Rainy, rainy Tuesday

I always think of song titles when I sit down to post one of these blogs - so for today it would be "The Day that the Rains Came Down" (how is that for a moldy-oldy, or aren't you old enough to even remember it?)

It is, as the Dutch would say, typische winter weer [typical winter weather] - I think the humidity must be close to 100% as the clouds are sitting right on the ground. I'm reminded of a poem my kids I used to recite: "One misty, moisty morning, when cloudy was the weather" - this is it!

A very Happy New Year to one and all. I can report that we enjoyed New Year's Eve and Day (Jan. 1st) in warm California. Oh it was great fun and such a wonderful break. So, the highlight, of course, was the Rose Bowl Parade - my fist time. This parade was the 121st Rose Parade (that's a long time) and quite amazing if you have never been. The rules are basically that EVERYTHING on a float must be covered in some sort of natural material. Everything from leaves, petals, grasses, bark, etc. An incredibly tedious process. I kept wondering how would one know if they were on the right timeline or not. Should I be doing the birds and butterflies now or is it OK to still be working on the magician - for example. Obviously the many, many years of experience pay off. It is very much like quilting - you take small pieces and put them together to make an incredible 'whole'. So on to some photos: [courtesy of my friend Susan. Thanks]

Camping out along the street is allowed starting at noon on New Year's Eve.









We bit the bullet and bought seats in the bleachers. Not only was it a more comfortable place to sit, but gave us a great view for photos.


The trumpeter is over 50' high and has to be able to 'lay-down' to go under an overpass along the route (just to add to the complications)





The Marines paraded with their mule team.

The Ohio State School for the Blind marched with a guide (in red) Incredible!

I will try to upload photos to a Picasa album (for those who are gluttons for punishment). Needless to say, it was quite an experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Our other big adventure over the holiday - for another post - was learning about and doing some geocaching. Who could possibly be bored in this amazing world we have! Life is good!