Cali Thanksgiving

Yeah-huhhh, we went to California for the Thanksgiving holidays, visiting my aunt and uncle in Fresno. Got there Wednesday night after flying in from Dallas (we drove there) and spent Thanksgiving Day with some of the family up in Modesto. Ate too much, of course. Jonnene and I spent some time both Friday and Saturday mornings running to work off the calories! On Friday we went up to Sequoia National Forest to check out the giant sequoia and redwood trees, do some hiking, and experience driving at night for 6,000+ feet downhill as a storm front was moving in, turning the road into a fog bank as the clouds rolled in! We flew back on Saturday and got home very late that night.

Jonnene stands inside the "Fallen Monarch", a giant sequoia that fell over 300 years ago (estimated to have been around 1,500 years old) and was used as a shelter, a stable, and a saloon in the past 130 years.

These trees are BIG. Jonnene stands near the base of one of the "younger" trees, probably only a few hundred years old!

While we were hiking on one of the lesser traveled trails in the forest, we were treated to seeing a group of five mule deer grazing. We all watched each other for about 10 minutes before continuing to hike on and the deer went on about their business.

Just to give you an idea of size: That group of tourists is standing about 50-60 feet away from the base of that huge redwood to the left. They're checking out the fallen tree at center.

Up In The Air

While we were at DFW waiting for our flight to California, we ran into Lindsay as she was getting off a flight from Indiana! We bought our house from Lindsay and her husband, Scott, when they found out they had to move "up north". They visit Shreveport when they can and Lindsay was on her way to see family for Thanksgiving. It was a real surprise and pleasure to run into her!

Hey, I'm putting a post on my blog while riding in a MD-80 ("Super 80") at 32,000 feet somewhere over deep west Texas! Jonnene's trying to catch a few Z's while I type this. The flight's been real smooth so far and it's really dark outside. We're dropping in on my aunt and uncle in Fresno, CA for Thanksgiving. The pilot thinks we'll be 20 minutes early getting into Fresno which will be great for us. In the meantime we have a cranky baby a couple of rows ahead of us...well, I guess not everything can be perfect.

We're All Racists (again)

More insightful commentary from Greg Gutfeld:

FRIDAY'S GREGALOGUE: WE'RE ALL RACISTS (AGAIN)

So apparently Sarah Palin sold over three hundred thousand copies of her book in one day - and as you can guess - they were all purchased by racists.

At least, that's what the sociology professors over at MSNBC Community College believe. Check out Hardball guest Norah O'Donnell, impersonating a talking puffin...

"This is a largely white -- almost no minorities in this crowd. And they`re here because they love Sarah Palin. I think it`s an emotional connection, Chris because they feel, too, that they`ve been beat up on, whether it`s the economy or they feel like outcasts. They like the outsider, if you will, in Sarah Palin. And that`s why people have been willing to wait, 1,500 of them, since 7:00 AM this morning to just get a glimpse of Sarah Palin."

So let me get this straight: people appreciate Palin because they've been picked on by a big bully. It makes me wonder if Norah ever psycho-analyzed Obama supporters this closely... or called them "largely black."

But hey, I guess that's better than calling them a tribe or something. Chris?

"I think there is a tribal aspect to this thing, in other words, white vs. other people. I think she is very smart about this. Here she is on the issue of -- of what happened down at Fort Hood, obviously, an ethnic issue, as many people see it.."

So, imagine for a moment, if during an Obama rally, Matthews described it as "tribal." How fast would he be fired, and then ending up on Oprah issuing a tearful apology?

Boogla moogla, I might say.

Which is Greg-lingo, for "pretty fast."

But here's the real issue: I used to think this race-baiting tactic was a political ploy. But now I believe they mean it. They do think that if you're against the policies of Obama, you must be racist. And that's because in their profession, they don't know anyone who's against the policies of Obama! Surrounded by likeminded lackeys, they're convinced that everyone beyond the tinted windows of their black cars must be card-carrying members of the Aryan Book Club.

The real truth: Whether it's Norah O'Donnell or Chris Matthews - they're just too scared to question a black man over policy.

And that's authentic bigotry.

But what can you expect from a bunch of white people?

And if you disagree with me, then you're probably a racist.

Busy Week

Well, I should be depressed this morning...my ULM Warhawks lost a game last night that they shouldn't have and will most likely not be in any post-season bowl game. Plus the U.S. Senate voted to begin debate (with exactly the 60 votes the Democrats needed) on that stupid montrosity of a health care reform bill Congress is trying to force upon the people of the United States. Want to really screw up health care in this country? Congress will find a way to do it.

