How I spent my winter vacation

Edited for embarrassing typos Dec 8.

Three days off isn't much of a vacation but I still wasted some time doing some of my favorite things. In addition to some book reading, socializing and house painting, I managed these.

Bikering:  I went to Austin and rode Ryan's Suzuki while he rode his rather serious BMW K1200. Since it wasn't my motorcycle, I rode very conservatively. No flooring it down MOPAC at 90 mph; in fact, I don't think I went over 60. I don't know what I was worried about, especially since he's already managed to drop it once. But I was tad surprised when we dropped by the Triumph/BMW motorcycle dealership, as Ryan* described the Suzuki as "a bike I got for my girlfriend". Perhaps I just don't explain myself well to the opposite sex.

Birdwatching: I got lucky while raking leaves at Chez Melina yesterday. A yellow-bellied sapsucker was beavering away on what looked like a nest, drilling a hole in my neighbor's hated chinaberry tree.  (I spent half my time sweeping chinaberries out of my driveway, hence my hatred.) I was under the impression that these birds just visit this part of Texas for the winter, so I couldn't help but wonder why this one was building a DIY condo.

I didn't take this picture (I need to get a camera with a mega-zoom). But when the bird was finished, this is what Maison Sapsucker looked like:

* See Key to Characters at right.