Christmas 2016 – Our day started at a relatively reasonable hour. As with many families the youngest member got us up and moving – even though she was in NYC. She had people to see and places to be, so we got on Skype to say our Merry Christmas. It was a bit reminiscent of when the kids were very young and would literally take most of the day to open their presents. [They would stop and play with each as it was opened.] We had several phone calls with grandparents that included statements like, “We don’t know whether they like it, we have not opened it yet.”]
After breakfast, coffee and presents, we made contact with other far-flung family members, had a snack and set out into the fairly deserted streets. The percentage of walkers to drivers was definitely higher than normal. We figured some were walking off their dinner. We, on the other hand, were building up our appetites. Our path meandered a bit, but generally headed downhill to the Fremont Troll.
Carl wanted to go look at the Patches Pal (and Gertrude) picture. [They were a kids TV show duo local to Seattle. Too early for our kids, but right in time for many of our friends that grew up in the area.] Carl got down on the ground and verified there is a hidden message under Gertrude’s skirt. “Caught you peeking”
It was a great walk down, cool temperatures, but no rain.
Of course, what goes down must come back up. That meant a long uphill to get back home. Not anything too steep, just a constant up hill incline.
The Inuit have many different words for snow. Seattle has many different terms for precipitation; fog, mist, drizzle, showers, rain, downpour, wintery mix and of course snow. The showers and rain differential is start and stop versus constant. When somebody says it is being Seattle outside, they are normally referring to the 30-day drizzle that is sometimes called November. [We once had an out of town visitor that was considering a move to Seattle. They visited in November, and left after a bit, saying they could not take the constant grey.]
We also managed to get a few chores done during the holiday break.
The house is a bit lighter as we reduced our TV count from 4 to 2. 1 had been waiting for about a year as the 27-inch behemoth had been replaced last Christmas by a beautiful flat screen (thanks to the kids). The second was actually a bit harder to part with – my original TV. A black and white set purchased from Sears in 1978. It still worked, but just was not used any longer. It moved from Colorado to Seattle, buckled into the front seat of the little brown Honda. It was our only TV until we went for a small color set sometime in 1985 or 86, so Carl could more easily tell which team was which (color and all). The B&W was never connected to cable, but did successfully transition to digital TV when forced.
We did get to spend a few more days with Rey, and that was fun, but we all had to get back to work. (At least I did. Carl had the week off and Rey got an extra vacation day on his return.)
And in case you have 10 minutes to spare and want to see one of my work bits from 2016, here is a link to my Groundwater talk. This is a group that puts together short videos that teachers can use to support their classroom work. Another co-worker volunteered that we would participate, but then suggested I knew more about the subject than he did. I did, but relied heavily on our Groundwater Hydrologist consultant for pictures and details.
Since it is New Years Eve – don’t do anything too crazy. Let’s get 2017 off to a great start, and maybe we can coast through the rest of the year. [We are going to pick up some friends at the airport (no snow, no snow, no snow please), and then be cozy and warm at our house while we try to make it to midnight to toast the new year.]
Raincharm's Weblog 
January 1, 2017 at 5:22 pm |
We DO have many words for precip. But I have come to enjoy(or at least tolerate) all forms of it. A downpour? A great excuse for a coffee and book inside.