Rooftop

I realize this lacks the personal touch of a paper card, but here’s our 2008 opt-in Christmas letter. Almost late, as usual. Cheers!

I’ve been really enjoying the winter weather this past week. I’ve especially enjoyed all the birds flocking to the feeders outside our dining room. Here’s a few of them, though the list includes black-capped chickadees, chestnut-backed chickadees (a new one for me), goldfinches, house sparrows, juncos, and small little wren-like birds that move way too quickly about the birch tendrils.

Even with the ceramic heat lamp, the coop dipped down to 33F overnight. Their water dish had frozen, so I swapped it out with a warm bottle this morning. They seem to be in high spirits, though I suspect it’s hard to seem lazy when you’re cold. I’m going to look for some bricks to heat in the oven and stick out there tonight, though they’ll lose their heat rather quickly. Maybe it’s time to upgrade the ceramic bulb or reinvestigate insulation options.

We lucked out with an early cold snap over the weekend, and because of the perils of ice on the road and unprepared drivers, that weekend was extended by a day. It wasn’t quite the snow day I had hoped for though, because the 30 mph winds meant that it was unpleasant to be out in, and freezing a two year old is still too young to have it build her character. So instead, we stayed in and enjoyed most of Sunday at home and most of Monday as well.

Yesterday we did set out to run a few errands and get the wheels changed. The estimated 5 hour wait at Les Schwab was enough that it meant we’ll be switching wheels another time. I was going to do it myself, but after hitting my head on the jack, realizing the wheels have a security lug nut and seeing how lame the jack is, I decided to spend my snow day doing something else.

The worst part of the weekend was when an envelope with checks blew away. We’ve searched the neighborhood, but ironically, the white envelope on white snow makes for a challenge. (Ironic because we never have snow) That and the huge gusts yesterday that ensured that the letter is long gone. Hopefully someone will find the addressed and stamped envelope and put it in the mail.

Last night Michelle, Ella, Grandpa, Aunt Hilary and I went out to see Zoo Lights. Although I’m sure it’s supposed to be more of a “kids thing,” us “adults” found ourselves enjoying it as well. The seasonally appropriate cold really helped the mood, as did the clear skies and 1-day shy full moon. I had fun taking photos without a flash (D90 rock!) and I think everyone just enjoyed gawking at the miles of lights. If you do consider going, try getting there right at 5, as the crowd seems to pick up from then.

Not many animals were out or visible at night with exception of the Siberian tigers (What? You call this cold?), and the elephants. We missed Samudra last time (the baby), but we were able to see him sleeping and “curled up” on the floor. “Curled up” is a bit of an exaggeration, as he’s apparently already 630 pounds.

I feel a little like I’m stealing a blog post idea from George Orwell, but today was a 3 egg day. Evidently the ladies are happy with the ceramic heat lamp we put in the coop over the weekend. We’re averaging around 1.8 eggs a day now, which is fantastic.

The ladies seem to like pumpkin more after it’s been roasted. Can’t say I blame them.

Michelle, Ella and I finally got our butts down to Eugene to visit Joe and Linds who moved there back in August. Ella was quite good in the car and was rewarded with a cat that was the same size as her to play with. She followed Quasi (the cat) around most of the weekend and even helped him eat his dinner (though at 26lbs, he didn’t need Ella’s help). Their place is great and they’ve clearly been busy with projects which I’ve been watching and hearing about, but the pictures didn’t provide a seamless view of the house. Room placement and stuff all makes sense now.

We all went to the Science Factory and I think we all enjoyed it equally. There was some frustration on the part of us adults because we’d be working on some puzzle and a 7 year old in footie pajamas would nudge in and take over. Sure, the place is “for kids,” but it was plenty of fun for us as well.

Lindsay joked that it was her first time being able to cook for us this year since we normally dined at our place because of the toddler. We ate very well, and I can’t wait to make the gnocchi dish we had with spinach and cheese. It was only the second gnocchi dish I’ve had, and I must admit I’m quite enamored.

Now it’s your turn Hughes.

Barley was barking at the window as usual, chipping pieces of paint off the trim in his insane desire to keep everything safe. This time however, he was at a different window. After calling him off a few times, I got up to investigate and noticed the cause for both the ruckus, and why the bird seed keeps disappearing.

I shooed him off but he came right back as soon as I sat down.

Tonight I used a wheat gluten product known as mock duck. It’s a brownish blob formed into a miniature duck-ish shape complete with dimples that works as source of protein when you’re out of duck. I picked it up after coming across it in a recipe for squash curry that sounded good. Tonight was my night to cook, so I walked by Vieng Lao on my way home from work and picked some up. They also have mock chicken, abalone and oyster, but I didn’t see any mock turtle.

Anyway, it wasn’t bad by any means, though duck would have been much nicer. I managed to make a curry that didn’t bomb, and I’ve got lots of leftovers for tomorrow.

This has been a wild 2 years of election fervor. Tomorrow we’ll know (hopefully) what the next chapter for the United States may look like. Nothing is certain, and I’m cynical enough do have real doubts about the Democrats ability to accomplish anything, but I do honestly believe that tomorrow will shape America’s place in the next century.

It is not clear what station our country will hold in the future. We have moved from an ideological superpower to an agricultural and industrial superpower to a military and an idea superpower, and as the events of the last month have rippled through markets around the world, it has proven we’re a debt superpower.

I think tomorrow is important in this respect: Our example tomorrow will show the rest of the world our intentions as a nation. We will select one of two directions to move our nation. One choice will signal we want to remain the same. One choice will signal we’re ready for something different. In a world where our impact has been so huge, and the response to us has increasingly soured, we need to recalibrate. It is time to leave behind the jingoism and mental isolationism that has planted us like a stick in mud. We must lead in to the coming century, not jockey for relevance.

Tomorrow, we need to elect Barack Obama.