Ten-Finger Exercises

Off to a swell start

Isn't swell a funny word? I don't know where it came from.

The first day of this year had nothing to do with ocean swells, or being swollen (although I'm sure I've picked up a few pounds in the past month of cruising and holidays.) My dictionary gives as a definition: of the very best kind, and that fits.

It was a clear, although very cold day. We watched the rose parade till noon-ish, then went to the airport. Our poor plane has been held captive for the past three months getting some new strobes during its annual inspection. We have a good mechanic, but he's too busy, and it's taken this long to get the job done. That's probably a disadvantage of small town life: there aren't many choices. Because he has a contract with UPS to keep their plane running, and also plenty of work on a Beech Starship, one of only five still flying, his time is limited. Oh well, the weather's been lousy most of the last two months.

Today was beautiful. The high ground on the other side of the Columbia known as Horse Heaven Hills was covered in snow, and the air was clear enough to see Mount Ranier and Mount Adams in addition to the Blues. Cold air helps the plane climb quickly too, being denser. We might have flown into Red's Horse Ranch, which Bill keeps saying he's going to tackle. It has a short strip which a number of planes have not made it out of, but ours on a cold day ought to be fine.

Came home, put a ham in the oven, a fire in the fireplace, and have been watching the Sugar Bowl and Georgia's winning. (That's my alma mater.) We're having Tom and Jerrys made from dark rum and some old Courvoisier of my dad's--yum. AND, I'm sitting here at the laptop writing instead of shopping! Hurray! Now what could be more pleasant?

I'm looking forward to catching up with all your blogs and lives. I may not have been around WDC, but I've been thinking about you all and hoping the best for you. I've missed you, and am glad to be back.