Pi Day

Yesterday was Pi Day and a special one at that...3/14/15.  I dislike the idea that females are not good at math, even though I sort-of bear out that stereotype. Higher level math was never my strong suit (even though I did make it through research and statistics in grad school!)  I like to think that I could have been better at it if I'd had a teacher who encouraged me more and tried to explain the concepts more clearly.  I remember struggling along and having high school teachers who just didn't give a flip.  :)  I am old enough to say I grew up when it was a widely held belief that girls just weren't that talented at math so there was not a lot of effort put forth if we didn't "get it" right away.  Thankfully, things have changed at least a little bit and I have a daughter who majored in math and taught high school geometry --  I count that as my revenge on all those teachers who wrote me and my sisters off.  :)

So I am not commemorating Pi Day out of any attachment to mathematics...I just think it's fun. 

What do you get when you take the sun and divide its circumference by its diameter?…Pi in the sky.

I read an article in the New York Times  which attempts to explain the mystery and wonder and significance of Pi.  But what jumped out at me more than anything was this line in the beginning:  "Typical celebrations revolve around eating pies and composing “pi-kus” (haikus with three syllables in the first line, one in the second and four in the third)."   What?? Pi-kus?  Now, that's something I can relate to!

On my Facebook page this morning, I invited my friends to leave me a pi-ku.  Since I was posting instead of snoozing, I left this one as an example:

2 AM
sleep?
insomnia!

When I got up today, several people had left their pi-kus.  Here's a little sample.

6 AM
Smile
Wide awake now
--My mom

8 AM
Coffee
Cat on my lap!
--My cousin Mary

5 am
awake
Reading good book
--My friend Jeanie

awake? Please.
- nope. -
asleep again.
--My friend Bailey

Still my heart
Snow
I love thee so
--My friend Maggie

Pi day now
wow
which should we bake?
--My friend Bonnie

Pi? Yes i
Will...
Definitely.
--My sister Kathi

Brrrrrr...it's cold
Snow
A sneak attack
--My friend Tammy

Why, oh Pi,
Does
Your length not end?
--My friend Steve

If you want to join in, leave your pi-ku in the comments.   Thanks, friends, for making Pi Day more fun than my high school teachers ever did.  :)

Winter?

This was February last year.  I needed a sled to get up and down the steps outside our house! 

You can see the piles of snow around the eagle and more snow falling in the background.

This was February this year.  No snow on the ground, and our little crocuses decided it was okay to come out.  Not good!

We have had the mildest, warmest winter on record.  It seems very weird when everyone I know in the lower 48 is having snow, snow, and more snow.  Although I am not crazy about being super cold and slogging through snow and ice and slush every day, it worries me that our climate is changing so drastically.  Have you read this article about the little town of Shishmaref on the verge of falling into the sea?  If that doesn't give you pause, I worry about you.

It's Spring Break here in Unalaska, and winter finally decided to descend upon us yesterday.  March 13.  Friday, March 13.  :)  This was the view out our bedroom window before I drove off in a blizzard to go to work.  (Side note: I never had to have 4WD before living in Alaska, and I always have trouble putting the truck into gear. Why can I not remember that it needs to go into H4, not L4?  Almost every time I have to switch it over, I have to ask Rich, "Now what do I do again?!" For a smart girl, I somehow have a mental block about 4 wheel drive).

Welcome, winter...just in time for spring.

Sorry for the long absence from the blog. I have had a few faithful readers send me a note and ask me what's up.  I think I am just a bit bored with the whole thing lately and having trouble finding anything to write about.  We are rocking along with life as usual, mostly working, planning our next big trip (which I will talk about soon!) and thinking seriously about retirement in the next year.  Yippeee!  What's new in your little corner of the world?

Happy Holidays, 2014

 I usually try to send out a photo card for Christmas but did not have time to do that this year.  Our son in law David is a great photographer and took these beautiful pictures of the grandkids when they were all together on Thanksgiving, so I am stealing!  :)    Above, Susan and Corey's Aidan, age 11 and Ally, age 7.

 Sarah and Miles' three:  Elle, age 6, Beck, age 4, and baby Jack, about 2 months in this photo.

Bonnie and David's three: Emery, age 5, Luke, age 2 and baby Ada, age 3 months

Sweet kids! We love them so!  

We've been home since early December, back at work and getting into the routine of winter in Unalaska: dark mornings, ice on the outside steps, beautiful sunrises, snow on the mountains, wind, rain, sunshine, letting the cats in and out of the house constantly, community activities, seeing friends, doing chores, online Christmas shopping, my annual holiday radio shows with my friend Melanie, potlucks and Scrabble games, enjoying cards and letters from friends and family from afar.  Rich is very busy this time of year with Christmas parties and banquets galore.  He will work Christmas Day and I will be here hanging out till later in the evening when we will enjoy our traditional dinner with the hotel staff.  Happy holidays, everyone, whatever traditions you celebrate!

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, November 26 to December 3

We drove back to Dallas and returned our rental car, spent one more day and night with Sarah and Miles and then caught a plane to Puerto Vallarta for the last leg of our vacation.  We rented a very cool little condo in town, up a VERY steep street and then up 6 more flights of stairs to our apartment. SO we got lots of walking and climbing in. :)

 The view from our condo

Two walls were open (with glass doors we could close if we wanted...but we didn't!)

 The beach

Walking along

 Fresh fruit

 Colorful streets

Waiting for the water taxi to take us to Yelapa for the day

 Hiking in Yelapa...one of the waterfalls

 In a bakery in Puerto Vallarta

 Great lunch at a little cafe on the street

Relaxing at home

Rich made fajitas for our Thanksgiving feast.  :)

 Pigeons visiting our rooftop pool

Phones on the street

Workers taking a lunch break

Rich enjoying his street tacos

 It's a little bit hot but I am NOT complaining!

The trek up our street

New Orleans Vacation November 19-23

We finished our road trip with a few days in New Orleans.  We had once reserved a big house for the Christmas holidays and all of the kids were going to meet us there.  I think at that time, Aidan was our only grandchild. We had paid the deposit and made all the arrangements and then Hurricane Katrina hit; with the devastation that unfolded, of course we had to change our plans.  (First world problem, I know. I am not trying to minimize the very real tragedy of the hurricane and its aftermath by complaining about my Christmas vacation!)

We have a ton of photos from New Orleans but I will just post a representative sample so as not to wear you out.  It was a wonderful time--we walked and walked and walked, saw plenty of sights, ate great food, heard lots of music and completely enjoyed ourselves.