Christmas Poem

I found this poem on the Internet from an unknown author.

Twas the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp,
Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ.
The aircraft were fastened to tiedowns with care,
In hopes that come morning, they all would be there.
The fuel trucks were nestled, all snug in their spots,
With gusts from two-forty at 39 knots.
I slumped at the fuel desk, now finally caught up,
And settled down comfortably, resting my butt.
When the radio lit up with noise and with chatter,
I turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice clearly heard over static and snow,
Called for clearance to land at the airport below.
He barked his transmission so lively and quick,
I'd have sworn that the call sign he used was "St. Nick".
I ran to the panel to turn up the lights,
The better to welcome this magical flight.
He called his position, no room for denial,
"St. Nicholas One, turnin' left onto final."
And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a Rutan-built sleigh, with eight Rotax Reindeer!
With vectors to final, down the glideslope he came,
As he passed all fixes, he called them by name:
"Now Ringo! Now Tolga! Now Trini and Bacun!
On Comet! On Cupid!" What pills was he takin'?
While controllers were sittin', and scratchin' their head,
They phoned to my office, and I heard it with dread,
The message they left was both urgent and dour:
"When Santa pulls in, have him please call the tower."
He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Then I heard "Left at Charlie," and "Taxi to parking."
He slowed to a taxi, turned off of three-oh
And stopped on the ramp with a "Ho, ho-ho-ho..."
He stepped out of the sleigh, but before he could talk,
I ran out to meet him with my best set of chocks.
His red helmet and goggles were covered with frost
And his beard was all blackened from Reindeer exhaust.
His breath smelled like peppermint, gone slightly stale,
And he puffed on a pipe, but he didn't inhale.
His cheeks were all rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a cropduster's belly.
He was chubby and plump, in his suit of bright red,
And he asked me to "fill it, with hundred low-lead."
He came dashing in from the snow-covered pump,
I knew he was anxious for drainin' the sump.
I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work,
And I filled up the sleigh, but I spilled like a jerk.
He came out of the restroom, and sighed in relief,
Then he picked up a phone for a Flight Service brief.
And I thought as he silently scribed in his log,
These reindeer could land in an eighth-mile fog.
He completed his pre-flight, from the front to the rear,
Then he put on his headset, and I heard him yell, "Clear!"
And laying a finger on his push-to-talk,
He called up the tower for clearance and squawk.
"Take taxiway Charlie, the southbound direction,
Turn right three-two-zero at pilot's discretion"
He sped down the runway, the best of the best,
"Your traffic's a Grumman, inbound from the west."
Then I heard him proclaim, as he climbed thru the night,
"Merry Christmas to all! I have traffic in sight."

Holiday Greeting

Home Camping

What a night we had last night. First, the Seahawks played the 49er's on national TV, then a huge wind storm ripped through the Puget Sound region. The wind was so strong and loud, we feared that a tree would fall through our house into our bedroom. In the middle of the night, with the power out, we fumbled and stumbled our way around the house, searching for blankets and pillows, to set up 'camp' in the dining room, away from the large trees in our back yard. After hours of tossing and turning, we realized that the wind had calmed down, so we gathered our pillows and blankets and moved back into the bedroom in an attempt to get a few hours of comfortable sleep. In the morning, all our trees remained standing, but they were all missing a few limbs.

On the drive to work this morning, a listener called in to the radio station and said, "I don't know which blows worse, the big storm or the Seahawks offense."

Around 12:30, Susan called and told me our power was back on. On my way home, I heard that over 750,000 homes were without power and the temperature was dropping into the low 30's. The few hotels, restaurants, and gas stations that had power were completely swamped, with all rooms sold out and one or two hour waits for food and gas. We were among the lucky, that's for sure.

Preparing for the Holidays

It is mid-December and we're just days away from traveling back East for the Holidays. We're flying out on the red-eye on December 19. We'll be in Ohio for one day, then it's off to Pittsburgh to catch a train to Richmond, VA. We'll be in Richmond until the 26th, then it's back to Ohio via Amtrak. Finally, we'll be flying home on the 31st.

Traveling with a two (nearly three) year old may or may not be tiresome. Andrew has done well on previous long flights and I'm hoping this will be no different. The first is a red-eye, so I expect he'll sleep through it - I wish I could say the same for myself. The second is a short hop from Detroit to Pittsburgh, so I don't expect any problems. A bigger concern is the fourteen hour train rides that follow the flights. Andrew is a train fanatic - I wonder where he got that from? We've taken him to Seattle and back twice on the Seattle Sounder; once on the special Mariner's train and once on the special Seahawk's train. Then for Thanksgiving, we rode the train to my brother's house and back. Of the six trips, he slept through only one. The other five, he had his face to the glass watching switches and 'ding-dings' (crossing gates) go by or he wandered up and down the aisle, gleefully making the sliding doors open and close. Luckily, our holiday train trip has stops in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, so we will have a chance to get off the train for a bit.

Before we go, I have a few items to take care of. Last weekend, we went to Flower World and shot some family photos for our annual holiday card. I created the card and copied it to a memory card, but I still need to make some prints and get them in the mail! Click the image below to see the Web Album.

Christmas 2006

I also need to put the finishing touches on my Summer 2006 DVD project. I completed it last weekend, but the quality was not up to my standards so I'm reworking it with an older version of my editing software. Then there's all the packing that needs to be done. How many sweaters, jeans, shirts, etc. does one need to take for 11 days? I always seem to take too much stuff. Mom says we're going tubing at Seven Springs, so we already shipped a box with our boots, coats, gloves, etc. a couple days ago. No sense carrying all that extra weight through the airports.

Weekend in Eastern Washington

Andrew walks along the curb at the Apple Tree Resort in Yakima.

Andrew and Susan look on as a hot air balloon is inflated in Prosser.

Throwing Rocks in Leavenworth

Andrew finds a nice big rock to throw into the river.

Andrew is impressed with the "big splash" the rock made.

Andrew Meets Thomas

Andrew and I enjoy our ride behind Thomas the Tank Engine

Andrew and I pose beside Thomas after the ride

Andrew and Susan pose with Thomas in the distance