Yesterday, which was meant to be our day of rest before the drive to Portland, the Christmas tree leaked.

We came back from our morning walk to find water across the floor. The tree, with indoor/outdoor lights still on, is now placed just outside the window. The carpet and pad lifted and drying on milk cartons. The floor swept and wiped down. Towels washed and dried. I made scones with the last of the fresh cranberries. All this on what we had intended to be a restful day.

In further news, a bicyclist was killed last night on highway 101 when a trucker swerved into the shoulder at about milepost 27, just north of us. That nearly happened to us last week.

There hasn’t been much beach this month, and I like running up hill north of us on the highway. That was my plan a week ago, but it started raining that morning as it most often does. Just a light rain, but I allowed I might walk the hill instead of running it. Gary said in that case he would walk with me. He usually waits at the bottom.

We were walking on the narrow paved shoulder, but the car did not move out of the lane, as drivers usually do, so I moved to the very narrow strip of gravel (about 10″ just inside the guardrail with a drop off on the other side). Gary was right behind me. The chip truck swerved onto the shoulder. As Gary says: We could have reached out and touched it. The backdraft alone nearly took me off my feet and drenched both of us.

Gary has been a bit of a wreck ever since. I have suggested Gary accept a new spiritual advisor—currently Squirrel—but he is resistant to my suggestion of Crow, who has a sense of humor, is cautious, but less likely to panic.

This is not my first close call, not even the worst experience from running the highway. I recall being warned that at night, drivers will sometimes drive toward a lighted runner, and that is why when I ran my middle leg of the Hood to Coast back in the day, I carried the required light, but turned it off in the middle of the night and ran by moonlight. Like loose dogs, trucks veering onto the shoulder have been ongoing issues. But it was not dark when this happened, we carried no light only reflective clothing, this was on a straightway, and there was absolutely no reason for the trucker to move closer to us—no oncoming traffic.

The good news is that we remain uninjured, no cards sent but gifts wrapped, we were home when water leaked all over the floor and we noticed in time to clean it up. Bad news? Really none. We’re fine. The tree is still beautiful and probably happier outside the door than in. We expect to see family today.

It is, after all, the holiday season, even if it is still raining.