20/20 Vision

I propose a toast: bravery, kindness and creativity in 2020

I wish you a happy new year

I think if I had to pick the best moment of 2019, I couldn't, but I know it involved laughing hard with people that I love

Throwing Snowballs into a Swamp

I just enjoyed the original True Grit with my family.

When my father came home from the hospital after his mini-stroke which left him blind in his right eye, he was already joking that his new nickname would have to be "Rooster Cogburn," because of the line in the film where a character yells, "That's bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!"

Anyway, that was my first John Wayne film.  Next, I will read the book

Poker

Once again, I'm Even Steven.

After a year without any poker games, the original crew put one together in my friend's "man cave" this evening.

I admit, about an hour in, it looked like I was going to be the first of six contestants to bow out.  I'd had my only sleep-deprived night of my vacation the night before and I couldn't seem to catch a break with my hand or the flops, plus I felt like taking a nap at the table.

Then, I actually went out, and thought that was it.  I was down to my final three chips, went all in, and was barely defeated... when I noticed that ten cards from the previous hand hadn't been shuffled back into the deck.  My friends were fair, and dealt me back in.  I went all in the next hand, and won. 

A few hands before I'd thought of going all in just to end my participation in the game because I wasn't feeling it, but a voice told me to be calm and ride it out to see where it went.

Somehow we went three hours before somebody got knocked out.  It happened to be my friend who'd graduated from Wharton.  He was low, so he went all in, pre-flop (this was Texas Hold 'Em).  Everyone else bowed out, but I had pocket aces, so there was no way I was backing down before we saw the first three cards.  It turned out he had Ace King, but the third ace was produced and I sent him packing.  After that I took out my accountant friend on a full house.  The third to leave was an editor at Bloomberg.  Somehow, early in the game, I'd earned the nickname of "bully," possibly because of my style in previous games.  Mr. Bloomberg had scoffed at the moniker later, claiming that one had to actually have leverage to be a bully, and seeing as how I had only three chips, I couldn't qualify.  I tried my best to be gracious when he finally caved.

And then there were three.  We kept raising the blinds, and when it got down to two, I just went all in because I kind of not-so-secretly wanted to be "Even Steven" for the fourth time in a row (with this group.  I actually won with my city friends the one time we played).

So now I still have ten dollars, which will be spent at Northshire Books in Manchester, Vermont tomorrow.

That is, the first nine will be spent, as the first dollar I won back had the number 333 in that corner near the ONE on the pyramid side, which is nice

NY Squall News

Mmm... peaches!

Always learning, looking, listening, moving, reading, writing, speaking, and sharing our understanding, and we will figure this whole thing out eventually

In myriad journeys, balancing action and patience is a worthy endeavor

I'm in a nice mood, as the book I ordered for my nephew arrived today

Reading

Today I'm watching the snow that just started falling, happy I decided to ride home well after midnight rather than compete with the Thanksgiving crowd on slippery roads.  I'm also listening to Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On" and "Ten Years Gone."

I've been this way ten years to the day

If you get an opportunity to travel, go on an adventure, or even embark on a lengthy international journey, please, for yourself, for your soul, for everyone who will meet you thereafter, go!