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Kayak, dijid, pokop Gina
and I had
a nice vacation in Fnordida. We stayed at Mom and Dad Denn's place most
of the week, and at Shelly & Russell's house in Tampa for a couple
days.
Here are Some Things we did, arranged in no particular order:In my copious spare time I played lots of on-line free poker, naturally. Mostly no-limit Texas Holdem sit-n-goes, but Grant taught me how to play Hi-Lo Omaha, too. I entered several freeroll tournaments, and even won real money from one. I came in 25th out of 2400 players, and won SIX BUCKS! Wahoo! Not bad for more than three hours of play. One of my favorite gifts this year was the traditional bottle of scotch whiskey from Grant. He also had an extra bottle that we shared during the week. Another of my favorite gifts was a box of pecan cookies from Renee and Alex. I finished them off, with a little help, inside 24 hours. I also liked the charity donations that a few friends let us choose as gifts. Very thoughtful, thanks! Grant spent most of his time priming and painting the outside of the house. Several neighbors asked him what his rates were. He finished the entire house, too. Gina, Grant, Lori, Mom, Jonathan, and I visited the Denn's old neighborhood, and paid a visit to Ms. Dinardo, one of their oldest and dearest neighbors. She's sweet. She has many pictures of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren on her walls. She even had our wedding pictures up there! Ms. Dinardo speaks a mixture of Italian and English, but I enjoyed listening to her and deciphering her stories. She served us good Italian coffee and flat pastries. Mom Denn and I stayed with her while the Denn siblings visited the house they grew up in. It experienced rough treatment from the three hurricanes this year, and is undergoing massive repair. When we left Ms. Dinardo's place I got a bit misty-eyed; she's 94 and going strong but I don't know how many more times I'll get to see her again. She's a wonderful person, full of good cheer and charisma. The Denn kids were lucky to have her as a friend when they were growing up. Gina and I spent a day at Cyprus Gardens, an amusement park within sight of her parents' house. I liked the lack of fences and "keep out" signs in the gardens. There was an occasional "watch out for alligators" sign, but that was understandable. The rides were mediocre but amusing nonetheless. My favorite object in the park is the 70-year-old banyan tree. It's huge, and has multiple trunks reaching to the ground. It's like a gigantic organic art-nouveau cathedral. I love that banyan tree. Russell and Shelly have three cats (Armando, The Boy, and Baby) and a doggy named Luka who is very gentle and loving. They also have a beautiful house full of instruments and mobiles. Shelly gave me a quick lesson with the Mac mixing program called Garage Band. I recorded some dij riffs, but I was a bit rusty and the mic didn't have the range required by dij sounds. Shelly played some of her own compositions; I really have to get a CD of her stuff. Sounds gooood. Gina and I, with Russell, attended one of Shelly's yoga classes-- another first for me. I could sort of do most of the poses and exercises, some of which were quite exhausting. We also did some breathing/singing exercises and at the end of class, while we rested on the floor, Shelly played a really deep crystal bowl. The crisp long single note invaded my head and made my brains disappear. At least that's what it felt like. Shelly is a great yoga teacher, in my limited experience. Russell and Shelly took us out on their river in kayaks. The day was sunny and the water was calm. I've never paddled a kayak before, but R&S are fine teachers. Each of us had our own boat. I brought along one of Russell's dijeridus and played it-- the kayak amplified the dij sound so much I thought I might attract (or repel) alligators. They must have heard the noise, it was loud. We linked the kayaks together for a little picnic out on the water. Russell and I talked a lot about gaming and game design while we paddled along the river, and we saw many birds and river plants. What a pleasant day. Russell showed Gina and me how to play crokinole, an old shuffleboard-type game. Gina and I improved our skills rapidly I think. Russell and Shelly also took us to a rockin' cafe called Sacred Grounds, where we played a newer printing of Shaufenster (aka Klunker). In my opinion the newer version is not better than the old one. The artwork is nicer but it's too abstract. There is no "cat" suit, i.e. no suit pays four dollars (marks?) no matter how many other piles you have in your vault. Ultimately the cards are more colorful but the game less so. It's still a good game, though. Gina won a camera from MOM (My Organic Market, where she regularly buys our food). It's an Olympus Stylus Verve, a tiny camera with nice resolution and features. We hope to start putting more and better pictures up on our pages soon. We were visited yesterday by a scramble of unklings, Meg's and Thom's kids, along with a few grownups, too. I had a good time for several hours, but the screaming wrestling balls of energy eventually wore me out. I really don't see how some parents don't just completely go nuts. Then again I guess a lot do, don't they? Anyhow, it was great to see them all. Wish I still had all that energy. |
THE HEAP where we wade the web churches
close for xmash |
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