OK, I'm starting to get annoyed here. We still have not figured out what
we're doing for Christmas. We decided not to do the trek to Yellowstone that we
were thinking of, because all those closed roads, open roads that go over
mountains, and low, low temperatures began to look like recipes for Serious Risk
once we actually sat down and checked out a map. I don't particularly want to go
anywhere around here that would involve staying in a hotel, what with being
unemployed and all that. My family doesn't do Christmas and anyway, I was just
there. And I DO NOT want to spend Christmas here, with just the two of us, Did
that at Thanksgiving, had the leftover turkey to show for it. A gathering of only
two people does not feel like a holiday to me.
The obvious solution,
and the one we had planned as part of the Yellowstone trip, way back when, is to
spend the holiday with Rudder's family, but for some reason, he seems to be
resisting the idea. If I understand him correctly, he's OK with driving to
northern California, if his parents will be going to the grandparents', but
doesn't want to drive all the way to Oregon, to the parents' house, if not. As far
as I can tell, he has plenty of vacation time to do either, and we don't usually
mind long drives. In fact, I was sort of looking forward to this one, because we
could do the coastal road from LA to San Fran, in daylight, which I have never
done. (We've taken I-5 instead, and usually at night.) And the coast road from San
Francisco north is even more scenic. Also, his parents have been doing some
remodeling that I'm curious to see.
It's hard to tell, but I think
the problem may just be that Rudder is tired: he's been run ragged at work, trying
to get in his end-of-year reviews and prepare for some upcoming business travel,
and has probably never really caught up from all those regattas in November. He'd
have plenty of time to rest at the parents' house, probably even more than at the
grandparents', so it may just be the sort of state I've gotten in at times, where
even the idea of going somewhere is just too much of a burden.
Maybe
if I offer to drive the whole way....and do all the packing and
planning...
The boat parade last night went well, and Rudder and T2
won the Man-Powered category. The prize was a night at a local resort, impossible
to split, so we gave it to T2 and Egret, on the theory that they can use it on
their wedding night. Assuming, that is, that they get married on a weekday, since
it's one of those any-night-but-Friday-or-Saturday deals.
There was
one minor hitch in the parade: the lights went out on the Mill Avenue Bridge just
after the first boat came under it. Of course, we all assumed they had done that
on purpose, to show off the boats, but it turned out that a traffic accident a few
miles away had blown the transformer, so there were also no lights or sound
equipment working at the judge's tent. (Egret's son, the Teenager, and I were sent
over to the festivities, on the other side of the lake, in case awards had to be
accepted.) The judges took forever, apparently hampered by having to work by
flashlight, to figure out the four prize-winners (two category prizes and two
overall) from among about fifteen entrants, and the lights came on just as the
Teenager and I crossed back over the bridge. Halfway back, I realized that I had
the keys to the truck in which all the boat decor had to be loaded back up, and in
which Rudder's and T2's shoes and extra jackets were stashed.
Oops.
Today I am thankful that: no matter how our plans end
up, at least I get to spend the holidays with Rudder. And that he wasn't mad at me
over the key incident last night.
Concept II Holiday
Challenge: 26610 meters left!