogging About Blogging

Under normal circumstances, today would not have had a blog post.  We're sitting around waiting for rain and snow to arrive.  The radar indicates that it is here now, but I just came in from a walk, and there's nothing falling yet.  It is cold, gray and windy, though.  November like.

But this is the blog every day for a month month, so I took my camera with me when I took my walk.  I finally figured out that the only way to walk the beach when there is this much wind is to do a one way walk.  Otherwise the sand blasting in my face would require goggles, or something.  I went down the stairs at the north access point.  With a NNE wind, it wasn't too bad down there, at least heading south.

Here's evidence of why I like dune grass so much.  It's doing what it is supposed to do -- holding the sand, and building new dunes.  Cool, huh?

This sort of beach usually means that the lake is about to take back a bunch of sand from the beach.  First it carves it up a bit, then it washes it away.

This was a sand pattern I hadn't seen before.  It looked like it might be frozen, though I didn't think it was quite cold enough for that.


I haven't posted a video yet this month. Nablopomo wouldn't be complete without at least one. I don't have a cat, but I do have access to a beach. So here's 23 seconds of your life that you'll never get back again.

Unfinished Business

First I had to clean the Elite and lube the chain, the price for riding yesterday in a sloppy mess.  But eventually I got it all together and got out for a bike ride today.  Pretty much as expected, I rode 17.07 miles.  Not long by many standards, but plenty long enough by mine, especially when ridden in 37 degree temperatures.  17 was the magic number of miles that I was looking for.

The completion of those miles resulted in the some very satisfying statistics.  My year to date mileage is now 2,589.  One mile more than I rode in all of 2004, thereby lifting this year out of the cellar for the 10 years for which I have records.  (2,589 miles is far enough to ride from Holland to Port Charlotte and back.  I didn't do that of course, because it took 11 months to accumulate that total.  But still.)

It also put the miles on the Elite, my "old" bicycle, at 12,000.  This gives me two bicycles that each have more than 12,000 miles on them.  (The Ruby has 13,482 miles.)  That's 25,482 miles added together, or enough miles to ride completely around the earth at the equator. Though that would be hard to do on a bicycle.  What with all that water and stuff.    Okay, now the season can be over.

Quiet Sunday

I spent today reading, eating and riding my bike. It drizzled during much of the 1.5 hours I was riding, so my camera didn't come out of my pocket. I took this photo of the rose bush next to our driveway a couple of days ago. It seems too late in the year for roses to be budding out, so this must be the rose bush equivalent of the Kelsey Tree.

Why would I ride on a day when it was 40 degrees when I left, 37 when I returned, and it was drizzling? The odometer on the Elite says 11,983 miles, that's why. One more ride.

Working off some of the turkey.

When the wind blew this hard when I was living at the bay house, I'd just ride around in the beech woods, using the houses and the trees to screen out the worst of the gusts.  I could get a 10 mile ride in without crossing Ottawa Beach Road by riding up and down every street and around ever cul-de-sac.

I did something similar on today's ride, exploring all of the side streets and staying in the neighborhoods as much as possible, hiding from the wind.  I rode for an hour and a half and never got further than 5 miles from home.  Holiday decorating was in full swing -- when I first looked at the white thing on this mailbox, it looked like a dog.  I finally decided it was supposed to be a polar bear.  The house behind the reindeer also has a non-rectangular window or two.  It seems that there are quite a few of those.  Maybe more than benches.

I rode down another street -- they all blur together at this point, but it was south of James St. somewhere -- and saw this flock of turkeys.  They seemed to know Thanksgiving was over and they were safe for now.  None of them even bothered to run as I rode past them -- twice.  We still don't have any snow on the ground here, though rain mixed with snow showers is forecast for tomorrow.  December looms.

Sand Shadows

I thought I'd do something different on the blog today. My original plan was to ride my bike to the marina and take some photos of the acres of empty dock slips and the big shrink wrapped sailboats sitting in dry dock. That part of the plan worked fine, but when I took out my camera -- "NO MEMORY CARD" was displayed on its screen. So here is plan B.

Turkey Day

The girl COTU, eating leftover chocolate cake from TJ's birthday. She's not a fan of pumpkin pie or apple crisp. We cooked, we ate, we cleared things up, then we took a walk around the neighborhood.

