December in Amsterdam

No, of course this isn’t what it looks like here now. I’m just looking forward to spring and thought I’d share this lovely picture that John took at Keukenhof in April 2004.

The weather isn’t awful here – at least, not yet. It has been cold, but we haven’t had a hard freeze. And at the moment the sun is out, so it’s actually quite pretty. With the sun as low on the horizon as it is this far north, the light is awesome.

The Sinterklaas festivities should be over now. Last night was the night when the children were supposed to set out their shoes. I actually saw a Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet yesterday evening when I took Märzen out. They were hurrying down the street – on to the next party, no doubt.

Lately we’ve been entertaining ourselves by catching up with old friends on Facebook. I’ve found people I haven’t seen since the late 60s, as well as the Silicon Valley crowd. I also found my dad there, which was a big surprise.

In other excitement, Kent and Heather Sisk (from Portland) are transiting the Panama Canal on their boat, Hiatus. We kept the webcam on all yesterday afternoon and evening in order to try to capture a picture of them. We got several, but this is the best. (Hiatus is the boat on the left, the last in the line of boats leaving the lock.) Heather posted on her Facebook page that they had to spend the night in the lake, so they’ll finish their transit today.

Otherwise, we’re just living a normal life here. Cruising isn’t always fun and excitement, you know. We are trying to figure out our plans for the summer, though, and that’s fun to look forward to.