Winter's coming

Wow, December 26, it was close to 50 degrees, went for a dirt bike ride. The ground wasn't even frozen...  pretty rare, and a bit bizarre

Looks like a big snowstorm coming, guess this was the last ride of the season

What's on the Telly?

My first recollection of television was, I think, when I was about 6 at my Aunts house for Thanksgiving. My uncles were all watching football on what was probably an 8 inch black and white screen.
The first set I can remember at our house was probably around 1957. It was a huge cabinet made of blonde oak. It had 3 doors in front, 2 of which revealed the glorious 12 inch screen. There were 6 knobs to control the volume, vertical hold, horizontal hold, brightness, contrast and the channel knob with 13 numbers. The third door housed the 45 rpm record player, record storage and the large drawer beneath the TV had the 33 and 1/3 record player. Neither my sister nor I were allowed to touch anything!
We lived half way between Boston and Providence, so we got 2 channels pretty good and 4 others ok. We got to watch the "Mickey Mouse Club" in the afternoons, Thursday nights was "I Love Lucy" and my Dad's favorite, "The Real McCoys". Saturday mornings I remember "The Lone Ranger", "Sky King" and "Rin Tin Tin". But Sunday was the big TV night, "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" and then "The Wonderful World of Disney" There was nothing but a test pattern on between midnight and 5 AM. Somewhere along the way, UHF channels were added, color of course, bigger screens, cable and now streaming. Kids watch TV on their phones, computers and of course every kid has a TV in their room too. I suppose at some time in the future, TV will stream directly into our brains.

Luckily we have a DVR, because the annoying ads still exist in ridiculous numbers. I counted 18 different ads in just one break while watching "A Christmas Story" With the DVR we record a few shows or a movie, and football games and watch them when we feel like it zipping past the commercials.
You Tube and Streaming are changing the way we watch, but now the commercials are creeping in there too...      Guess I'll just go watch "Jeopardy"

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve..

Having lost both my parents fairly recently, I can't help but think back to the many Christmas eves that are now so long ago. My Mom would always make a special lobster dinner, we'd eat in the living room between the fire and the Christmas Tree, have hot cocoa and get to open one present, but just one, no matter how much I begged.
Christmas eve as a young adult wasn't always so special until  Jessica came along, and once again, it was special. Now she gets to have her Christmas eves with her kids, and build great memories.

Some years later, DeeDee and I started having friends and relatives over on Christmas Eve. It was always a pretty classic event, My family, DeeDee's family, and always our friends Paul and Wendy and their kids as they came along. Wendy and my Mother dancing into the wee hours. As we all got older, that tradition became the past as well.

Now, Christmas Eve is just the two of us, and although a bit more quiet than the past and we don't do gifts anymore, it is still a special night, we have each other.
And over the next few days we'll get together with family and friends and spoil the grandkids with piles of stuff.

And so this is Christmas

And so this is Christmas, and what have you done
Another year over, a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones, the old and the young,

A very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one, without any fears,

And so this is Christmas, for weak and for strong
The rich and the poor ones, the road is so long

And so Happy Christmas, for black and for white
For the yellow and red ones, let's stop all the fight

And so this is Christmas, and what have you done
Another year over, a new one just begun

Bang, Bang... you're dead

Some Yule Tide Trivia..

Santa Claus, brought to you, by Coco-Cola

The modern image of Santa Claus as the jolly man in the red suit was introduced into American  culture in 1931. Artist Haddon Sundblom illustrated him that way for a widely-circulated campaign for Coca-Cola.
St Nicholas was a real person back in the year 270 in what is now Turkey. He gave coins and  treats to children, leaving them in their shoes. The dutch kept the tradition alive, and called him Sinterklaas, In 1773, a New York newspaper first called him Santa Claus. The flying sleigh and reindeer were from Clement Moore's 1822 poem, "A visit from St Nicholas"


On a more somber note..
I just read that gun sales are up nearly 25% in December over last year. Christmas presents? Really? Why have we become such a fear driven, paranoid society?

The second amendment guarantees us the right to bear arms, yeah, I get it, although I cannot imagine Jefferson and Madison seeing how we have evolved not wanting to change that amendment in some form or another. The NRA and gun lobby will make damn sure that never happens, no matter how many lives are lost.

Guns kept in a home are far more likely to be used in an accidental shooting, suicide attempt or criminal activity than to be used in self defense. Over 100,000 people each year are shot in this country, with  over 30,000 dying. With more and more guns out there, it is inevitable that every one of  us will be directly or indirectly affected by gun violence sooner or later, and with guns being sold at a record pace, most likely sooner.

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas?

Ok, I'm really not a complete Scrooge when it comes to Christmas. I do like hearing about people doing random acts of kindness and try to do my share as well.

