Brrrrrrrr

You can click on any of these pictures to make them a little larger.

Just as I was thinking things couldn't get worse with all the weather dipping into the thirties and some places into the double digits around home, I got that call from the office in St Louis.

"Got a job for ya," says Steve.

"Oh, where to?" I asked.

You could almost hear the smile on his face when he said, "Sterling Heights............Michigan." That would be a bedroom community of Detroit.

My brain temperature dropped about 10° just on the announcement, alone.

Anyway, long story short, I'm here in the frozen tundra for a few days....hopefully, not weeks or heaven forbid, months.

So for the first weekend here, I took a trip over to Windsor, Ontario. With temps down around 12° early Saturday morning I took the tunnel and took a ride south along the river on a parkway. The river had a nice flow to it and the giant frozen ice chunks bumping into each other reminded me of a cold winter decades ago when ice flows made it down to Louisiana and you could hear the noise from the Vicksburg/Vidalia bridge.

Venturing out east of town, I rode along the countryside by fields covered with snow. The roads were straight and in squares so it reminded me somewhat of the prairie and farm lands of south Louisiana except they were totally white with snow.

Not being able to speak Canadian, and not sure that I would be getting much of a deal on my U.S. money, I elected to turn back around after 20 miles or so and come on back to the U.S. via the bridge, after picking up a few souvenirs for the smallest grandchildren.

It wasn't much of a trip but at least I satisfied the curiosity regarding the hassles of international border crossings. It really wasn't much of a big deal and involved no more than the gate keepers on both sides asking me why I was crossing, did I have any alcohol, tobacco or firearms, where I was from, what I did for a living and how long my visit would be.

Cold as it is, far from home as it is and missing everyone, it's still good to have a job when some are not working. Besides, I was being way too blessed staying home cooking and eating too much.

Day 2; Sunday, January 10, 2010

When I got up for breakfast this morning, it was 3 global warming degrees outside.

I'd always heard of Motown and now I've seen it and it took what I thought was forever to get me out of it too. At the heart of it was the Motown Museum where they even had to have bars over the windows and doors and gang scribbles were the only examples of fine art to be seen.Yep, right there on Barry Gordy Avenue.

Downtown Detroit is showing some signs of life even on a Sunday afternoon. There was this little circle area that had a public skating rink in it where some people tried their luck at staying up on two feet. I saw no need to risk breaking another bone (like I did trying to climb a mountain in Oregon) and never considered renting skates. I did see some folks hit the ice HARD and they'll remember it tomorrow.

Another highlight of the day was a tour through Mexicantown. Yep, they have one of those too but still wonder why in the world they'd want to come to this ice cube. Apparently it's been a part of the city quite a while. There are a number of streets that bear Spanish names. One particular way I knew I was there was the guy who thought he was a bullfighter standing in the crossroads of two four lane streets. He stood in the middle, waving the cars by and barely being missed by oncoming traffic from both directions. I thought, surely he was going to get run over but eventually joined a buddy on the corner much to the relief of the drivers. I don't know what he was on but whatever it was made him 100% bulletproof.....car proof too.


Snow was still deep (probably 6-8 inches) and I did some walking in it but after a few minutes, the novelty wore off and I crawled back into my car and found my way back to the hotel.

A Cold Winter's Ride

Any excuse is good enough, I suppose. Christmas morning, I left Dutchtown at 5 AM on Boudreaux, headed 250 miles north to my mother's house. It was relatively cold but I had ridden in 38° weather before because it usually became a little warmer as the sun rose. This time, it was a tad different because the further north I got, the colder it became.
Cruising through Mangum, LA, I blinked when the LED sign at a bank announced 34°. I have to say though, it really wasn't that uncomfortable especially if your gear includes a t-shirt, two light sweaters, a hooded sweat suit jacket, thick leather motorcycle jacket, jeans, thick Doc Marten boots, regular socks, thermal socks, goggles, leather chaps, a neck warmer, stocking cap, cold weather ski gloves, cotton liner gloves and a lined helmet. In other words, I looked like the Michelin Man and felt like a sumo wrestler. Maneuverability could have been an issue if I had to make some quick moves. Even with the cold weather gear, the toes and fingers do get a little cold traveling at 65-75 mph for a couple of hours at a time.

The irony in all of this is 6 weeks and 3 thousand miles ago, I was riding 50° warmer. (Maui)

Why do that, you may ask. Well, ...hmm...I guess I just love riding that thing and will use the most flimsy excuse in the world just to get on it and ride.

Bah! Humbug!

I started dreading Christmas last New Years day but for what it's worth, "Merry Christmas". I still believe it's just a pagan holiday that someone tried to Christianize, but I pick my battles.

Happy Louisiana

Recent survey's have revealed that Louisianians are the happiest people in the nation, nudging out Hawaii. New York finished out dead last (imagine that) below some of the other more crowded states.