But, instead, we had our Aussie Film Fest and belated house-warming party for our friends last night at the house. We ended up with about 30-31 people dropping by to visit and watch Australian movies with us. Jonnene made a number of genuine Australian treats along with other food items that were a hit with the crowd. We started at 3 pm and by 8:30 pm everyone was gone. Jonnene and I were a tad exhausted...from thorough cleaning of the house, moving things around, getting things ready, yard work, and such. We slept great last night! We'll have to do it again sometime.

Last weekend I took a group from the Centenary College Cycling & Multi-Sport Club to Fort Worth, Texas to participate in the Bronda's Du (duathlon) that was held at the Texas Motor Speedway, one of the NASCAR venues across the country. The course was a 2-mile run, 16-mile bike, and 2-mile run with the runs entirely in the infield area and the bike portion leaving that huge stadium into a 5-mile loop outside that we had to do three times. I think everyone had a good time. We grabbed up a couple of awards as two of the kids got third place in their age groups. I picked up lunch for all of them after the race and I was proud of them. Our next race is January 2nd, another duathlon here in Shreveport.

Here we are, gathered up under the Texas Motor Speedway sign in the pit area...way too early on a Sunday morning.

Jacquelyn begins the second lap of her first run. Both 2-mile runs were on a 1-mile lap course in the infield of the auto race course. She got third in the women's 20-24 group with a 1:21:59, a 4-minute improvement on this same course in a race back in February!

While our race was going on, there were race cars doing practice laps! The bike course left and re-entered the infield through a tunnel that went under the race track.

Here's me crossing the finish line in 1:15:41, good enough for 41st overall of 226 finishers and first place in my men's 50-54 age group.

Jonathan talks over his race with Jonnene. He had the fastest time overall of the entire Centenary group. Even though he got fifth in his 20-24 age group, he had the fastest second run of the group with a 6:03/mile average. He was 33rd overall with a 1:14:01 time.

Here's the gang after the race: Chelsea, Jonathan, Jacquelyn, Bekah, and Christopher (who got third in the 16-19 age group in his first ever multi-sport race). They look pretty sharp, don't they?

New Look for the TV Room

Well, what do you think? It's finished and it's hanging up on the wall over the couch. That's Jonnene there watching the TV....she's watching NCIS and I can't blame her....good show! Since this picture was taken we've repainted that wall in a lighter color, sort of a creme d'mint or something like that. I think it's interesting and makes the room look different, matching the furniture and really setting the painting off.

The painting is based on an existing work we came across and liked. My canvas is 4x4 square as opposed to the other's rectangle format and I adjusted the work to fit. I added my own touch to it and changed some things around, especially a different look to the background which I made more mottled and textured. It's supposed to reflect the red dirt of the outback in Australia. The kangaroos are supposed to be going to the future or something like that and you can see where I put the mountains in the corners to say that the 'roos are hopping in a valley. I like how it came out and I'm going to try a few more in the months to come.

Here's a detail of one of the kangaroos:

Here Comes the Sun

After several weeks of semi-continuous rain, the sun came out over the weekend and it was definitely welcomed. Normally I like rain....it makes me sleep better, I like the look of the sky (but only as a change of pace from clear skies), and we can turn off our lawn sprinklers to help lower our water bill. But the recent downpours and storms were getting ridiculous. And last Thursday's storms with tornadoes tossed for good measure were the grand finale and frustration. A guy I know, who's also a graphic designer and artist here, was nearly killed when the 100-foot tall and 12-ton steeple on the downtown First Methodist Church was blown over by high winds onto his new Lexus, crushing it and leaving him with severe injuries. Fortunately, Michael will survive, minus an amputated (by surgery) right ring finger, but will have to deal with a couple of surguries and a body cast for a while. His sister-in-law, Paula, said that his new nickname should be "Steeplechaser" but I think it should be "Steeplecatcher". Here's a LINK to the most recent news plus you can find some links to photos of the steeple/car collision.

We got our share of water around here...literally, around here. Our carport and back patio had about 2" of water during the worst of the rains. There had been so much rainfall during the previous weeks that the ground was totally saturated and couldn't absorb any more water. Fortunately our front yard is lower and all the water could run off around the sides of the house and go to the street but I still had to put some bricks and boards out from the back door so we could get to our cars without getting our feet soaked!