Great and Grrrrrrr

The last few days have been a heavenly existence.  Cora and I have been relaxing.  We have read a few books, watched a bit of TV, and really had some good one-on-one time enjoying each other's company.  I think we should have more time like this.  It's been nice...and the cookies she made last night are delicious!

She got me reading some books on her Kindle a few weeks ago.  I was hooked almost immediately, and so it's been fun telling her where I am and what's happening in the book.  We downloaded a few more books and I think it will be fun sharing these books.  I have Kindle on my computer, so I can read from my computer while she has her Kindle.

We had a good Christmas.  It was wonderful seeing family and relaxing.

My sister, my dad, and I used to go for walks at night.  My mom worked graveyard shift, so we found ways to entertain ourselves.  Walks were one of those avenues of entertainment.  Walking at night was fine, but soon got boring.  My dad, not being as mature as one might expect, followed along with his kids suggestion that we hide from cars one night.  THAT proved great fun.

Over the years, we perfected it and it became our thing.  We have introduced various friends to our unique entertainment.  My brother-in-law and Cora have both gone on these walks.  They are entertaining and you get some exercise and laughs out of an otherwise boring walk.

On Thanksgiving, my sister, my dad, and I were trading stories about our escapades.  My niece, soon to be seven, really seemed intrigued by our stories.  She kept asking for one more story...I had difficulty dredging more than just the standard ones we'd already covered.  Hey!  It's been 20 years!  She was very interested, though.

Usually, when we have a holiday at my parent's house, my sister and I end up going for a walk.  We sometimes take a guest, but other times, it's just us.  This year, we decided to go...with Cora's approval.  My niece wanted very much to go.  I don't know if my sister planned it, but we ended up taking my six-year-old niece with us to continue the family tradition of hiding from cars.  She was very good!

She wasn't quite sure about walking in the middle of the road at first (Her mother had taught her you DON'T walk in the middle of the road and she took it to heart!).  After we convinced her that we would make sure she wouldn't get run over, she had a wonderful time.  I believe our score was twenty-six cars!  It was a fun night.  My favorite part was when my dad made a run to hide from a car and found himself midair two feet off the ground.  He made a grab at a small fir tree and managed to brake his speed and disappear quickly from sight...however, what stays with me is the vision of this small fir tree doing its impression of one of those punching dummies that has a weight at the bottom and just keeps nodding back and forth.  Not exactly stealthy.  The whipping fir tree, if seen, surely indicated some sort of...hi-jinks!  It was a good walk and my niece now has something to talk about!  It's a family tradition now.

Now, shifting gears, I have been interested in the wrecks left by the various military aircraft that have crashed from the skies over Washington over the past 60 years or so for quite some time now.  I've visited a couple.  I, mostly, do arm-chair research looking for crashes in the state, especially during this time of the year.  It is a hobby.  It is fun for me to write up an accident report and once in awhile someone writes me an e-mail thanking me for the story as it pertains to a loved one or someone they knew.

A few months back I found a newspaper reference to a crash in northern Oregon.  It's a few hours away from here, but not far from the highway and during the summer months should be easily accessible.  I just got the accident report for it about a week and-a-half ago.  I had visions of possibly visiting it this spring or summer.  I don't get out often, and most of the sites have been visited.  Many are up in the hills and not accessible by my paltry two-wheel drive.  This one was different, though.  It's less than a mile from the main road.  And it was NEW.  The website/databases I use had no reference to it, so I emailed the guy who runs one of the main sites.  He said thanks for the info.  I sent off for the report.

Lo and behold, I got an email from this professional wreckchaser this morning.  It invited me and several local (within two states) people to come find this site on Thursday with him.  It would be a chance to meet.  So, as I read this email, my hackles rose a little.  I was the one who located the existence of this wreck.  I brought his attention to it.  I just got the report.  Dammit.  It was MINE!  OK.  I'm sorry.  Anyone who wants to visit it is welcome to it, it isn't really mine.  But, do you think he mentioned WHO had brought it to his attention?  Nooooooo.  Of course not.  His area is down in Arizona.  It's like he's treading into my territory.  Do I have any good reason for being irritated?  Probably not, but still.  Grrrrrr.  

I probably won't go, since, this time of year, the ground is covered in snow, and all of our efforts and resources are trained toward our impending China visit!!  Not to mention, it's two hours away and I don't necessarily want to spend a four-hour drive without some assurance of something being there.  Guess I'm a softy, I don't want to waste my precious time, especially if it's going to be freezing (that part of Oregon is not exactly a garden spot).  I DO think I'll type up the report and ask him for pictures if he finds it and put it on my airplane blog, though, dammit.

I hope you are all enjoying the holidays!