winter | Peaches Prattlings

{January 2, 2026} What a trip! What a year!

Oh, my friends, so much has happened since we last spoke! But where do I begin?!

There were motorcycle trips, family trips, father-daughter trips, local trips, international trips, auntie-niece trips, friend trips, cross country trips, graduations, birthday milestones, college, vow renewal, oh my! We met new people, reconnected with old friends [notice I didn’t say old people!], put some miles on the vehicles, retired other vehicles, dreamed, worked, didn’t work, worked again, all within the span of 365 days. That’s a year, right? We all know math isn’t my strong suit, but I do know that much.

I’m going to tell you some stories of travel, of milestones, but that will take time and I want to jump right in, so… I’ll give you one or two milestones per month and then I’ll tell you more as the year goes on, sound fair?

January 2025: PSM and I spent the last year of 2024 and the first week of 2025 in Hawai’i. GES, ACS, MGS, and EMS joined us on the Big Island for a week, we got to see Mauna Loa erupting, toured Volcano National Park, swam with manta rays, we rang in the new year riding motorcycles up some challenging roads, and before we left, did some stargazing at the Mauna Kea observatory, before biding farewell again to our beloved Hawai’i. ACS turned 54, I always say he’s my older younger brother!

February 2025: I drove to Atlanta to participate in the Hot Chocolate 15k again, and each year I say I’m not going to do it again, and what did I do? Signed up for 2026! I got to visit with some friends and family in Atlanta and on my drive there and back. We took a family trip to NYC with dad, GES, ACS, EMS, and MGS, went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, walked through Central Park, went to a revival of Chiacgo, attended a memorial for a beloved family member. End of February, PSM got a new motorcyle.

March 2025: EMS turned 18! O M G!!! What a celebration! Where does the time go?! We explored Strasburg and discovered so much about the railrold and Pennsylvania’s impact! We even participated in a murder mystery train ride! We rode our bikes to Gettysburg and went to the National Military Park Museum, what an experience! And… they had air conditioning! That may have been the best part! PSM took said new motorcycle to Daytona Bike Week.

April 2025: SDL, Miss A, and I went to Amsterdam to celebrate Miss A’s 15th birthday! What a trip that was! The day I left for Amsterdam was my last day with IBX, I was a free woman! Came home in time to celebrate Passover with the family in Boston. While I looked for a job, I took the dogs for lots of walks at the Reading Arboretum, even got to take some friends with us! Spring was just beginning! We drove our two beetles to Volkfest, VWs for miles! We participated in a Biker Blessing with the Lebanon Valley Motorcycle Club. Not to mention trying new restaurants and distilleries here and there, but that’s every month!

May 2025: MGS turned 15! Just wow! Another great celebration! Dad and I flew to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet GES there for our first father-daughters trip! Dad even got to hang with the pilots on the way back! I finally got to pet a Scottish Highland COOOO!!! We toured Edinburgh and Glasgow, what an AMAZING trip! So amazing, we decided we needed to do another father-daughters trip again in 2026! I’ll keep you posted! We did a ladies carnival motorcycle ride with friends, a memorial day ride to the National Cemetary, then we had one of our trees cut down in our backyard. Went to Boston to…help throw my BABY sister a 50th, yes, I say BABY SISTER FIFTIEITH birthday party! That’s a WOW! And boy was she surprised! The same weekend, we took pictures with MGS after she got ready for THE PROM!

June 2025: Rode my motorcycle to Boston, first solo trip on a motorcycle that far! MUCH to celebrate! MGS graduated high school! We had a graduation party for said graduate! We got to celebrate my sister’s 50th birthday! I got to hug and kiss her on the date of her birth, and remember when we brought her home from the hospital in 1975! Then I got on my bike and rode home in the rain, as soon as I got to New Jersey, the sky cleared up, go figure! We had a new roof put on ourhouse, part of the reason we had to remove the tree in May. A classic car show and more motorcycle rides. Towards the end of June, we drove to Boston to surprise our friend’s son-in-law who was being deployed, it was great to spend time with friends and family, on the way back, we stopped at Tree House Brewing Company to bring some goodies back to one of the guys at Hernley’s Indian Motorcycle.