Here's my theory. Louisiana is plagued with flooding, hurricanes, pollution and an endless supply of elected officials who risk going to jail to steal a few thousand here and there.

Over the years, we've had populist politicians who have raked us over the pit for so long, we naturally believe we're going to take it in the backside one more time. Hence, we have a much lower expectation for the future. One side effect might be the party atmosphere found here even in front of disaster. Many of us live by the, "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die," attitude.

The more people you have rubbing up against each other, the greater the misery factor. Centuries and even decades ago, when people couldn't take more regulation and stepping on each others' toes, they simply picked up, crammed their junk in a cart, wagon or a ship and headed west. Unfortunately, the Westward Expansion has run out of territory and possibly we've shrugged our shoulders and said, "What the heck, we'll just live with it!"

Laissez les bons temps rouler, anyone?

Worthless, absolutely worthless.

For six weeks, I've been absolutely worthless, cooking too much, eating too much and riding around on Boudreaux the Harley. Did I mention, spending way too much money?

After three weeks of vacation and another three that the office didn't have a place to send me, I had not worked since October 30, in spite of being on the payroll. It was welcomed when I received a call telling me I'd be in La Porte, (Houston) Texas for a couple of weeks. The bummer was that I would be training with a guy who, as it turned, acted like he was doing me a favor for showing up to work. For reasons too deep to go into, I was supposed to meet him Saturday and work but got a call a little after I arrived informing me it wasn't going to happen. Bummer! I had canceled a trip back home and an annual motorcycle ride to visit and spread a little cheer to the guys up at the Louisiana Veteran's Home in Jackson, LA.

So, after I found myself free Saturday I took a ride down to Galveston and Sunday, I visited and had lunch with my Aunt Lettie in a retirement home up in Tomball. It was good to see her.

Here's a rave for you. Asking the desk clerk at the Hampton which Mexican restaurant was the best, he recommended Valdo's Seafood Restaurant just up the road on Nasa Boulevard. Although it was a slow night, the staff was attentive and polite. I chose the Fajita Chicken and Spinach quesadillas with charro beans and rice served with fresh hot baked bread. It really was that good, so raves to it and the desk clerk who sent me.

A Dutchtown Christmas

Getting together for the holidays can be somewhat of an effort with scheduling, some out of town and some with other priorities.

My immediate clan gathered together for chili, snacks and a grand old time this weekend.

This group contains ( not necessarily in order) Darlene, Darren, Donna, Hagan, Janet, Jacqueline, Henry, Kate, Robert, Rebecca, Devin, Blaise, Hadley, Nick, Jared, Laurie, Jaime, Susan, Chris and myself.

Merry Christmas.

Henry the Biker

Henry brought his mom and dad by late Sunday afternoon for some gumbo. Well, Henry wasn't too hungry but the rest of us sure got into that pot.

After dinner, we went outside to battle the mosquitoes (Something wrong with having to fight mosquitoes this late in the year) and try on a Harley. In another couple of decades, I wouldn't be surprised if Henry wasn't riding one with regularity. Let's see....I'll be......hmm....a VERY old man then.

Sugar Pumkin

Miss Hadley dropped by early Sunday afternoon to pay Nannie and me a visit. Nothing cuter than a one year old just now getting comfortable on the legs. She doesn't talk much other than the "Dadda" and "Mama" words but has a decent vocabulary in American Sign Language. She's quite capable of expressing "more" of anything, complimenting it with the sign for "please."

She's definitely not deaf but her mom and dad read that teaching them sign language at an early age reduces frustration in her own attempt to communicate.

Rounding out the vacation

After getting home and barely unpacked, I remembered a promise to a pair of 11 year olds regarding a weekend camping trip. "Camping" as defined as going to Lake D'Arbonne State Park and living in a tent overnight.

Friday afternoon, I picked up Susan's son, Nick and we headed up to Monroe to meet up with my grandson, Devin and to spend the night there.

It was promising a light rain but perhaps the new tent would keep us dry. Reasonably early, Saturday morning, we drove up to the lake, picked out a sight and through up a tent in the piney woods of north Louisiana. There was the occasional light drip or rain but it came nowhere close to dampening the spirits of the little boys. At one point, I was confident that I had a pair of pyromaniacs in training. However, much to my relief and I'm sure the park rangers, we managed to not set the woods on fire.

It was only one night but we came back after a great time, bringing with us lots of smokey smelling clothes, dirt on jeans and a desire for a decent night's sleep.

Click here for the pictures (evidence).

Well, we're back

Although, we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest, we're back from Maui. I can't promise I won't grumble when I have to drag my suitcase through some place in an Outer Mongolian style location this winter for sure.

Darlene and I stayed at our friends, Don and Rachel's place feeding the cats and thwarting would be burglars while they were on their own adventure in Miami and Belize.

There's too many pictures to post and some are pretty much redundant, so click here to check out the slide show. The pics are in no particular order.