Back on the Rock

Skiing yesterday in the midst of another smack down storm

In a lull between the ongoing storms smacking Kodiak managed to fly back into town on New Year's Eve,  On the drive back from the airport I picked up pizzas, beer, and fireworks.  I had a fireworks party to throw.

I have a great porch on a cliff overlooking Mill Bay - it is perfect for fireworks, and the beach at the head of the bay is one of the most popular places in town for fireworks.  We had planned this party after the 4rth of July (click here) when we'd lit fireworks off in the broad daylight.  Fireworks are best in the dark so me and the other 4rth of July party goers had decided to have an Eastern Standard Time New Year's Eve Party.

And so I lit the fire pit, cooked the pizzas, and opened a beer.  Everyone arrived, and the show began!  Darkness does make a HUGE difference.  But I also think we bought better fireworks - more mortars and rocket batteries.  It was quite the show.  Nora saved one of the best artillery batteries for 8 PM and we had a countdown and lit it off - Mill Bay hit a crescendo of sound and it was the New Year - for us and the rest of the east coast anyway. Our party was all over by 9 PM.

Much to my chagrin I later discovered that my new fancy camera is subject to operator error.  At the New Year's Eve fireworks party I accidentally set my camera to manual focus but assumed it was on auto focus.  Looking at the viewfinder in the dark I thought I was getting some awesome pictures, but in the cold light of the computer screen every single photo was slightly out of focus.  Oh well, live and learn.

It looks like my focus was set somewhere between 1 and 2 meters

On New Year's day the kids and I went on a drive and saw that everyone was jumping into Mill Bay for the New Year's Day Polar Plunge.  Another storm had rolled in off the Gulf and it looked pretty hard core.  I had decided I was going to do it too - but Nora talked me out of it.  Still we saw one of my co-workers and even a couple of Stuey and Nora's classmates.  Patrick

New Years Day polar bear plunge at Mill Bay Beach - on a whim I was about to do it but Nora talked me out of it

Those are some big waves!