July 2025: Did I mention one of the great things about being between gigs…being able to meet dad for lunch during the week, exploring new places to meet and eat! PSM had a birthday, not telling you any more about that! I rode to spend a weekend with CWB, then rode my bike in the blistering heat, no thank you, then I rode into Manhattan to see Jinx Monsoon, one of my favorite drag queens, in The Pirates of Penzance, a show my grandmother took me to as a kid! And…I found vegan NY style pizza at Zillions Pizza! OMG! At home, we had our 4th bay cemented and finished out the blacktop on the driveway. I also got to swim in our neighbor’s pool, loverly! And best of all, well, so much is great, but…July 31, 2025, just over 3 years since I bought Eunice, my 2022 Indian Super Chief Limited, she hit 20,000 miles!

August 2025: We rode to the Berkshires in Massachusettes to spend dad’s 83rd birthday with him! It was great! We went to the Normal Rockwell Museum, The Clark Art Institute, Ventforth Hall, Chesterwood, Tanglewood for a concert, The Red Lion Inn for his birthday dinner, the Berkshire Botanical Garden, Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio, and Williams College of Art. We were only there only 5 days! At home, we had the entire area where the tree had been done over into a beautiful landscape. K&D N came to visit for a weekend, PSM got DN on the back of his bike and KN rode mine, first time DN had been on a bike in a long time, she enjoyed it and felt safe! Here’s hoping for a weekend trip! We rode up to Wellsboro, PA, the Grand Canyon of PA with the Lebanon Valley Motorcyle Group, got to walk on the Kinzua Creek Skywalk, wow! The last week of August, I drove with a friend I met recently at the park with her dog, Oscar, across country to help her move from PA to Shelton, WA. We loaded up the trailer, suv, the dog, and the cat, and we were off! We even got to celebrate her birthday when we got there! We became fast friends and travel companions, and I’m happy we’re still friends! And JM, our nephew, started veterinary school in St Kitts! Good luck to him! We’re coming to visit, promise!

September 2025: First weekend of September, PSM and I rode up to Jim Thorpe, PA with some friends and took the scenic railroad to see the fall folliage, it was stunning! Unforatunely, I got some heartbreaking news the same day, it was rough riding home and for a while after that. Second week of September, we rode with RC to Ocean City, MD for Bike Week. Great ride down and back, some fun rides in between, and RC’s son joined us for part of it. I got to put my feet in the ocean on many beaches, we went to Assateague State Park to see the beach and wild horses. We got back and went to the famous Hinklefest, then discovered a new place for dinner. PSM started a new position at Bayer! Wahoo! He’s going to be traveling from time to time! Our friends D & M came for a weekend and we did some riding, went up to Hawk Mountain and saw some amazing birds, took them on some fabulous back roads, truly spectacular. I snuck in an interview for a long term training gig. Towards the end of September, we went to Boston for the holidays, then a car show in Myerstown. Since we’re adding birthdays, I turned 54, seriously?!

October 2025: I drove to Boston for the holidays and the Jimmy Fund Walk. I got to see PSM’s family that were in for the holiday, split my time between my our families, I represented! While I was there, I got the call that I got the gig! I will now be commuting from Lebanon, PA to Long Island, NY! Got to see EMS play in a college futbol game, she was great! Did the Jimmy Fund Walk with ACS’ Pink Warriors, and found the placard that dad and I were quoted on! Went out one night before I left and celebrated September and October birthdays with my sister’s friends, they’ve adopted me! I started the new gig by spending a week in NYC watching some training classes. On the way home one Friday, I went to a celebration of life for a friend that I had lost, his birthday is coming up in February, smiling. PSM and I went to the Golden Age Air Museum and took a ride in a bi-plane! I am SO proud of him! His brother and s-i-l drove their RV to PA and we met them in Bethlehem for brunch and then we toured the National Museum of Industrial History. PSM got a new truck! She’s pretty!

