White Pass Snowboarding

Last weekend we visited Andy and Lynna in Packwood for a quick visit and some time on the slopes. Liam had his very first ski lesson! He did pretty well considering he's only been walking for a bit more than a year. Of course the whole time he was on the kiddy hill he kept pointing at the high-speed quad, saying "I wanna go there!!!" Maybe next year. Unfortunately I did not have the presence of mind to take the camera out of Andy's car until after his lesson was finished, but Amy did take a fair bit of video. At some point I will extract a frame or two from the tape and post a pic of him with his itty-bitty skis. I did get some shots of Bro & me at the top of the mountain. The views were spectacular--this was the first clear day in over a month at White Pass and there was a TON of snow; 120" at the top and 80-something at the base. Very, very nice conditions. This was my first full-on snowboarding trip in about two years, and it was great!

We're #3!!!

Seattle was ranked the third best city for cycling by Bicycling magazine. Of course, Portland was number one (again), and I'm fairly astonished that Denver was #2, but it was nice to see that we're still up there. Here's hoping the Emerald City will be #1 next time they put the rankings out.

27 Consecutive Days of Rain

We finally had a day with no measurable rainfall (yesterday) which broke our streak of 27 consecutive days of rain. Remarkably, this is not the record! We came close to breaking the all-time record of 33 days, which was set back in 1953. We definitely needed the moisture, but all that precipitation adds a certain amount of, ah, excitement to the morning bicycle commute. Naturally, it started raining again today, but it was nice to get outside and walk the beach at Discovery Park with A & L yesterday.

The Inevitability of High Probability Events

There are some things that I know are going to happen: it will rain in the winter in Seattle, Liam will notice heavy construction equipment, Republicans will behave unethically, and so on. However, there is one high-probability event that I have mercifully avoided for years until yesterday morning—a flat tire on the way to work. I’ve had plenty of flat tires since I started bike commuting, but usually of the slow-leak variety that I notice as I’m getting ready to head for home. This is the first total blow-out I’ve experienced while actually on the road (and naturally, it happened during a pretty robust rainstorm). Fortunately I had a patch kit and pump with me, so I found a dry spot of concrete underneath an awning along Dexter Ave and fixed up the punctures in the tube—there were two! Hopefully I will be flat-free for another several years.

Planting the Solstice Tree

For the second year in a row we bought a live Douglas fir for our Solstice tree. Last year we planted it at the Audubon marsh on the Snoqualmie river, but the volunteer coordinator there said the soil wasn't the best for a Doug fir and he was worried that the tree might not make it. So this year, Amy found out about another habitat restoration project happening much closer to home, at Promontory Point in Magnuson Park. So we loaded up the tree, the kid, a bunch of Tonka trucks, and off we went!

It was a good time, and it will be much easier to visit this tree over the years and watch it shoot skyward. I think this is going to become one of our holiday traditions.

Xmas in the Valley of the Sunstroke

We traveled with the Little Guy to Phoenix for the solstice/Xmas this year. Unfortunately we were all sick, especially Liam, so we didn't get to visit with our friends as we usually do, but otherwise we had a great time. This is the first Christmas where Liam really knew what was happening, and it was fantastic to watch him discover all of the goodies Santa left for him under the tree. It felt a little strange to experience 80 degrees and sun on Xmas day, but I am definitely not complaining--it has rained every day since we returned to Seattle!

Now for the pics: first shot was a (fairly successful IMHO) experiment with my dad's tripod and the timer on the digicam (clockwise starting on upper left: Grandma Stevenson, Lynna, Matt, Amy, Andy, Liam, Grandpa Stevenson). Next, LG looks delightedly at his new firetruck on Xmas eve at Kaplans'; loading the heavy machinery into the cargo hold of the pirate ship; trying out his first set of bagpipes; chillin' on the golf cart with G&G Stevenson and Mom; chipping ice off a bench during our sledding trip to Snoqualmie Pass on New Year's Day (back in WA, of course).