Super cool week

Snagged from Yahoo News

Last night the light from this incredible moon kept shining in through the windows, making it look like daylight out there. I didn't get up and take any pictures, of course, because that would have meant dressing for the cold and driving down to the bay to get anything really worthwhile. Instead, I climbed back into bed. This event usually occurs once a year; the moon is in its full phase at the same time that it is closest to the earth, and we just happened to have a clear night here. The first in many days. While much of the country has been baking, we have been having temperatures below normal.

From Climate Prediction Center

Yes, this is what happened to us all last winter, too. A strong ridge of high pressure built over the midwest, and we ended up with all the cold. Apparently this is set to change, and it can't be too soon for me. Yesterday I planned to head to Snohomish to make a few jumps, but the weather didn't cooperate; it didn't clear until late in the day. I decided to try again today, and although the temperature is quite cold (36 F), it should warm up in the predicted sunshine. I'll try again today and hope to get my "knees in the breeze" a time or two. I really don't mind the cool weather, especially when I read about some of my blogging friends already having 90-degree temperatures. Of course, a bit of warmth would be more likely to melt the massive snowpack in the Mt. Baker area so we can get some good hikes in during the summer. It's possible that the High Country will not be accessible again, for the second year in a row. But I'll think about that later.

Check it out!

THIS is what has been occupying most of my time and attention this week, though. On Monday morning I ordered myself a new laptop to replace my seven-year-old trusty MacBook. It was beginning to fail and I found myself growing impatient as I waited for things to load. Or hang up and never load. And Smart Guy told me that the hard disk was beginning to fail. This is the first post I've written on this new machine, and I love it, simply love it!

What amazes me is its incredible thinness. I remember when Steve Jobs first introduced it to the world, he pulled it out of an interoffice envelope! Even at the time I gasped with amazement, and I hadn't even seen one in person. Now it's on its second version and a new version is expected this summer. However, I saw that this one is beginning to go on sale to get ready for the new one, and I ordered it online Monday and received it Thursday. That kind of turnaround won't happen when the new version comes out, and I'm perfectly happy with my pretty new toy. It is solid state and has no moving parts, no fan inside, with plenty of connection ports. I put a link under the picture, just in case you are interested in looking more closely at my new gadget. It was seamless to migrate all my pictures and apps from my old one to the new one, so other than being FAST and QUIET, it's like my old laptop, familiar in every way.

You can tell I'm happy with it. Plus I watched a Masterpiece Theater episode on it yesterday, with headphones, and I found the screen resolution astounding. I could never have done that with my old machine, as it was way too slow and would hang constantly. Okay, I'll stop rhapsodizing over my new obsession so I can finish up this post and get ready to go skydiving.

The week has been filled with activity, and yesterday was also our eighteenth wedding anniversary. We were married in freefall, which I wrote about here, and we also celebrated our tenth anniversary by jumping out of a plane together. We won't be doing that on our twentieth, because he's not active right now and I suspect I won't be by the time it rolls around in two years. Skydiving is still fun for me but I see myself moving on to new pursuits. Every day I am grateful that I'm still kicking, jumping, hiking, and having the chance to play in the air. Life moves on, though, and feeling all my aches and pains, I'll be happy to take up knitting again. Someday.