November 2025: We started November off by dancing the night away at the LVMC Halloween Party! PSM had his runes read at The Drunken Smithey’s Faerie Fest, we had some of the absolute best pancakes we have ever had at The Brickerville House, then drove to New Hampshire for the week of Thanksgiving, enjoyed some snow, baked several mock apple pies, visited his uncles, spent part of Thanksgiving with his side and the other part with my side. We also got to see K&D N, we love spending time with them, even got to see one of their kids while we were ther, where does the time go?! PSM was traveling so I had the dogs with me in NY before we left for Thanksgiving, they kept me company, they were great in the car there and back. We’re not sure what happened on the way to NH, but it turns out Bee might not be great for long car rides anymore. They were definitely happy to be home!

December 2025: Back and forth to Long Island, some of my travel days were awful! 4 hours there, but 5-7 hours home, no thanks! All good, we worked out a decent travel schedule for me! The best part about going back and forth, I stop at dad’s on the way there or the way back home. Sometimes it’s for lunch or dinner, sometimes it’s just to say hello and get a hug, whatever it is, it’s worth it! GES & ACS celebrated 21 years of marriage, I can’t wait for them to see what we got them! It didn’t make it in time to send to them before we went on vacation, but dad is taking it to them this weekend! Speaking of leaving…PSM and I drove to a Doubletree near JFK on Friday, December 19th, and VERY early Saturday, December 20th, we started our annual 2 week end of year holiday in… Grenada! What an amazing trip that was! The weather, the sand, the surf, the ocean, the fish, the people, both the locals and our fellow vistors, and the food. I will tell you all about it, promise! We brought in the new year at the top of a hill and it was spectacular! Some of you who are reading this as we speak are new friends we made when we were in Grenada. The funniest question I got from someone…what’s in Grenada besides you two?! Well… I’m gonna tell you…but not tonight!

For now, I am going to sign off and grab a few winks, it’s late, I’m a little knackered, my fingers are a little sore from ‘talking’ so much! I have to tell you, I’m excited to be talking to you again and I look forward to a long, happy, and healthy relationship!

A Happy, Healthy, and Wonderful New Year to you my friends! May 2026 bring you all you hope for and more! Good night!

{January 6, 2025} Brrrr…who turned up the AC?!

Two days ago we were on the beach, snorkeling, swimming with honu and today…I was using a snow thrower to clear off the driveway! What?!

We left the Big Island on Saturday night, it was a balmy 80 degrees out, we flew through Phoenix, 45 degrees! as we walked through the jet bridge. We landed in Newark, it was about 30 when dad picked us up! What?! Brrrrr…drove home, it was about 23 when we pulled into the driveway at home. Seriously?! A lot of people on our flights were worried if they would make their connections, the winter weather heading in.

This morning…woke up to a covered backyard, house, street, it was white out and it kept coming…it wasn’t too bad when PSM left for work, then about 1130a, I decided to go out and throw a little snow! If you recall, last year, we bought a snow thrower, not a snow blower, it literally throws the snow, very cool! Well, I put on my cuddle dud layer, fleece on top, snow boots, ski jacket, and headed to the barn to blow the 4 inches of snow so it would not be difficult when PSM came home or when I went to get the dogs.

I made a first pass, took about 40 minutes, not too shabby, then I put the snow thrower away, turned around, and there was a new layer of snow on top of what I just did! Oh brother! But… it wasn’t too bad, even if it left another layer, we were in a good place.

Later, I looked out the window and the area near the barn, you couldn’t tell it had snowed! All melted from the ground, what?! The driveway still had some snow. We were in business.

Then…it started snowing again…it wasn’t bad when I went to pick the pups up, but definitely not top down weather, sorry Ruby! Easy driving and PSM took it easy going to the office and coming home. And… guess what…it’s still going! Looks like I have a morning activity tomorrow!

Walking in a winter wonderland…may I just have the sand instead?!

{February 2, 2024} It’s February 2nd…that means it’s Groundhog Day!

I didn’t even realize it today! I know it’s always Feb 2nd and I knew it was Feb 2nd, but it didn’t click until someone posted Happy Groundhog Day on a team chat at the same time I was looking at Yahoo. Oh wow! What did Phil see?

