Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

family / Friday / photo — Comments Off
27
Dec 24

The godfamily Christmas

We had parents with my godparents-in-law today. (Just go with it.) My godsisters-in-law (just go with it) were there, and so were their husbands. And all of the god-nieces-in-law and god-nephews-in-law. (Again, just go with it.) These are long, long, deep family ties.

My godparents-in-law met at my in-laws wedding. The godfather has been my father-in-law’s best friend for seven decades. The godmother went to nursing school with my mother-in-law. So each is the godparents of the other’s children. And my wife and the two god sisters basically grew up alongside one another.

When I first started coming to this Christmas party there were just 10 people. Now, it’s 15 people, including the children aged 4-to-16.

The kids are great. The next to youngest was sent to school one day with Christmas money and a shopping list, because this is how we’re teaching commercialism these days, I guess. We were on his list, for some reason. Only, he didn’t come home with any presents, or any money. He bought our gifts, and then gave them away to his friends, and the money, too. He wanted them to be happy.

That was the best present of the year, honestly.

So this sweet-hearted boy got sent back to the school store again, new list, more money, and instructions to bring the presents home. And don’t you know what I found in the bottom of my little gift bag were the best presents of the year. Two years in a row he’s bought me something. It was a little toy last year. He saw this thing and thought of me for some reason and he was so excited and proud. This year, the present was from him and his little sister. I looked down and could see it was a drink, so I pulled out this bottle, made a big show of reading the tea label and was very excited.

This, he said, was more from him, and not his little sister.

I reached back in the back and pulled out this bag of pretzels. Again, I made the big evaluation, and deployed the charmed reaction. How did you know? These are going to be so good!

This, he said, was actually more from him, and not so much his little sister.

He’s six.

Meanwhile, his sister is opening presents and holding them all up like she’s auditioning for The Lion King, or just won the greatest history of sport. Every gift a triumph.

We’re trying to talk this particular Christmas party down to just getting gifts for the kids, because the rest of us are impossible, but the 6-year-old is shopping for the olds.

In a few days, I’ll send his mother a picture of me eating these pretzels and drinking this tea — because, somehow, he knows I like tea — and brag on him some more.

I made the mistake of asking one of the kids how many Christmas parties they had been a part of this year. This one, today, was party number five. There were two more to go.

Nobody else was getting pretzels and tea, though. Just me.

family / photo / Thursday — Comments Off
26
Dec 24

Christmas cats

We had a lovely Christmas, and hope you did too. It was low key, my lovely bride, her parents, just a few small presents, and the traditional prime rib dinner.

The cats, I think, got more presents than the rest of us. And they’re now zonked.

I got a nice stocking and a few fun things to read. We got a grease pig, which is a device you use to clean the chain of your bike. My mother-in-law went to a bike shop and said, “I don’t know what I need. What do I need?” And they said, “We all use this.” And wouldn’t you know it, we don’t have this tool.

I used it this evening, without taking any photo or video evidence, and it made a huge difference. It’s a good gift.

I also received a new light and radar for my bike. This is the same one that I got my lovely bride for her birthday, and it is an impressive feat of lightweight design and engineering. So now, when we get back on the open road, we’ll both be a bit safer. (I’ve pedaled 82 miles these last three days, but the trainer doesn’t require a radar.)

I got her front row seats to a show. There’s also another concert that same weekend. She’s also running a half-marathon that weekend. For Christmas, I got The Yankee a long, exhausting weekend next spring.

We are planning a trip with the in-laws for next summer. Just don’t tell the kitties.

It was a lovely Christmas day. And there’s one more party tomorrow.

photo / Wednesday — Comments Off
25
Dec 24

Merry Christmas

photo / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
24
Dec 24

Christmas Eve

We had a white Christmas Eve! Almost. It was the kind of snow that stuck to stone, but couldn’t manage to hang on anywhere that wasn’t pre-chilled. And there wasn’t much to it. Even still, it looked pretty for a few moments.

And at 11:59 p.m. last night my last two classes of the semester ended. When they asked me if I would like to teach 8-week classes it didn’t occur to me to look at the end date of the term. Lesson learned.

So I spent a bit of the early a.m. hours grading some quizzes and discussions. I still have to evaluate the final assignments, and then tally the scores. But that’s what Thursday will be for, I’m sure.

When I was outside looking at the snow on the pavers, I heard the honking, and looked up, just in time for this happy little composition.

About an hour later, we were sitting inside chatting about this and that and I heard the honking again. Look how the sky had changed

The geese had big holiday travel plans.

And now I’m going to go to the grocery store, and maybe the drug store, just to get out of the house. I have been so focused on trying to wrap up my grading I don’t think I’ve left in several days.

cycling / family / Monday / photo — Comments Off
23
Dec 24

The assemblage of the 23rd

The in-laws are here for the holidays. My mother spent Thanksgiving here, and they are here for Christmas. It still feels strange to not travel everywhere for the holidays, but it is also nice to make some of these moments in our home.

And don’t underestimate the practical value of not being constantly on the move. That’s not what it is about, but sometimes that’s what it becomes, which is not what it is about.

If that makes sense.

Anyway, they arrived safely, brought some cold down with them, and we will have a fine old time this week.

I walked by the Dickensian village at just the right time today. I enjoy the village. I’d vote to keep them out for longer, just for the classic scenes and all of the little activities and details you can find. The designs are charming, the lights in them, in the evening, are a delight.

And, today, the sun streaming in was creating these lovely little shadows.

I wish we had the space to display them all. (We have a lot.) Alas, we have a Catzilla.

When I hauled the garbage can to the end of the drive last night, I looked up to see …

… not drones. (That’s Orion. And if this confuses you, get an app, or crack a book.)

Let’s talk about the bike. I did nothing for the first two weeks of December. It was, I thought, an uncharacteristically long lull, and it felt like it. I rode 21 whole miles the weekend before this, just to see if my legs and feet could remember how to make tiny circles. I got in 70 miles on two days last week, just to see if I still could. This weekend I pedaled my way through 72 more miles.

Now we get to the problem of the spreadsheet. Since I log all of these things — in about three different ways — I know precisely where I am. I know what the trend lines look like, what’s possible, what is beyond reach and, dangerously, what might be feasible, if I stretch.

And that’s always the dilemma. Is it authentic if I see those benchmarks coming and push just a little more to get there. Even if only barely?

This is what I can get to, if I ride a lot in this last week: a new-to-me round number. It’s a small amount, so I don’t even want to say it aloud. I could finish the year with the number of miles equaling the circumference of the earth, at this latitude, anyway. (Next year I’ll finish my first equatorial circle of the earth.) Doing all of that also means I could also set a new record for the month of December.

In all, it seems unlikely. I had that lull to start the month, and time is short.

But if I push, I thought as I pedaled through 30 more miles today, if I could somehow get 300 more miles this week …

That’s not a lot. Except, to me, it most definitely is.

That spreadsheet just sits here, taunting me.