2025 December: Bike Pool Bingo Church

 

Sunset at Marlin Bay

6 December 2025

I had an agenda this morning to make the rounds from the City Marina Boaters' Flea Market to the church store to the church bazaar. I pulled out my bike to get underway around 9:15 or so, checked the tire for air, and yelled for Clark that I needed his help as the tire was squishy! Not a great start to my day (or his)! He pumped up the tire from 19 psi to around 80, and I was on my way.

Didn't even get off the boat
to pump up the tire

The city marina flea market starts around 9:00, in theory. I arrived at 9:40 and almost no one was there yet. Folks were still wheeling in items to barter when I left a few minutes after I arrived. My quick look around told me that no one was there that I knew, and no one had any merchandise that I wanted to buy. Someone begged me to take the free dinghy pump he had saying he did not want to take it back "home" again. I had absolutely no use for it. We already have one, and it is not what we use for our inflatable anyway.

From there I rode down Route 1 to the Thrift Store where I thought my friend Nancy would be working. She said she would be at "the store" starting at 10:00. Well she meant the furniture store the church operates - not the clothing store they run. Oh well. The used furniture store is too far away for me to ride my bike there even if it was in tip top shape!

However, I did get to say hello to the folks who were working there, but it was not Nancy! I checked out the merchandise. Their clothes marked XL appear to be at least two sizes too small for me, and XL was their largest size that I saw for women's clothes. Oh well again.

Clark mentioned that he had run out of bagels, so instead of going to the church bazaar, I detoured, i.e. crossed the street, and went to Publix shopping. I had brought a backpack "just in case" I needed it, and I did. The tough part of shopping at Publix with a bicycle and a backpack is often times having to pass up on the BOGO offers. Today I needed bread, and they offered get two loaves for the price of one. 

Great! I had no way to carry two loaves home, and I did not need two loaves - just one! I struggled but finally put the second loaf back on the shelf and walked away. If they had a bin at the front of the store to accept food donations, I would have taken the second loaf to donate. They have no such setup that I am aware of. The room in my backpack that might have been used for the second loaf of bread was already taken up by a pumpkin pie which was not going back on the shelf!

My errands were complete and I was back on the boat by 11:00 with a good bike workout already complete for the day. The weather today was perfect, and I was fidgety, so after lunch, I decided to go up to check out the pool. I invited Clark to come along, but he was in the middle of listening to something on his phone and did not want to turn that off in the middle. 

I found a reasonable number of boaters in our corner of the pool. We typically float, stand or tread water while we chat about whatever comes to mind. Eventually Clark did join us. Not too long after he appeared, however, the majority of the folks in the pool got out to go to the bar for Bingo. 

I had not planned to participate but decided "what the heck" and took a seat at the bar.

Boaters at the bar with Bartender Jason

 Winners receive prizes in the following order - 1) $$ off snacks at bar, 2) $$ off merchandise at the marina store, and 3) the grand prize of $$ off at the bar. The free drink is the real attraction. I won the second prize!

Just need to figure out what to buy!

After everyone left Clark in the pool by himself, he swam laps. Eventually he walked over to the bar to see what was happening, and I showed him my winning coupon. We left together as the sun was setting to walk back to the boat for dinner and a movie onboard.

7 December 2025

Today, being Sunday, was church, and Clark would be playing in the band again like he did last season. With my flaky bike, I decided (unbeknownst to him) that I would go to church with him early as opposed to coming on my own later. We checked the tire for air, and of course, it was flat!

He pulled out the pump to bring it back up to full pressure, and it would not hold air. The air hissed out loudly and instantly. We decided we needed to borrow a bike from the marina. Fortunately, they decided not to charge a rental fee this year. Unfortunately, the bikes are big one-speed bikes. I felt so uncomfortable on the bike that Clark agreed he would ride it, and I could take his. 

This Sunday was the second Sunday of Advent. The Contemporary service does not start until 11:00, and we got there before 10:00. Clark has practice with the band starting as soon as folks from the first service (at 9:00) have left. With time on my hands, I went to check out the bazaar and church decorations. 

Train setup at the church entrance

Closeup of Merry-go-Round as part of train setup

Looking at the Bazaar tables, a person not-in-the-know would think that they had poor turnout at the event. However, those of us who saw it before the event started were amazed at how much "stuff" had sold. I looked for the reindeer I had assembled, and all six had gone to new homes.