Who’s Phil you ask? Why, only Punxatawny Phil, the groundhog who…if he sees his shadow means we will have six more weeks of Winter, but…if he doesn’t see a shadow, we will have an early Spring. And what did Phil see today? Not his shadow! Early Spring for all! Where does it come from? It derives from a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition.

And what didn’t I realize?! Punxatawny is a city in PA! I just looked, it’s about 3.5 hours from where we are, what does that mean? I SO want to go one year to see the groundhog do his thing, participate in the festivities, experience something new, and see what it’s all about!

I think I’ve told you this already, but…a few years ago I was on a project in Illinois and I happened to be in the city of Woodstock, Illinois and it turns out that’s where the filmed the movie Groundhog Day! It was so cool to see the town after having watched the movie! The premise: A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.

Where does the Groundhog Day Loop concept originate? There’s a 1973 short story called “12:01 P.M.,” by Richard A. Lupoff, in which a man relives the same hour over and over. Language will do what it does; it doesn’t really matter that it goes by “the Groundhog Day loop” as a shorthand; that’s reasonable and sensible, since it’s familiar.

Basically, in the movie, Bill Murray, who plays Phil Connors, the narcissitic weatherman, gets stuck in the Groundhog Day Loop, reliving the same day over and over until he makes it right, basically becomes a human being, at least that’s my opinion. One of the big questions of the movie, is how long did his character actually stay in the loop?

What I found online: Well, there are 38 days actually shown on screen, as well as 414 days mentioned in the film and a huge 11,931 days which Phil spends learning a host of new talents and interests – based on the theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in any given subject. He learns to play the piano, speak french, memorizes poetry, that one was to impress a girl! learns to carve ice sculptures, among other things. And in that time, he does become a human being, again, my opinion. But…along the way, at least in the beginning, he does some really stupid shite, because he knows he can get away with it, but after a while, that looses its appeal…

The movie is rounded out by a great cast! Harold Ramis is a writer, the director, and plays a doctor in the movie, Andie McDowell is his tv producer and also become his love interest, has one of my favorite lines towards the end of the movie “You said stay, so I stayed”. Chris Elliott plays the cameraman, Stephen Tobolowsky, a great character actor, plays Ned Ryerson, who he went to high school with and had some of the best lines in the movie: Watch out for that first step…it’s a douzy! and Am I right, or am I right, or am I right?

Billy Murray’s brother Bryan Doyle Murray, who is in a lot of his movies, plays the mayor, and gets to deliver the news: Shadow or no shadow? He gets to deliver the line “Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather-Prophet Extraordinary”. Angela Paton, you know her when you see her, was Mrs Lancaster, the proprieter of the hotel Phil stays at, and Rick Overton is Ralph, one of the town goofball drunks.

Does Phil feel lucky? Well, today he did! And so were we all! Thanks Punxatawny Phil! Motorcycle weather is coming soon!

{January 21, 2024} It’s Sunday…let’s go skiing! And go to a new restaurant/bar! Yes

Saturday I debated…ski on Sunday? Why not!

When I think about skiing, I was so used to skiing out west that I forget there are mountains on the pass in the Northeast and when I looked at the Epic App [Vail Resorts] and there are seven mountains in PA on the pass! Score! The closest one was Roundtop Mountain, it’s only about 33 miles/1 hours drive. Double score!

PSM encouraged me to go, who am I to argue! I loaded up my car, I love that my skis and poles fit in the backseat! I suited up, I prefer to drive in my ski gear instead of getting dressed at the mountain. I put my boots on the floor in the front and I made sure to put the heat on the floor. One of the best pieces of advice I got from my friend in Colorado, AM, was to buckle the boots and keep them as warm as possible, that makes it easier to buckle them when they’re on your feet. I’ll be honest, one of the things I cannot stand about ski boots is getting them buckled! I even thought about starting a business to just go around and help people get their boots on and buckled, unbuckled and off! I’d pay money for that, would you?!

