INTO THE WINTER ROUTINE
We have been here three months now and are quite back into our winter routine - basically just living a regular life. Rebecca's knee is quite far on the mend, almost back to full strength; she just needs to up her stamina. As you will read below she is back to SCUBA and a few more activities.
Nick is here for what has become an annual visit. His timing this year was most fortuitous because Madison has been in the eye of a couple of winter storms. He is missing significant snow, cold, and wind chills. Although he participates in a few of our local activities, his main objective is to relax, which he does quite well.
By the time you receive this our annual fiesta of Our Lady of Peace will have concluded with the usual fanfare, fireworks, and festivities. And especially lots of parades with horses which Mrs.T naturally likes. Having seen this for so many years we do not always partake of all the action. In fact, many of the residents, particularly those downtown, think this is the ideal time to get out of town and avoid all the hoopla.
And the puzzle folks have been well into their fun. Sometimes they reach a frenzy and finish one in near record time. A couple of the latest projects are in the photos.
On to MrsT's story:
Buckeyes
I made Buckeye candies with the excellent help of Phil, Brenda's son, and they were very well received. (Buckeyes have become an annual tradition -dt) Phil likes making things. We were quite gratified that the football Buckeyes won the Rose bowl on New Year's day. I enjoyed watching the Rose bowl parade on TV. I like the horses but none of them was as beautiful as Jewel (The horse Mrs.T rides up north -dt). I was fascinated when a very long Chinese float could not get around a tight corner and they brought tow trucks to pull it. I am in no way superior to everyone else who is fascinated by things that go wrong, sigh.
Football
I enjoy watching sports for a team I know like the Buckeyes but Dan likes watching all kinds of teams. (Only ones with some connection. -dt) While I cannot understand this, I often watch these games with him to make him happy. (Much appreciated. Mrs.T is actually fairly savvy about many sports However, she is not to keen on watching curling; sorry Canadians. And her TtS - Time to Sleep - can be short -dt) He tells me who we want to win and I cheer accordingly. In these cases my heart, not to mention my mind, is not really in it. One day I was thinking my own thoughts while listening halfheartedly when I heard the commentator say - I swear these are his exact words - "It is the first time in a long while I have seen anyone play while wearing nothing at all!!" Well needless to say I perked right up and started paying attention. Perhaps I could catch a glimpse of a tight end. He! He! He! Alas no. Dan explained that the commentator was talking about a receiver not wearing gloves to help him catch the football. Talk about false advertising. Sigh.
Resolutions
It being New Year I made some resolutions. My first resolution is to get my legs tan enough that my ugly blue veins do not show.(MrsT tends to burn -dt) I am working on it. My second is to exercise twice a week. I am doing this as much as I can; SCUBA diving is one way. The third resolution is to try and keep off as much of the weight as I lost after my knee operation as possible. I have no scale so I don't really know. The last resolution is to learn how to use the purple shampoo so that I don't turn one side of my head blue. Still working on that one. I am also trying to do some of my yoga exercises. (Some very challenging resolutions! -dt) Dan has also lost quite a bit of weight and is walking more. His telephone tells him how many steps he takes. (An app that came on the phone -dt) (This must be her inspiration -dt)
Diving
I am very happy to be back diving. My right leg is still weaker than the left because of the surgery but under water I can compensate. I have seen, as I always see, a lot of fascinating things. I have seen several jaw fish. These are little round fish who live in little round holes with only their heads sticking up. I have seen shimmery shiny little nudibranchs only about one inch long. I was so pleased; it was like finding a treasure. The different kinds of shells are amazing. I only take shells that are unoccupied. (She has on occasion brought home ones with residents -dt) One day I saw a tremendous Argos eel. It was 6 or 7 feet long and covered with big black polka dots. I think it must have been named after a Greek character Argos (Or Argus in Latin -dt) who had eyes all over.
Alex and I dove a couple of times at Mismaloya. This is a place where people fish a lot. The bottom of the ocean is littered with fishing line that got caught on the rocks. This is very bad because the fish, turtles, and seabirds try to eat the finishing line and it kills them. (Or they can become entangled -dt) When we dive at Mismaloya we repay the ocean for all the good times and sea shells it gives us by cleaning up the trash. I have a new dive knife which helps a lot. Alex is a fisherman so he keeps any good lures he finds and we ball up huge amounts of line to throw away. Alex recycles fishing weights by melting them together to make diving weights. I like doing this cleaning up.
When we are working at this we attract a lot of attention. Because we stir up the ocean floor a bit a few fish follow behind us to see if we stir up anything good to eat. The other day I saw two zebra eels watching us from about 10 feet away just to see what we were doing. As I dive with a flashlight most of the creatures try to avoid the beam, however there are a few prima donnas who swim around trying to get in the light. I find it interesting that a lot of invertebrates, like sponges, corals, and anemones, react to the light too. I love to dive!!
The only problem I have had with my knee is getting back in the boat. To get in you have to climb a ladder. This involves a group effort. There is me trying to climb the darn thing. Alex is behind me ready to give me a shove in the butt to boost me up and two people on the boat clinging to me desperately so that I won't fall off. Somehow I make it. I think it might make world's funniest dive videos. (Indeed! -dt)
I hope I can start horseback riding soon. And also Nick and I may paint. There is a lot of good in this life and when I get tired I float around in the pool. (Quite a challenge to decadence by the Pool Princesses. -dt)
Here are some photos:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/9P5C3c
And we must note the lunar eclipse and 'blood moon'. Thanks Brenda for the photo.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/Umzx0c
Next issue maybe we will talk about our remodelling.
For the folks up north, keep warm.
And please send good thoughts to Shirley who is quite ill.
Happy Lunar New Year. Coming soon is The Year of the Pig.
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
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