Thought I’d share some frosty winter train pictures.
Sailing
Just in case it has flown below your radar, the Americas Cup is almost over. In the first race, in heavy weather, the New Zealand Boat had to withdraw due to equipment failure.
In the second race, a great race all the way, the Swiss boat pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory on the final leg to win by seven seconds. A win by seven seconds after a race of eighteen miles!
In the third race, the New Zealand boat had a chance right up to rounding the final mark, when they made a sail handling error raising the spinnaker and lost seconds upon seconds before they got it sorted out.
The Swiss boat, Alinghi, is up three races to none over Team New Zealand in a best-of-nine series. It could all be over in two more races.
It’s on the deuce. Five pm Wednesday, mountain standard time. That would be four pm pacific coast time. They will be broadcasting Thursday afternoons race live on Wednesday our time.
In the second race, a great race all the way, the Swiss boat pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory on the final leg to win by seven seconds. A win by seven seconds after a race of eighteen miles!
In the third race, the New Zealand boat had a chance right up to rounding the final mark, when they made a sail handling error raising the spinnaker and lost seconds upon seconds before they got it sorted out.
The Swiss boat, Alinghi, is up three races to none over Team New Zealand in a best-of-nine series. It could all be over in two more races.
It’s on the deuce. Five pm Wednesday, mountain standard time. That would be four pm pacific coast time. They will be broadcasting Thursday afternoons race live on Wednesday our time.
Trip28b
And five new pounds!
Trip28a
And nineteen new birds.
Trip28
Saturday.
The Bounder has landed. We’re home. We meant to do a lot of things we didn’t get to. We meant to read a few books. There wasn’t time. We meant to clean out and rearrange a couple cabinets. No time. We were going to explore more of the gulf coast west of the central panhandle. I was going to get a haircut. We were …… I’ve got a lot to say about diet. Not diet as in losing weight, but diet as in what works and makes sense as a way to eat. We’ve made serious progress on the food front. Didn’t get to it. I have a rant about prescriptions drugs. And blood pressure. …… I was going to tell you about the lady with the trash and the black vulture…. Next trip I guess. No trouble with the holding tanks last night. The water system works just fine this morning. This tow setup works so much better since I switched over to the portable jumper battery for the 12 volt outlet. The brakes are always there to help. The turn signals and brake lights always work. Now if I can just remember this setup for the next trip…. On the drive out we didn’t see any harrier hawks. This drive back, they’re all over like they should be. Good to see. I explored Stratton Colorado last night. I went for a run and explored the whole town. I ran from the freeway to the railroad tracks. It got pretty rural after that. I ran through downtown. I ran through residential. It was Friday night. My observation is: there are a lot of bored teenagers in Stratton Colorado on a Friday night. Zooming around in cars and pickup trucks. Wearing letter jackets. Pretty much going in circles. Driving home on the last day of a trip, the mind tends to wander off and reflect on the time spent and lessons learned. My mind did that. And I find I’ve been thinking a lot about God. Over the course of this trip, I’ve come to realize that people in the south are a lot closer to God than we are in other parts of the country. I know this because God talks to them. Not just talks, but God takes out billboards. All along the interstates and highways are billboards from God. God has a lot to say to the people of the south. There are a lot of suggestions about how we should spend our time, what we should and should not do, and where we should or shouldn’t do it. I’m not sure any of it was meant for me. That part was not really clear, but since God didn’t put up any of those billboards in my neighborhood, I might be exempt. At first, I thought it might be a trick. I thought these billboard might have been put up by someone who claims to know what God wants us to do and not do, and is just telling us for God. But no. That is clearly not the case. I’m a careful observer, so I read these billboards fully as they went past. The proof is right there in the bottom right corner. A signature. That’s right, a signature, and it’s not the signature of an individual or a group, they are all signed, “God”. I didn’t see any billboards from God in Eastern Colorado. I did see one that said “think moisture”, but it wasn’t signed by anyone. One hundred fifty miles for the day. 5,200 for the trip. The dog was good. The cat shedded. Lots of adventures. A great trip. We’re home. Back to the land of reality and racquetball.