I got everything in the car and headed out, stopped at Starbucks, it was on the way, I needed some sustenance. Plugged in my phone, listened to a podcast, that’s a whole ‘nother post! and I was off. The drive was great, there weren’t a lot of people on the road, nice, and it was pretty clear, snow was only on the sides of the highway.

After close to an hour, I got off the highway with everyone else going skiing, almost didn’t have to use the gps, I just followed everyone else and I could tell because of the ski racks and the window stickers on most of the cars, kind of a dead giveaway! Got to the mountain, found a place to park, I have to tell you, Annie, my VW Convertible Beetle is a champ! She has front wheel drive and has gotten me to and through a lot of places and she is a hoss! LOVE her! She also fits into smaller parking spaces!

Got situated, took out the skis, and then the task of getting the boots on and buckled, I so covet snowboarding boots! Just so much easier to get on and off and walk it, at least that’s the way it looks to me! I wasn’t sure what it would be like on the mountain, the parking lot was full! Let’s go!

I walked through the parking lot, down the hill, stopped at the shuttle hut, waiting about 2 minutes and said, let’s just go. It wasn’t a long walk, no longer than at Keystone in Colorado getting to the lifts, actually, it might have been closer, have to give it some thought. I walked up out onto the snow and then to the first lift I saw. The lines were ok, I will tell you, when you ski, the singles line is always the shortest and sometimes you get on the lift faster, that’s a plus of skiing alone. Although, there are people who ski together who will get in the singles line…because it moves faster.

I got to the top and headed down, it wasn’t a very long run and it was a green dot, so it was one of the easier runs, always good for the first time. The snow making machines were doing their thing, everyone I shared a lift with talked about how great the snow was and how the machines were working overtime. Apparenlty Roundtop had some of the best snow out of all the resorts in PA, lucky me! I will say…one of the drawbacks of the snow makers going so much, it was hard not to ski through one and when it landed on my goggles, a few times I had a hard time keeping them clear, the snow was freezing on the goggles almost as soon as it hit them!

I skied two easy, green dot, runs, then someone told me they started easy where I was and progressively got more difficult, as you went left. If you’re not sure what the symbols mean, check out this explanation, it should help! After the green dot runs, I skied over to a blue dot, did a few of those, then moved over to a chair that serviced blue dot and black diamond. So I did those next, not too shabby. I will say, there was some good powder, but there was also ice, I felt it as I was skiing and crunching. That’s one of the things east coast skiing is known for, ice, which is not my favorite, I’ve wiped out on it before, but I’ve lived to tell the tale! I was a little nervous skiing east after skiing west for so many years, but I think having skied consistently the last few years has helped my confidence so I’m game for whatever!

Here’s a little live action swish swoosh!

I realized I was getting a little tired, my knee started talking to mem and I did go boom at one point, but that was in the middle of my runs, so I got up and kept going, it was nice that someone did stop to ask if I was ok. When I get tired, I take the advice of the national ski team person who helped me years ago, not sure if you remember me telling you about it. Instead of saying ‘I’m getting tired, I think this may be my last run’…say ‘I’m getting tired, I’m going to do two more runs’, then don’t do the last one. Kind of trick yourself into thinking you’re going to keep going and maybe get wobbly, I don’t know why…but it works!

I skied down, went into the lodge, got myself a hot chai, sat and warmed up for about 30 minutes, and when the feeling started coming back to my fingertips, I decided it was time to go. I headed back towards the parking lot, took advantage of the shuttle back up towards the parking lot, then removed said boots, loaded the car and headed towards the highway. About 30 minutes into my drive, PSM called and we decided to meet somewhere, I was about 30 minutes from the house and he was out running errands, so I found a place about 15 minutes for each of us.

We decided on the Rising Sun Bar & Kitchen in Palmyra. We were in Palmyra yesterday, if you recall, we went to the Whirling Dervish Bakery & Coffee Shop, and that new park for the pups. Rising Sun was on my list of new places to explore and Palmyra, pleasantly enough is only about 15/20 minutes from us!

