As I write this letter, the sun is shining although the temperature is falling and it seems the snow showers we were warned about have not eventuated. So far, this has been a relatively warm and dry winter, especially as this is the time of year when it should be cold and wet. However, next year's letter should be coming from summer, as the time has arrived to return to live in Sydney, or perhaps somewhere quite close. The decision is quite recent, and the details are still being worked out, but probably about October 2005 will be when I say farewell to Seattle after what will then be 17 years! But I also expect to be returning on a semi-regular basis to catch up with the many good friends I have in the northern hemisphere.
While there are many reasons for returning, being physically close to my family is certainly at the top. But also the thoughts of warmer, and especially sunnier, winters does appeal to me. And the next generation of the family is now coming along, and youngsters grow up too quickly to see just once a year. But, sadly, there is seeing less of my good friends and neighbours in Seattle.
Back to 2004. It's been a busy year, with quite a bit of travelling. March and April was spent in Sydney. It is birthday season (3 family members in one month), and my niece Michelle had a new baby in January, so there was a Baptism too. And my nephew Keiran was about to head off to London for 2 years. An all round good time to be there. Then in July I joined a tour to Denmark and Norway. I have always wanted to see that part of the world, and when local public radio station KPLU organised a tour, I joined in. It was an excellent trip, lasting almost two weeks. And I did something I never expected - had lunch on an island in a Norwegian fjord! The trip report for this is at http://www.bluegum.com/travels/Scandinavia04/ And as a bonus, I met a group of very nice travelling companions! The only downside of the trip was the weather - the summer of 2004 started very wet in Europe, and most days required considering the "Do I need an umbrella today?" question. Just like home, it was!
The final major escape of the year was in late September and early October. I rode to California to see friends, on to Las Vegas for a reunion, then off to the Grand Canyon (it's still Grand, and hasn't changed much since 1978!), and then back to California before returning to Seattle and settling in for the winter, and catching up on all the things that have been missed in the last 7 months! The reunion in Las Vegas was very enjoyable, though was almost prevented by hurricane Ivan. Now, I can see you are thinking that Ivan was in the south east of the USA, while Las Vegas is in the south west. Well, one of the couples coming to Las Vegas lives in Alabama, and at one time, Ivan was forecast to travel up Mobile Bay, which would have put it west of their home, thus causing great damage to it. Fortunately for Shirley and Kent, Ivan went 20 miles (32 km) east of their home, which suffered no damage. And they even had power restored after a couple of days. All this just a few days before the reunion in Las Vegas! And the date of the reunion could not be changed, as Peter and Sarah were on a world tour, with no slack in their schedule. All in all, it was a very enjoyable couple of days, and nice to see "old friends" again!
And to add a little more to this story, the Las Vegas reunion was on Wednesday to Friday. On the following evening, I had agreed to attend a Seattle reunion of the Scandinavian tour group - arranged before the Las Vegas reunion was scheduled. I was thinking of apologising and saying that I could no longer attend, but the tour member from the east coast was coming, so I figured the least I could do would be to fly back from Las Vegas for Saturday night's reunion, then head back to Las Vegas on Sunday to continue the random tour I was enjoying. It was a rather busy week, but very enjoyable nonetheless. And eventually there will be a travel diary on the web!
Other trips were to Ashland, OR, for a weekend of playgoing with (former Microsoft) friends; a weekend in Pullman, WA for motorcycling with friends, and a few days in Victoria BC. And I had my home painted (outside) - it's no longer dark white, but a nice pastel yellow, just what's needed for the short, dreary winter days. And since returning from California, I've been getting rid of the computer junk that has been accumulating for a number of years - all part of returning home, though I didn't know that when I started!
The coming year will also likely involve much travel! Several trips to Sydney to sort out that end of the move, and a number of trips within the US to see some of my more remote friends, and probably also a trip to London to see my nephew and another ex-Microsoft friend.
Wishing you the peace of Christmas and all the best for the new year.