All New! American roommate/Mexican Toilet!

We got a roommate: Holly! She's a fellow physicist that teaches in CD's department.
Here we are shooting the potato gun at the beach:



Blast off!!



We also finally replaced the leaky toilet in the bathroom downstairs. We'd been wasting water and feeling guilty about it, so we figured in the long run... better to spend a bit now on a new porcelain bowl than keep paying for one of our most precious resources: water.
CD using his level:




Check out our toilet spoof of Office Space on Youtube!

We've also begun playing the weekly trivia at Blondie's in Arcata. Last Monday, we became champs!! Here we are with The Belt!
Our team, the Sig Figs: Dave, Catherine, CD and Holly!!!

Dan and Rebecca visit!

The first weekend in November brought visitors to the house. Dear friend Dan volunteered to give a seminar at the university, so he and wife Rebecca came for a long weekend. We were very lucky with good weather for exploring the beach and the redwoods.

Saturday we visited the farmer's market (one of its lasts for the season) and then went to the jetty to check out some gigantic waves. The whole beach was flooded and everyone and their brother was hanging up on the dunes watching the nature show. It was amazing!
After lunch on the waterfront, CD gave them a ride up on the plane. It was fun and sunny! That evening we stayed in and had a lovely meal followed by a fierce game of Trivial Pursuit.
The next day, we drove to the Avenue of the Giants to see big trees, many varieties of mushrooms, ferns and lichens. It was a nice fall day: sunny and crisp! That evening, CD and Dan brewed some beer. From what I understand, Dan has been brewing prolifically lately, while CD and I don't drink much beer anymore. It was nice to get back into it! Thanks to Dan for the impetus!
All pictures here, in addition to a few from the beach hike I mentioned in my last post.

October recap

A third of the month I spent on the R/V Wecoma, helping with the buoys and playing lots of cribbage. Once I got home, it took a few days for things to get back to normal. It's always a bit overwhelming to get back to cooking and interacting with a bigger population sample. Walking on terra firma is strange and driving a car feels very foreign.






Highlights of the month included: an Ani DiFranco concert at the Arcata Community Center, dry weather for hiking, carving pumpkins, Halloween on the plaza, and a Mexican themed dinner party for Dia de los Muertos. More pics of some of the shenanigans here.