It’s been a disappointing summer for sunset viewing from my deck. Smoke and haze mostly, and clouds hugging the horizon. Oddly, this has also been the most time in years that my deck has been occupied at that hour. Last night the smoke and haze had been somewhat cleared by rain and a cold front sweeping through.
It was just the 3 of us and the dog, pretty much our usual group. A nice way to end the day.
Eight of us had dinner at the Crazy Horse restaurant on Tuesday. We’re all connected in a variety of ways, but the neighborhood is a big part of that. The photo is from later that evening, or as one of my birthday cards said, “a party without cake is just a meeting.” A good time was had by all.
JZ took the photo, for anyone who is counting.
I’ve heard it said, with respect to bike miles, that you can’t count ‘em til you ride them. Inspired by my niece who rode her age in miles on her birthday this year, I came up with a plan for a birthday ride that was within my comfort zone. Numbers will do most anything you want them to, so I accomplished my goal by just moving the decimal point.
This was my destination — it’s not far enough so there was a lot of just riding around neighborhoods to get to my goal.
It all counts.
It’s birthday week here on the mountain. All 3 of us (you know who they are) have birthdays within a week of each other. Nine years ago we started celebrating our combined birthdays together, noting at the time that our combined ages added up to 200 years. This year it’s 227, of course. 9 years times three people is 27 more years. Tuesday was dinner at LH’s for birthday number one, for the youngest member of this group. Yesterday we just gathered for cake and ice cream before taking a sunset walk around the neighborhood. Logistics being what they are, I made both cakes this year. Lemon blueberry on Tuesday, a gluten free yellow cake yesterday to accommodate some of the other guests in attendance. This turns out to be a lot of cake for me — essentially a pie person. Here’s photos.
Both of my house guests left this morning, so quiet has descended on the northern ranch. Not that it ever got very rowdy with them here, but it’s noticeable. The 9:00 am trip to the airport went off without a hitch, and I’d only been back a few minutes when my friend who has been in Italy for two weeks stopped in to pick up her dog. She brought me a really nice gift, demonstrating just how well my friends know me.
Santini. World Champion jersey. Bicycling. Athletic fit, and she got the right size.
My sister-in-law arrived Tuesday morning, a smooth flight and on time. The Michigan clan gathered for an easy supper here at the beach that night. Charlie the dog, my other house guest this week, seems fine with all the people. Wednesday was an all day rain, a recovery day, Thursday evening the Grands joined us in downtown Holland to walk 8th street and enjoy the street performers — the city closes off the street on Thursday evenings and there was a nice family oriented crowd. Captain Sundae capped our evening. Last night was the Friday night concert at the bandshell in Kollen Park on the south side of Lake Mac. Today looks like a quiet day with white caps on the lake and a high dew point making outdoor activities uncomfortable. Tomorrow we’re planning family dinner number 2 before our guest returns to the tundra.
I think I’ll just post this sunset photo for now and hope it triggers a few more posts soon. I have photos to use and a few bike rides to mention, so it shouldn’t be too hard. And I have company this week, a visitor from the Tundra.