The reindeer flew away at the sale!

All of the Christmas trees had sold including the two that I tackled during the prep for the event. It made me happy that my efforts were fruitful for the church!

Attendance is generally sparse at the 11:00 service and more so today. Many folks have not arrived in the Keys yet for the season. However, most of the band is back in place. The drummer, Jacob, was absent today though he played last week.

St. Columba Church Band
John, Clark, Steve, Tom, & Nancy

After services, folks meet for lunch in the seating area by the kitchen. However, today, the tables in that room were consumed by bazaar items for sale. As we stood around chatting, Nancy introduced us to a fellow who ended up at our service on a spontaneous whim. He told the story of how he came to attend.

This man (I did not get his name) is a very interesting person with an unusual background. He is a boater / fisherman who lives on Hoopers Island in the Chesapeake during the summer months. When he is not working off his boat, he is a traveling artist. His artwork has a religious focus and is truly amazing. His pieces are typically 5' x 5' and done in chalk!

He was on his way to Key West to create and display his art when he had a mishap in Miami. Someone vandalized his vehicle. A window was broken and a fender damaged. What he did not know until his vehicle stopped working near Marathon was that besides the physical damage, someone had put sugar in his gas tank. 

He said that he is unable to continue on until his vehicle is repaired, and the backlog of people needing their vehicles repaired is so long here he will be here for quite a while yet. Given his situation, he is making the most of it. He found a place to stay, picked up some work locally, and found our church!

Although lunch is offered at the church after services, Clark and I tend to wait until we are "home" to eat. I do snitch some cookies, so basically I always "eat dessert first" on Sundays.

After lunch Clark and I just stayed on the boat for the rest of the day. I played some games on my phone for a while. Clark was listening to a presentation on his phone on Black Holes. I had no choice but to listen since he was in the salon with me. I took in none of what I heard. In fact it put me to sleep, so I had a nice nap. Later, I looked over  .. the presentation was still going, and Clark looked like he was out cold! Nap time for both of us apparently!

Clark decided to work on my bike yet again! This time he found that the valve had a problem. If he pushed it over to one side, air stopped flowing out. If he let go, air gushed out. He suggested we use elastic to pull the valve over sideways. My response was an emphatic "no way!"

For now the bike is dead! It is upside down in the corner of the salon like a dead animal with its feet in the air! So sad!

Blue one is mine!

 People keep telling us there is a bike repair shop just down the road. Well, my bike is British with an unusual tire size. Not just any tube can be used. It has to be the right one -- special order from a dealer of Brompton bikes. So, all we can do now is wait for spare parts to come in the mail. All other options have been exhausted.

After dinner, we watched a Christmas movie and some Castle reruns and then called it a night.

8 December 2025

When Clark saw I was finally awake this morning, he asked if I had heard the storm last night. I told him I heard pouring rain. "Did you hear the thunder? Did you feel the boat rocking?" My answer, "Nope!" He said the storm passed through around 2:30 or so. I had trouble getting to sleep last night, and the last time I checked the clock was around 2:00! I just missed all the action!

Today, for a change, neither of us had anything on the calendar, and no need to go anywhere. I took the opportunity to do some art. My grandchildren like to receive cards in the mail that I send. I generally draw something on the front that I either color or let them color, and often I enclose something for them to do inside. That could be a picture to color or a puzzle of some sort like Sudoku, for example.

Some examples ...

As I sat enjoying making my cards, Clark came in to give me some bad news. The bike tube we were expecting to arrive today appears to be caught in an infinite loop in the mail. It seems to be bouncing back and forth between St. Pete and a Tampa distribution center. He said he found another place he could order it from but it wouldn't get here until Thursday. 

He said, "Should I order it? They come in pairs. We'll have four if they all get delivered. It costs $25." My response, "Four is better than zero, and I need my bike!" 

My friend Nancy mentioned at church yesterday that I could borrow her 3-speed bike until mine was in working order. She offered to drop it off for me today. I decided to accept the offer. It is frustrating to have no reliable means of transportation. I don't want to taxi everywhere, and the marina bike rentals make me uneasy. 

We had bad weather today (shocking) as a rainstorm passed through the area. I had to wait until the storm passed to walk up to the marina building to mail my cards. Just as I was getting ready to walk up, my personal weatherman (Clark) told me to wait as rain would be starting imminently. I looked outside, and before it started to rain, I ran out with my phone to take pictures of the sky. Thick dark clouds covered the sky in every direction!