OSLO brought the pumpkin pie (from Russ'), the green bean casserole, rolls and chocolate cake.  She went home with as much food as she brought, I believe.  It was all good.  Here she's enjoying a piece of Opal's apple crisp.  Very good, as usual.  Someone thank Opal for me, please?  It is a very popular dessert here.

Totally Jammin' ate more mashed potatoes than seemed physically possible.  He needed his own gravy dish.  (We had three gravy dishes on the table.  It's just easier that way.)

Brad's niece Reggie traded places with Dalton for the weekend, and joined us to make a total of 9.  She's a nice addition to the group.  The three teenagers enjoy hanging out together.  Ryan brought an excellent baked shrimp dish -- he's a pretty good cook.  He and Mallory had to pace themselves -- they were going to his grandparents' house for another dinner this evening. 

Mallory has been here often enough that she seems to be getting comfortable with us.  A good thing.

JB and Brad missed out on the picture taking session -- napping and football took precedence over eating dessert and taking a walk.  (JB just napped and Brad did both.  The Lions lost.)  OSLO and her crew were also double dipping today -- they were heading over to the COTU's other grandmother's house for second dessert.    Happy Thanksgiving, family.  I hope your day was as nice as mine.

Thanksgiving Eve

I rode for an hour both yesterday and today. These short rides mess up my average ride length stats, but get me outside and exercising for the required length of time. Yesterday was cold and windy -- and once again I was ridiculously slow. I did see a few early season decorations in people's yards. This one was along Quincy.

Today was warmer and I was determined to pick up my average speed a little bit -- apparently just waiting for it to come back up isn't a good strategy.  The extra effort helped -- I was still slow by my usual summer standards, but at least it was comfortably in double digits.  It felt like harder work than I've done for a while, and I felt a little nappy before supper, but rallied eventually. On a slightly related note I checked the odometer on the Elite when I got home and it currently reads 11,934.  It seems unlikely that there are more than a couple of bike rides left here this year, so I'll have to wait until Spring to report that I have two bikes with more than 12,000 miles on them.  Something to look forward to.

Lynne stopped by briefly on her way to her daughter's in Kalamazoo for the weekend, and said to wish the Minnesota members of team Santini e Fratelli a happy Thanksgiving from her.  Done.

I'm doing a little pre-holiday prep work.  The wild rice is cooked (I make the stuffing in the big blue bowl), the jello-cranberry-apple-orange-pineapple-celery salad is supposed to chill overnight, so it's done, as well.  I think that all I have left to do tonight is to make some apple crisp.

Holiday Prep

There is a recipe here for cranberry bread.  It smells great.  I will also be making Opal's apple crisp.  OSLO is bringing the pumpkin pie. 

The current count for Thanksgiving dinner here has risen to 9. 

Men Working

My current mantra is "there is nothing more important than exercise." I don't really mean that, of course. But "there are only a handful of things that are more important than exercise" is a bit awkward, as mantras go. Apparently my other mantra is "conserve energy, especially my own." It's this second mantra that explains what I'm doing today, which is watching men work.

Today Dave and his crew (also known as Beaver Creek Landscaping) did their final fall clean up of the yard at the beach.  They did a nice job -- not a leaf or a loose twig in sight.

They'll be back next week to mow the grass one more time.  Both the front and the back look good, I think.  I like Dave.  He also plows our snow.  He saves me a bunch of work.

Off topic -- as long as I was outside with my camera on a sunny day (!) I took a picture of the beach. The big winds of last week shifted some sand around, and some of it is currently hanging out in front of our place.  JB's new weather station is also pictured -- he loves the wind speed function on it.

 My other big task for today, besides admiring Dave's crew's work, was to supervise Chris.  That's his car in our driveway.  (Isn't the light great today?) Chris is the new guy who cleans my house.  He hasn't been at this house before, and he laughed out loud when he saw the elevator.  And immediately found a use for it, transporting all of his cleaning supplies upstairs.  He plans to offer a discount to all of his clients with two story houses that have an elevator.

It occurs to me that some might think that I'm not conserving my energy -- that in reality I'm a lazy a** bum.  Well, perhaps.  I am actively planning Thanksgiving dinner, however.  It will be here at the beach, something we've never done before.  Though we've had lots of big meals here, including once where I had to call JB and have him bring over an extra plate because there were more people eating than I had plates for.  (That's no longer an issue.  More plates have arrived.)  There will be 'just' 8 of us, I believe.  OSLO is bringing a couple of dishes, as is Mallory.  More energy savings.  I'm getting pretty good at this.