That was a close one, Nena!

Saturday the wind blew ferociously, knocking tree branches together and causing them to drop large pieces of icy branches on people and cars below. Coming down fourth ave in my car, I was hit by a spurt of ice droppings, sounding like hail. When I emerged on the other side of the tree, I looked it my rear-view mirror just in time to see a large branch fall right where I had just been moments ago. Yikes!

What do you get when you cross a blanket of snow on the fields and a thick fog in the air? No horizon. This was my experience on the way to and from Granville last Friday. When there were no cars in front of me and none behind and all I could see anywhere around me was a small stretch of road that disappeared into a white haze, it felt like I was the only being on the planet. But even the planet did not feel like a planet at all. Rather than being a speck on the surface of a giant sphere, it felt more like I was a speck in the very center of a vast expanse of pure whiteness that could have gone on forever and ever.

Ever have that?

and maybe more

A few days ago Lisa was telling me a story about a guy who knew he was close to dying, so he wrote down his top ten memories ever. We decided limiting our favorite memories of a lifetime to just ten would be a trying task, but perhaps we could handle choosing our top five (or maybe 10) memories of the last year. So here's my best 2009 memories, in chronological order.

Nearly driving to Santa Fe after missing the Sandia Mountain exit with Morgan - January
The 75th birthday bash - February
Making construction paper masks on the way to the Kroeze wedding - March
Road trip to the west coast with Lisa and Ross - March
Campfire'n, beer sackin, pencil boxin, star gazin atop the garage, and snuffin - April?
Final Cotton Bonnets concert - May
Bike/camping trip to Oak Grove with Lisa, which included a hammock, soggy sandwiches, and two distinct, but equally important, swimming excursions - July
Yo La Tengo and the diner - October
The failed attempt to fly homemade kites with Dee - November

Salsa dancing at a club in GR with Yolanda - November

I forgot one - pushing Evan's face into the snow after building a snow fort in the backyard - December