George & Condi by Angelika Sackmann (Mountain Mules Sister)

Mountain Mules sister Angelika Sackmann lives in Ulm, Germany, where she teaches at a "Gymnasium" (High School) which is a magnet school for the arts. When she doesn't teach she paints. Many German's ,as most of the world, are concerned about the imperialist tendancy of the Bush administration. It is has been difficult over the past years to defend the foriegn policy of our country. Not so many years ago it was easy. I would recommend past presidents Jiimmy Carters new book "Our Endangered Values". Now we have learned that our government not only spies on foriegn nationals but on it's own people under the cover of " national security".

Christmas Eve - Morning Walk

Well I'm trying to get back into some semblence of shape so I don't die when Beth & I undertake our winter Traditional Cresh..Ok I get it!! snow camping trip. We want to spend a few days in the William O. Douglas Wilderness in February sometime.

So off I went on my four mile loop down to the waterfront through Old Town and back up the hill to the house.

Interesting to see the variety of Christmas Decorations from the traditional to the not so traditional.

Sponge Bob Square Pants & Frosty....Hmm??

Some of my fondest childhood memories are around Christmas, like most people I suppose. I grew up in a little villiage (Vaterstetten) 16 kilometers east of Munich in Bavaria. The tradition there was that we didn't see the tree until Christmas Eve when my parents and grandparents invited us into the living room with the sound of a little silver bell.

We would walk into the site of a Christmas tree almost ablaze with bee's wax candles which my grandfather would scurry to snuff out in about 10 minutes before he burned the house down. To this day I can smell the burning bee's wax mixed in with the smell of cinniman and the rest of it comming out of the pot of mulled wine.

After getting our presents and some dinner it was off to midnight service at the local church. Getting there was the most fun. We would do a procession through the crunchy cold snow. The only light was from the candles and the air was so crisp it almost hurt breathing it in with the faint smoke of incense comming from the front of the procession. Once we arrived to the cold church where men and women sat on different sides we had a hour or so of carols and finished with a, in those days, latin mass. Different times for sure.

So this morning I finished my walk in the warm wind and "Oregon Mist" rain of the Washington State experiencing the interesting varied decorations of a diverse community. Very differerent than my childhood but equally interesting and rewarding.

I had two more pictures but it won't let me upload them for some reason, I'll edit this post once I figure it out.

PEACE!!

Fall Football Game At Seahawks Stadium

My good freind Ponce invited to me to join him to a Seahawks football game. Had a great time, they're winning this year. Ponce and I went to see the mother of Marcus Trufant, one of the local players to purchase a signed jersey for Ponce's son as a Christmas gift. I learned the value of a signature this day. The cost was $20 without and $100 with signature.

You can see the full moon framed by one of the two major trusses holding up the stadium roof. The structure of the stadium not only incorporates the shapes of a football but picks up on the structural elements of the adjacent SAFECO field (baseball stadium). Really quite successful architecture.

The game itself was nothing short of a slaughter with a score of 48 to 0, in favor of the Hawks, or something like that. Some of the crowd left early, but Ponce & I hung around to the very end savoring victory. You don't always have occasion to enjoy good company, a good game, on a dry but cool, and misty northwest afternoon.

It was fun to see Kenney Easely as an honored guest at this game. Kenney was the Seahawks premier free safety many years ago. He look healthy but old, the old part is what I see in the mirror. Oh well thanks Eva (Ponce's wife) for letting me use you ticket......great day!!!