Holiday Greetings Friends:
Talk about motivation!! All the snow we had at Thanksgiving got me so mixed up. Twice I cut down a neighbor's tree for Christmas and six days later I got drunk and made my New Years resolution. When it started to melt and rain, I came to my senses. The pen was ignited though and no stopping it then.
Our roster is cut to six this season....All were on one year contracts and came to terms by February last year.
Dad - same height, instead of 180-210 he's 205-210. You have to have some wieght to play up front. 17th season childbeater, husband, and father. Taking Psychology 101. The older players need different tactics.
Mom - 5'2" 105, 15th year out of B.C.C. exact same. A successful team needs something they can count on. Someone who's always there when you need them. As a mother she's a 10. As a wife it goes from about -5 and up. Couldn't be Dad's fault. Mom says all the kids play piano.
Gene - 5'9", 155, 1st year at W.H.S. (Woodinville High School) into arm wrestling, tries his Dad constantly anyhow. You'd think he wanted to be coach or something. We're really high on this kid, our first round pick in "69". Water-skiing, b-ball, radio-control and under my expert guidance, he's not a bad shot either. He's working on a radio-control plane with machine guns for the high flying ducks.
Angie - 5'1", wieght? solid into gymnastics. 1st place, numero uno, the main dude 1985 class III, girls 12 and older, Washington State. Grandpa and I got it on tape with colorful commentary. You can call 788-1309 to rent it for your group. (She's holding out for a trampoline this year. I'm glad he doesn't have an agent).
Jill - 4'10", 75 lbs. 5th year out of C.L.E. our representative to the Equestrian world. She's decided "eventing" should be something a kid can do instead of school; instead of eating; instead of sleeping; instead of anything. She made some giant strides (pun) this year. Even won a couple of ribbons.
Joel - 3'7", 45 lbs. to 3'10" , 55 lbs. this season. Red shirted at C.L.E. this year, only goes 1/2 day. Anything Mrs. Nystron says is cast in stone.
Coug. - (short for Cougar) went to the big swamp in the sky. Not many other hunting dogs know this story. About 7 years ago we were on the Frenchmans' Wasteway , west of Sullivan's Dam. Early January and bitterly cold, five ducks swooped in and landed. When we snuck up on them they were stuck to the ice. Coug was a true sportman you know. He went out there and freed those ducks. There would be no shooting ducks stuck in the pond for him. He was truely this man's best friend.
If it sounds like we are bragging and proud of the team, you have good ears. Once a year it's therapuetic to go through the roster and hit on the high points, to look at the niches each one is carving for him or herself. Thing's have gone well for us this year. When you look back at the "crisis" they are frozen in time and insignificant now.
Last summer we took off across the state several times. for some reason, I don't know what, we started out where we ended up the summer before. All those mosquitos were still there. The "Nason Creek" campground on the Wanatchee River. Don't ever go there. There is a grocery store across the highway that has one isle with misquito repellant only. We arrived at 7 P.M. We jumped in the tent with a box of crackers and zipped it up. We left at 4 A.M. and drove 80 miles before we ate breakfast.
Several weeks later we ventured west. We hit Port Angeles about 6 P.M. on a Friday night. Every site in the whole Olympic National Park was taken. Got a motel and counted logging trucks all night. It was really hot and the snorer was with us again. Bad night. Hey we're on vacation, sort of like national lampoon.
On a Sunday afternoon in October I called Paradise Lodge to see when the last day of their season was. "THIS IS IS!!" came the reply. We weren't able to make it so we'll have to live on last year's memories until next year.
This note will have to last you until next year. This note also insures my clean underware through next season.
THE END
Happy New Year