A wall of gray to the north

After the storm passed and the radar looked clear, Clark and I walked up to the marina building together to put my cards in the out-going mail slot. Clark left, but I stayed up there to meet Nancy when she stopped by with her bike for me to borrow. 

Between the two of us, Nancy and I managed to get her full-size bike out of her vehicle. I am so used to my foldable bike. The bulk and size of a full-size bike is unfamiliar to me. It was a bit of a wrestling match to get the bike out of the back of her vehicle.

I said goodbye to Nancy, wheeled the bike up to the locked entry gate, typed in the wrong code for the gate, and locked myself out of the marina. I accidentally typed in the pin code for my phone as a type of reflex action I guess. Well, the gate rebelled at the attempt to gain access. Even though I typed in the correct code afterwards, it would not unlock. I hoped that someone would be walking by and I could yell to get them to open the gate from the inside, but no! Not a sole!

After multiple failed attempts entering the correct code, I gave up. The bike is too ungainly, i.e. too long, for me to turn it around in the narrow passageway, so I had to walk it backwards to the street down the curved walkway. Normally there are two pedestrian gates for marina access, but one has been closed to foot traffic since we got here and is still closed. I decided the only way in would be via the gate for car traffic. 

I walked up to the box to call the desk. The phone rang and rang and then went to voicemail! No one was home. I had seen the Concierge Desk person leave the marina while I talked with Nancy! Now what! Please! Somebody let me in!! 

Magically and mysteriously, the car-entry gate started to open! I looked up and saw that one of the staff, whom I think is in housekeeping, had done whatever is necessary to open the gate. I got in!

I rode around the grounds a bit to get a feel for the bike. It has 3 speeds and feels a bit awkward to me given its size, but I should be okay until my own bike starts behaving itself again.

When I was hanging around at the marina building waiting for Nancy's call, I had a chance to look around. I found a never-opened jigsaw puzzle sitting there on a table just waiting to be worked on. It looks like a real beast of a challenge!

Clark had walked up with me to the lounge to see who was around. As I talked to the bartender, Heidi, he started pointing at the window saying, "There is a man out there walking on air!" Wait? What!?

Worker on roof of
apartment building nearby

Downstairs, I found Marley and Reef who had gotten themselves into trouble.

Melted Snowman ...
"But he said he was cold!"

We had all sorts of workmen here today -- some doing routine maintenance like mowing the grass. Until we got a text message from the marina staff, it was unclear what others were doing. Curiously, the rental units were fully enclosed in tarps for their work which turned out to be routine fumigation maintenance for vermin control. Lovely!

I spent the rest of the afternoon on this blog update. Tomorrow is art class at the library. Depending on the weather and how I feel about it,  I will have to decide if I am walking, riding the borrowed bike, or passing this week. I heard rain is expected!

2025 December: Church Bazaar

 

Swimming behind our boat

3 December 2025

Every day the wildlife that takes ownership of the pool seems to change. Today a long, green iguana was hanging out on the tiled "beach".

I decided that I would go to St. Columba this afternoon to see what I could do to help them prepare for their Christmas bazaar happening this weekend. But first, I had a large pile of laundry to take care of as it has been piling up since before we left Pompano Beach. The woman dockmaster remembered that last season I did my laundry on Wednesdays (how she remembered that was a shock to me), and she was happy to get me back on that same schedule - thus the wait until today to tackle it.

I grabbed a quick lunch after laundry and then pulled out my bike to ride down to the church to lend a hand. Uh oh! The tire Clark worked on so diligently was flat! He offered two alternatives - borrow one of Marlin Bay's loner bikes or take his bike. I took his bike as it is near identical to mine that I am used to. 

My original plan, until Clark's autopilot analysis changed it, was to go to the church on Monday afternoon to help them pull the Christmas items destined for the bazaar out of storage. I missed that opportunity and wasn't sure what the state of the work would be when I arrived this afternoon - two days later. 

They had tables set up and items on display, but it was pure chaos. Most tables were a random assortment of items with no rhyme nor reason as to placement. 

The person in charge, Jodi, gave me an assignment to go around the tables and collect up coffee cups to place them together on a table that had room for more items. After I completed that job, she brought over a crate with the intent of having me empty the crate onto a table. The crate she picked had a dismantled fake Christmas tree inside. It was a tangled mess of Christmas lights wrapped around the various piece parts of the tree with decorations thrown in as well. 

