Kite!


by Berck

The UPS man brought a long skinny package today. Wondering what the heck could possibly be in such a package, I looked at the return address. A company called “Into The Wind”. And then I put the pieces together: Nathan had told us that a present was on the way, and he knows we love kite flying… A kite!

Since most everything else we got as presents were things we asked for and thus things we needed, this is by far the most fun.

I don’t think I realized how much we needed a kite. We even have a place within walking distance to fly it! Oklahoma is actually a great place for kites, being full of flat windy places.

It’s a great little two string kite. Very lightweight and willing to please. I worry Oklahoma may be a little too windy for it, delta kites being better suited to moderate wind, instead of the 35mph Oklahoma breeze.

There are photos of it in the gallery.

Here’s a little video of it. Posting it will probably kill the server, but oh well.

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Dalhart and Back


by Berck

I finally did it. I hadn’t flown since December 2, but I finally got the long cross-country done today.

The stupidest thing I did was forget my camera. Which is really a loss, because there was lots of stuff to take pictures of. Or more importantly, not much for me to do during the 7.0 hours of flight time today.

I stopped in Borger, TX both ways for fuel. I probably could have just refueled in Dalhart, but there’s really no reason for me to worry about fuel when I’ve got everything else to worry about. Not to mention I really had to pee when I landed in Borger.

There was still snow on the ground in Dalhart. Navigating after I got about 100 miles west of OKC was difficult, but I managed. There really wasn’t much of anything to look at, so I just flew on over endless nondescript farmland until I came upon the occasional town marked on my chart. I counted all 14 buildings that comprised one of the towns.

Borger, TX isn’t much of a city. It’s mostly a refinery.

The Dalhart airport is co-located with a prison. This is a little strange, but since they fence both of them these days, why not.

I spent most of the time staring at the ground, willing it to move. At 8,500 feet and a measly 85 knots indicated airpseed with a 35 knot head-wind, it really doesn’t move. For awhile I was flying along I-40, watching the trucks go the same speed I was. Sometimes they seemed to be going faster.

My headset is fortunately comfortable, but I found it tiring after awhile. There was little to listen to on Albequerque Center. Every 10 mintues or so a plane would check in; another 10 minutes and one would switch frequencies.

Most of all, with nothing much to do but sit and look at the view and trying to identify a cluster of barns as a named town, I decided that if I ever get paid to do it, I think it’ll be a pretty good life.

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Christmas


by Jonah

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. Berck’s dad joined us for the weekend, buying us a ton of stuff and enduring being cooped up in a tiny apartment with two excited crazy people. Blockbuster was one of the few things open yesterday, so we ended up watching four DVDs.

Berck’s mom had come the weekend before and bought us another ton of stuff. And my mom sent a big box of packages tied up with string to be opened on Christmas morning. So we racked up quite well. (And I hear there’s more stuff in the post!)

Berck cooked a mess of the best chili ever for Christmas Eve (a Brenner tradition he apparently didn’t know about). Unfortunately, Jim got the habenaro planted in there for flavor. Berck also tried his hand at pate, which after several incarnations ended up tasting just like chopped liver. We had French toast on Christmas morn made from the bread I baked to accompany the ill-fated pate. And Christmas dinner? We ordered out from Happy Garden Chinese Restaurant!

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Quesadillas


by Jonah

Tonight Berck made the most amazing Tex-Mex I’ve ever had.

When we were in school, ever couple of weeks or so he’d start whining, “Jooooooonah, make us pizza.” But then I taught him how, and he makes pizza better than I ever have.

Now he’s taken away quesadillas from me.

Of course, I’m sure it has something to do with the ingredients. Start with some grated Tillamook Special Reserve Cheddar. Saute some sweet onions, yellow bell peppers, pickled jalepeneos, and roasted chicken. Yes, roasted chicken. Then toss it all on a flour tortilla happily coated in olive oil. Serve with sour cream and D.L. Jardine’s medium salsa. Oh, my goodness. It was so good, it almost made me cry.

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