Welcome once again from the Pacific Northwest ...
my initial draft of this is being typed on a laptop computer while
on a ferry from Bremerton to Seattle on Thanksgiving Eve.
Stuffing your face with turkey and watching football while going
into mindless glycemic bliss ... what a great tradition! After
an hour has passed, the battle cry of "where's the pie"
echoes throughout the house ... one MUST sustain the delirium at
least until the end of the game! Speaking of traditions,
tomorrow is one of the few days I have free to Christmas shop ...
the day after Thanksgiving always reminds me of the "Night of
the Living Dead", tens of thousands of expressionless creatures
wandering about ... I just blurt out a "mooooo"
periodically to give me that warm feeling of kinship among the
masses.
This weekend begins the third consecutive season of "Ski
King" Instructor Clinics ... I'll be the oldest living cadet
(you see you're a "cadet" until you make
instructor). The clinic instructors are masters at
discerning diminutive flaws in ski technique ... some of their
observations and exercises are beginning to produce positive
results. No more face plants and body sculpture
"indentations'' in the snow! "Isn't that your
profile in that mogul over there?" I try to leave a mark
where ever I go and whatever I do. The Ski King group consists
of about 75 instructors and cadets ... who manage to make everyone
feel like family. At the "End of the Season" party
at Steven's Pass last year Nora, Jodi and I built a six foot snow
bunny ... it was quite entertaining to watch all the Asian tourists
stop and take their pictures next to it.
This was definitely the year of nuptial
agreements ... witnessed a score of the ritual events this year ...
hope you all realize the pressure this puts me under! But it
was fun partying with Marcia and Ed in Maui on their
honeymoon. I'm running low on unique wedding gift ideas
... you just can't find veg-o-matics anymore.
This year's formal vacation was spent in Hawaii with Nora, Jeff and
Lisa. Jeff's an old college bud from Wright State University
(where? ... well it's not the University of Washington but did
provide an affordable quality education). That really sounds
like a used car commercial doesn't it? Most of my memories of
school center around pizza and beer in the campus "Rathskeller"
and getting kicked out of the library for being rowdy. Anyway
while on Oahu we hit Waikiki, shopped and piled in the van and
headed north to watch the "Banzai Pipeline" boardheads do
their thing. We did our tourist stint stopping at the Dole
pineapple plantation and snorkeling at Hanuama Bay. Our Maui
stay included a luau, a helicopter tour of the island, several days
of snorkeling, a few great culinary adventures and endless "powershopping".
We had one day of snorkeling where underwater visibility was a
hundred feet ... the tropical fish colors and the multitudes along
the reefs made for one of the most memorable experiences of my life.
The woman and I took the AMTRAC down to Portland
and stayed in a quaint Bed and Breakfast on a weekend escape.
Something about riding on a train causes one's thoughts to
transgress into an era of simple comforts and romanticism. We
took my parental units on the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad dinner
train this year for their 42nd wedding anniversary.
One
of the more unique concert experiences this year was attending the
Sting concert at the Champs de Brionne winery in George
(Washington). George is a small town whose claim to fame is a
beautiful natural amphitheater, which overlooks the entire Columbia
River basin. Incredible setting for a concert ... they are host to
some of the greatest musicians because of their one-of-a-kind stage
background. Another concert of note was Eric Johnson whose
album "A Via Musicom" ranks in the top ten of my
collection. My friend Lauren's daughter Kristen Barry
was in concert with Ann and Nancy Wilson (of Heart) in a small pub
in North Seattle ... great atmosphere for such a rare event.
She is now in the midst of producing an album with a record contract
in hand ... quite an accomplishment for someone so young.
A small group of us got together and "played
the ponies" at the final season of Longacres (Seattle's
only horse racing track). Nora and I won 7 of 9 races and trotted
off with $75 in winnings (from $2 bets). It's sad to watch
such a unique form of entertainment being bulldozed so that Boeing
can build another plant.
Cultural experiences included Andrew Lloyd
Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" in Vancouver, BC by the
National Canadian Touring Company. It was the most elaborate
and flawless performance I have ever had the privilege to
witness. The music was hauntingly beautiful and the
stage wizardry and settings must have cost millions to engineer and
produce ... unforgettable! We also managed to afford half
season tickets to the ACT Theater and Pacific Northwest Ballet
locally. Seeing computer-controlled fireworks synchronized to
the Seattle Symphony at an outdoor Fourth of July celebration was
another notable activity of the summer.
The University of Washington Huskies have been
awesome this year and I was fortunate enough to attend a few of the
games. We were the unruly group waving big plastic "dawg
bones" over our heads and screaming "Rose Bowl"!
Speaking of the Rose Bowl. A pack of us are flying down to
Pasadena for the Husky New Year's Eve party, the parade and the game
the following day. Washington against Michigan will surely prove to
be one of the better battles of the year. Watch for us in the
stadium stands!
The '82 Datsun 200SX was replaced this year with
a new '91 Honda Accord EX. It's a white four door with a nice
blue-gray interior. It came with a moon roof and I added a
rear spoiler so I wouldn't appear too much like a "middle aged
family type". The most important factor in the selection
process was back seat comfort (the Datsun had it if you were a
midget with no legs)! Since I don't know any short amputees I
figured the Honda was a good choice.
Our softball motto used to be "it's not how
good you are it's how good you look". Well ... the
softball team got a new sponsor and nice blue uniforms and still
finished about as well as the Seattle Mariners ... but we "look
good''! Still playing volleyball weekly about half the year
also. A few river rafting trips, some rousing Whirlyball games
and a couple of months of weight lifting about wrapped up the year's
sporting activities.
The landscaping project took most of spring and
all summer, but IT'S DONE! I had quite a bit of help between
Nora and my father with results exceeding expectations. The
yard is an interesting design of exposed aggregate sidewalks and
planters, the deck and a mortared rock riverbed roughly paralleling
an extended upraised rock berm. The biggest task was
installing an underground sprinkling system ... which took several
months to get right. I've planted quite a bit of bamboo,
trees, shrubs and grass. Yes I finally have grass now ... I
guess I'll have to pull the cord on the lawnmower again (sigh).
I also managed to install landscaping lights along the riverbed and
fixed the hot tub. Next year's project is a two car garage (to
be contracted out) and an exposed aggregate driveway. With a
leaky roof, I guess I'll have to have the roof done also. Look
there's a glimmer at the end of the tunnel ... I BELIEVE!
Another year should do it.