I like the classic Christmas movies and watch at least a few every year, of course "A Christmas Story" is the best. (Just ask DeeDee!)  Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" has had many, many movie and TV adaptations, the first being in 1901. Most feel that the 1951 version with Alastair Sim as Scrooge is the best. Other versions that are also excellent are, the 1984  version with George C. Scott, the Muppets, "A Christmas Carol"  featuring Michael Caine and  Bill Murray's comic version "Scrooged" and all are worth watching.

And although it's not shown as much these days, I always look for "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"  Boris Karloff's narration is just timeless.  Hopefully I get to watch it with my daughter and my Grand kids.

It looks like no white Christmas this year, climate change is real, do what you can.
and remember:

It costs $0.00 to be a decent person.

Holiday Spirit or Spirits?

It seems our lives have become so shallow these days that our total existence seems to revolve around Holidays. When I was a kid, Christmas was maybe a week long deal, the lights and tree went up 4 or 5 days before, and then they came down, usually before New Years. Halloween was a day making a costume and then a night of trick or treating, On Thanksgiving we piled into the car, went to my Aunts house, the kids played outside, the men drank and smoked cigars, we ate tons of food, went home, holiday over.

Now, months are defined by Hallmark and advertisers, Valentines Day ads will start in January, Easter too has become a month long affair. When did decorating your house for Easter and Halloween become a thing? Mother's day sales will begin in April, same for Father's Day. The Fourth of July has Christmas sales, Then of course it's "Back to School" which we'll hear about in June...

I used to look forward to Christmas, it was a special eve, and a day, when all was good. Now we've been saturated with Christmas since before Thanksgiving, Everyone has to have a Christmas party, so they begin even weeks before Christmas,

Now I can't wait for it to be over, it's not so special anymore, and it's not because I'm older, just Holidayed Out...

One Last Autumn Ride

The sun creeps along the horizon, a common criminal

Stealing my daylight, my warmth

The engine reluctantly wakens and surges to life

Wheels crunch over a carpet of frost

The pavement is hard,  the acceleration  feels good

Cold air invades every crevice of my clothing

My warm breath spawns a mystical fog in my helmet

The trees have withdrawn their green blood , exposing their true colors

In a final glorious display they lose their grip on life and fall to earth

My senses become even more alive as the bike weaves through each corner

The smell of apples fermenting on the ground

Leaves decaying to bring forth new life in the Spring

Small chicks a few months ago, Turkeys dart before me

Geese overhead follow that thief the sun

The white hair of winter gleans on the mountain tops

The road snakes up

Past onlookers of spruce and oak

Hustling squirrels play chicken

Faster

One with the road, one last time

Highlights from the Republican Debate

There weren't any..
Eight dudes on the stage. All dressed almost exactly the same, spewing the same old BS


December 15, still riding my dirt bike in the woods, unreal.

Heading to Baja soon, without the big bike this year, sad. Trying to come up with a big bike trip for next spring...


How is it the deer know when hunting season starts and finishes? We see them all summer long, then they disappear, saw three in the yard yesterday.


It's tough not buying the grandkids piles of stuff for Christmas, trying to be creative and healthy, it's not that easy.

Strange Days

Mid December, no snow, and the ground isn't even frozen ...  Skiers aren't too happy, but the hiking has been great and still getting out on the motorcycles...

Hiked 4 times the past week or so, including a great hike yesterday up Albany Mountain in Albany Maine. with our friends Liz and Lucas. Of course no hike would be complete without a few beers afterwards. Our destination was Ebenezer's Pub in Lovell. Great food and incredible Belgian beer selection, with over 35 on tap and numerous bottles. Voted best beer bar in America for 5 years!. Pretty cool for a small pub in the backwoods of Maine!



This interesting foot bridge crossing the Cold River in Evan's Notch was built in 1923 by the father of Mabel Chester, an early advocate for the environment and natural beauty of the area.

Continuing along...

I had a lot of fun writing the blog of our motorcycle trip from Mexico to Maine, soI thought I'd pick it up again as we prepare to head back to Baja.

We had the opportunity to visit the Body Worlds Exhibit at the Portland Science Center the other day with our friends Rick and Nano. The exhibit is pretty interesting with real bodies dissected and then plasticized. Pretty fascinating seeing just how complex we all are and what incredible damage we do to ourselves  via injury, smoking and poor eating habits. Worth a visit.

The weather has been unseasonably warm so far and with temps in the 50's, so a walk around Portland's historic Old Port was in order, of course stopping in several of the 230 restaurants and bars! We finished up the evening at the "Chocolate Bar" which specializes in Martinis and desserts. DeeDee and Nano partook of a decadent Peanut Butter Chocolate Martini, while Rick and I had Mocha Espresso Martinis and then we tried Absinthe. Absinthe was until recently illegal due to falsely perceived notions that is was addictive and a hallucinogenic. I'm not sure about the addictive properties, but I was seeing things on the way home!





Interesting link to 25 songs that were originally banned for one reason or another

25 Banned Songs