Of all the tasks I could be asked to perform, this one was perfect for me. It took me well over an hour to go from "box of parts" to an assembled tree.

Each limb of the tree was labeled to get it into the right level of the tree - 5 levels of limbs on the base.

After I got the limbs separated from the tangle of lights and decorations, I started to put the base of the tree together. Jodi and I joked that even Charlie Brown would be depressed by the looks of this one.

Base of the tree being assembled
looks bedraggled!

At least the top of the tree came assembled. It was hard to know just how large this tree would be when fully built. 

Top of tree

The tree was taller than me when done - probably about 6 foot high or a bit more. The crate was full of silver-toned decorations including balls, ribbons, and streamers. I decided to reuse the silver balls and the ribbons. Everyone was happy with the end result. The pastor said, "This will sell quickly because it's very "Keyzie"."

People strolled in and out while we were busy setting up the bazaar. Some came to get a sneak preview of the goodies to be available; some came in a picked out items to buy; others came to help with setup. One woman helping with setup came up to me to ask where I was born. Turns out we were practically neighbors as she was from Elmira, New York - just over the border from my Pennsylvania hometown of Wellsboro. We shopped at the same mall! Small world!

Every year they set up a train set for the holiday. It was only partially set up today, but I noticed a nice boat that I don't remember seeing as part of the display last year.

When I got back to the boat, I worked with Clark to look into the flat tire on my bike yet again. Since we were eaten by gnats last night, Clark decided we should work on the bike inside the salon. He took the tube out of the tire and covered it with a soapy solution that revealed a pinhole in the tube. As the leak was near the valve, it had felt like the valve had a problem. Luckily, with it being a hole in the tube itself, Clark could patch it. 

The glue with the patch kit had dried up years ago by the looks of it, so Clark borrowed glue from the dinghy repair kit. He applied the patch. The tube already had one patch from years ago. He pumped it up, and it looked good so he installed it back on the bike.

Today's big news, however, was that a granddaughter in Idaho turned 9 today! We spent about an hour on a video chat with her. She explained that the "Elf on the Shelf" (in the photo below) took it upon herself (female elf) to put up the decorations that were intended for the birthday party planned for the weekend. Naughty or Nice elf??

4 December 2025

Thursday is the day our dock has our holding tanks pumped out by marina staff, so that was the start of our day today. After that Clark did more research on fittings for the hydraulic pump for the autopilot. Getting a replacement pump is all well and good, but if the hoses can't connect to it, it is a large paperweight. He continues to work through the details necessary to get the autopilot working again.

For fun this afternoon, I pulled out my art supplies and made some hand-crafted Christmas cards to send to my grandchildren. The birthday girl really likes foxes, so I did some research looking for a good fox picture to put in my card for her. I will attempt to draw the fox from the picture.

found via Google Image search

Clark said I should take my bike for a test ride to be sure that it worked well after last night's surgery. Before getting on the bike, I felt the tire and I could squeeze it with my fingers! Clark said, "I don't want to hear it!" 

He pulled out his bike pumps (two of them) to compare how the pressure compares between the two of them. One said 29 psi while the other said 40 - not very similar results.

He pumped up the tire to about 80 psi, did not feel any air escaping, and told me to take the bike for a spin around the marina. Fortunately, it seemed to be holding air, and everything worked as expected i.e. brakes, shifting, etc. Phew!

5 December 2025

This morning I had "Art in the Park" with a bunch of women that I met through art at the library. Today instead of meeting somewhere near me, the group decided to meet at Key Colony Beach. One of the women offered to drive me there if I met her at Marathon City Park (across Route 1 from our marina), and another woman offered to drive me back after the get together. Yay! KCB is just too far to bike to especially carrying art supplies. 

Everyone chats and does their own thing. I did a Christmas card in colored pencils . Someone else had a step-by-step instruction book on watercolor and painted a picture of a bird. Others did freehand watercolor pictures. 

After art I had lunch with Clark on the boat. Turns out he had spent at least part of the morning playing Christmas tunes on his guitar. I had no specific plans for the afternoon, and wondering what was happening with the Christmas bazaar, decided that now my bike is in working order I should take a ride down there to help. Tonight is the "early bird" event, so everything had to be ready. For a $5 entry fee, anyone who is interested could come tonight to get first look at the goodies available for sale. 

