Of motorcycles and other things

I am now in the middle of my motorcycle course having had one evening class and a half day practical. I love it and was surprised to find I felt no anxiety at all getting back on a bike. The course itself is really great. The instructor is a female Santa Cruz police officer who runs the police dive squad for the area. She's very good and funny. She has a guy help her on the practical days........he is ex.special forces.......so I found out! The focus is entirely on safety and good basic riding skills. I was lucky, as I had ridden before I got one of the 250s (Honda Rebel cruiser) instead of the very very horrid Suzuki 125s.........these things matter of course, but only to me and the others on the course. It's also been a help that Michelle has leant me her car so I can actually get to the classes - some distance from home in Santa Cruz...........difficult on the Thursday nights when I have to travel from work in San Jose (an hour to SC, then half an hour to class). This has also meant I am driving much more and feel far less intimidated by the whole deal.

This weekend is Halloween. Halloween is my favourite US holiday because it is full of all the odd quirky things I like. People around where I live have decorated their porches etc etc. Little gravestones in yards, flying bats and ghosts and pumpkins galore. When you drive around you see "sales" yards with pumpkins in them for people to buy - it's a little like the Xmas tree lots you see but they do all soughts of things to draw people in. I expect in the scheme of things I'd like to give carving a pumpkin a go but this week is all about the bike course. I am heading to Walnut Creek to go to a Halloween dance on Saturday........that should be interesting.
Here's something I've been meaning to write about for ages but kept forgetting. It has, strangely, made it into Wikipedia...not so strange when you think anyone can put anything in Wikipedia. It's basically a bunch of wooden crosses that have been put on a hillside - one for each soldier killed in the Iraq war. It's been wildly controversial but a very powerful way to send a message. I had heard about it but never seen it until I started visiting Walnut Creek. It's right next to the freeway (or whatever they call something that seems to me to be a motorway). Just one of those US oddities.

While Halloween is almost here everyone is talking about Thanks Giving (towards the end of November....I haven't been here long enough to remember yet but it does bring two days holiday). Before then Sharon and I are off on an adventure with the puppy (staying in a cottage down the coast from Santa Cruz) and I am also going to my first football game. Life isn't at all boring.