When I arrived, I asked Jodi how I could help. Knowing I enjoyed building the Christmas tree, she said she had another assembly job for me. Someone (or ones) had donated metal reindeer for the yard. They needed to be assembled to be put on display. There were six of them to put together.

This ...

Became this!

As I was working on the reindeer, Pastor Deb came by, pointed to a lump of greenery, and asked me to dig into it to see if there was a "tree in there". It was an absurd collection of bird's nests, feathers, and a variety of who knows what all tied up with strings of lights wrapped tightly around the outside! 

When I approached the tree to disassemble it, a woman from the church walked by and said, "What a beautiful tree!" She wasn't joking. At that, I talked to the pastor to verify I had heard correctly and I was supposed to tear it apart. She gave a very definitive yes to that! 

After I had all the paraphernalia pulled off of it and had fluffed up the limbs, it did not look half bad. Christmas trees sell well. People buy them for the holidays and then some return them to the church afterwards to be sold again the next year. 

I did the assembly and dis-assembly work outside. It was hot work with temps in the 80s and the humidity extremely high today. When I went to the restroom to clean off the perspiration, I got a shock looking in the mirror. I had green tree parts on my arms and on my face. I was wearing the Christmas tree! 

After my fight with the tree, I asked if they had other tasks for me. I helped for a while organizing a table but then decided it was time to head back to the boat. Before leaving I asked the pastor what had happened to the white tree I built the other day. I looked in all the rooms and could not find it anywhere. She said, "We sold it!" Wow! That was fast. She said it would go in a hurry, and she was spot on!

Organized and ready for the sale to begin!

Between walking to the park for art this morning and biking to and from the church for the bazaar, I was tuckered out. I barely had energy to make dinner. Thankfully I had a full meal's worth of leftovers in the fridge making it the least-effort meal possible. 

I dozed off for a bit late this afternoon. Clark said I missed the sunset. I went out for a look and saw some interesting cloud colors leftover from the sunset.

2025 December: Bike repair and more

 1 December 2025

Today started out as planned. My friend, Nancy, offered to take me grocery shopping in her car, and I know never to refuse an offer like that. She picked me up around 10:00 this morning. Clark had debated going with me and taking care of a trip to the UPS Store and the post office while I shopped. Ultimately, he decided that he did not want to be tied to my schedule and rode off on his bicycle. Later, as Nancy and I approached Publix, I saw Clark on the opposite side of the road already pedaling his way home with his errands already completed. 

While I waited for Nancy to pick me up, I got a chance to meet two new additions to Marlin Bay. They were outside at the entrance where I sat waiting for my ride. Marley & Reef!

North Pole Express Mail

To: Marlin Bay
From: Santa

 My plan for the afternoon was to ride my bicycle to the church after lunch to help out with the Christmas Bazaar. Unfortunately, Clark had other ideas. After spending two hours talking about the autopilot yesterday with friends at Banana Bay Marina, he said he wanted to try bleeding the air out of the unit yet again. He had a revelation during that talk that, because of the way the pump is plumbed, any air in the system would potentially circulate forever through the reservoir and back into the pump. 

We agreed that he would do the "bleeding" right after lunch, and I could head out afterwards. The enterprise took too long. It got too late, and while I waited for me to be on-call as needed, I got involved with on-line Christmas shopping. By the time I was excused from autopilot duty, I was wrapped up (no pun intended) in Christmas present hunting. I got some great deals and spent a bunch of money. Clark should have let me go help out at the church!

While we were working on the boat, someone knocked on the side of the boat. It was the dockmaster, Kiya, with a Marlin Bay gift bag and a nice one at that! It is a heavy duty, zippered bag. 

Inside were a few goodies including two Turkish towels, a key chain, hand sanitizer, lip gloss, and a waterproof bag for the small accessories -- all advertising Marlin Bay of course.

At least with today's "bleeding-the-system" exercise, I did not have to turn the upper and lower helm wheels. I just had to operate the autopilot unit. The outcome of this exercise? Once again - fail! We continue to get "Drive Stopped Error" appearing a short while after the unit stops trying to push the rudder. 

Sunset comes early these days, so I took a break from Christmas shopping, and the boat, to wander the docks and took some pictures as the sun disappeared from the sky.

2 December 2025

Today was another busy day. I had plans to be at the library for arts and crafts. Clark's morning agenda included a trip to "town" to mail the Christmas cards we assembled yesterday with a stop at the nearby Walgreen's for a prescription. 

It is a good thing I planned to be at the library a little earlier than 9:30 when the art class starts. When I got ready to get on my bike to ride to the library, I found the back tire so flat that the rubber was falling off the rim! I left Clark with the bike to put back on the boat and took off on foot for the walk to the library. 

The bike was fine when I rode it home from the restaurant Sunday night. It sat on the boat untouched until this morning. I figured I must have ridden over something sharp when we rode home in the dark. Clark said he would look at it later. 

Art class today consisted of making holiday cards with watercolor paints. Samples of the instructor's work / suggestions are shown below.

Paint on white watercolor paper

Trees done white on black paper

I toyed with the assignment for a while, but my heart was not in it. My tree was very "sad". Watercolor is not really my "thing". Knowing that, I brought my acrylics with me and switched over to my own project pretty quickly. I did not complete the picture I worked on, so I will probably continue working on it next week. The best part of the art class is the people who attend. Most of the attendees were folks I know from last year. 

Art class ended at 11:30. Crafts at the library would not start until 1:00. My friend, Pat, did not attend art class today. If she is there, we normally spend time together between the two sessions. Given I was on my own, I walked back to the boat for lunch with Clark. Once there, he reminded me that he had guitar practice for church at 2:00, so he would not be around when I got back from craft class.

Clark had to give me a shove out the door to make the 1:00 class on time. Today's NYT Wordle  was a real stumper. When I got it on my 5th try, Clark said, "What is that word?" It was definitely a hard one to guess today.  Anyway, I lost track of time and had to hustle to get to class on time. 

Today's project was "paper bursts". I had no idea what that could possibly be. When I got to class (just a little late), folks were already sorting through Christmas wrapping paper and tissue paper. The instructor was talking fast, and I had trouble catching up. Eventually, I got the hang of what she was telling us to do.

Wrapping paper cover over 
canvas picture frame

Tissue liner on inside of canvas

Two weeks ago I had never heard of "Mod podge". Recently someone mentioned using it for crafts, and today I was handed a plate full of the stuff and told to use it to glue together the project. Once the frame was covered, a Christmas card picture was inserted into the frame that had been cut to reveal the photo.

My finished project

Only a handful of folks attended the craft session. Here are a couple of other pictures.

I did not feel like doing a Grinch picture so chose the puppy on the pickup instead.

Knowing Clark wouldn't be "home" when I got back from the library, I went straight to the pool area. The bartender, Heidi, had told me that she was having a jewelry making session at the bar today at 2:00. I figured I'd be late but I could still come to observe. When I got to the bar, no one was there doing jewelry. The person who had requested the session did not bother to show up. Rude!

I spent time talking to Heidi and then wandered over to talk with boaters at the pool.  Another one of our boating neighbors, who returns year after year, came in today. They were at the pool, and since today had record, or near-record high temperatures, the pool was popular with others as well. 

Eventually I found my way back to our boat. Clark had not yet returned from guitar practice, so I sat down where I could feel a cool breeze to read my current novel. Shortly after Clark returned to the boat, he  pulled out my bike to take a look at the flat tire. His inspection pointed to a damaged valve, so apparently I did not ride over a nail on the way home Sunday night. 

Besides being flat with a bad valve, the tire itself looked in shoddy condition. After all that tire has hundreds of miles on it. They can't possibly last forever. As he poked and prodded the tire, I reminded him that there was a bike tire in the lazarette. At first he didn't believe me, then he remembered it. I always complains that he keeps spare parts "just in case", but sometimes those spare parts come in handy. 

Upside down bike being repaired

Clark swapped out the damaged tube and the tire with the spare tube and tire from the lazarette. He has been fixing flat tires on bikes since it was his only means of transportation as a teenager. As I watched him work on my bike, I knew that I could never do what he was doing. Whatever would I do without him?!

By the time we were done with the bike (of course he had me helping him), the sun had gone down and we were finishing up in total darkness. Working with a flashlight wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't have gnats chewing on us while doing it. When the bike was back together, I went in to make dinner ("doctored" frozen pizza where "doctored" means leftovers as toppings) while he put away all the tools and such. He said we will test drive it tomorrow!

During a brief break from the bike work, Clark took a picture of the "clouds with a silver lining" - his words!

I also managed to slip away a couple of times to check out the sky as the sun set.