I got there first, took 2 spots at the bar and had a look around. I think I told you, we prefer to eat at the bar, you usually can get a spot, sometimes you get to chat with other patrons, and you have first line to the bartender, win-win-win! It’s a charming, open, inviting, warm, and friendly atmoshpere. The bar was large and open, big cross beams at the ceiling, almost a barn feeling. PSM got there and we ordered some drink and food. I was 100% on a hot tea journey, my fingers were still cold! I also loved that I could walk in there in my ski pants and no one said boo!

We had some shaved brussel sprouts, and two salads, mine was a roasted beet with slivered almonds, raisins, and goat cheese, y u m! And PSM had a blackened chicken salad. The food did take a minute, but it was good. As soon as the bartender wondered where the salads were, went to go check, they were ready to be picked up, good on us! Food was good, drinks were good, conversation was good, football was on, good for PSM, not so much for me, but…he found people next to him he could talk to about the games, and they talked about other things I could jump in on.

We hung out, ate, talked, drank, laughed, watched. Eventually, about 530p, I said I was heading home to take care of the pups, PSM stayed behind to watch more foosball! I headed home, took care of the pups, hung out with them, decided to go upstairs and took a very much needed, relaxing, hot hot hot shower, got in my jammies, gather the pups and snuggle. The big reason…when PSM is in the bed, they have no use for me, so I’ll take what I can get!

So…skiing, first time this season, won’t be the last, a new mountain, skied the east, a new restaurant/bar, date with my husband, snuggle with the dogs, yeah, that’s a pretty good Sunday. How are we going to top this next weekend!? You’ll just have to wait to find out!

Night!

{January 6, 2024} It’s snowing!

I was going to tell you a little more about our trip, but the snow started and it just kept going. It started about 1040am, PSM was disappointed because it was supposed to start at 10am… sigh.

Well, it started as we were driving back from the park with the pups. We had had a lazy morning, got the dogs up and onto the bed to snuggle with us, then we got motivated and took them to the park. On the way home, it started to snow, nothing big, just some flurries.

Home, feed the dogs, then we were out in search of food, look at tiles, and possibly purchase a snow blower, what else do you do on a Saturday? We stopped by the grocery store, I needed some more chai tea, then Ace Hardware not far from the grocery store that I wanted to go to, they have a specific chai powder that I like, Dutchway Market, not Ace Hardware! Love that place! It’s a market, like many others, but the selection of certain items, wow! I’ll share pics another time.

Ace Hardware, talked to a nice guy about snow blowers and snow thrower. Yup, there is a difference my friends, I had no idea, so if you did, you were one up on me! A snow blower, just like the name sounds, blows the snow to the side and is a two-stage snow removal machine, while a snow thrower, a single stage snow removal machine that literally picks up the snow and throws it out the shoot. And here it is all spelled out!

The guy gave us some good recommendations, told us which one he had, and that he is actually a certified EGO technician, EGO being the brand, so if we had any issues with it, bring it to him and… sounds like a win-win. We decided to grab breakfast and discuss which one to get or to get one at all!

We went in search of food, well, breakfast to be exact, and that was proving very difficult! We tried three restaurants, even a coffee shop, to no avail, breakfast was done and dusted. We settled on a place for lunch, one that we didn’t enjoy the breakfast the first time we went, but..at this point, we were both hungry and not in the mood to get back in the truck…They redeemed themselves! Not too shabby and we chatted with some of the other patrons. Everyone here is very nice!

After lunch, we went back to Ace and talked to the same guy. PSM explained that some of his hesitation stemmed from the huge snowstorn in Boston, January of 2015. That was the month that no one went to work, school, or flew anywhere on a Monday for the month. That was also the month PSM and I met, not sure if you remember my stories about that! He had a little PTSD from blowing out a few snow blowers because of Mother Nature! The guy was good and we ended up with an EGO Snow Thrower.

Home we went, the snow was coming down harder now, the roads were getting a little slick, but we’re both used to the weather and the roads, although, last year in St Louis, we didn’t get a lot of snow, mostly ice, fun, huh?

We got home, unloaded the snow thrower, plugged in the dual batteries and went into the house to hang with the dogs, look out the window occasionaly and not go anywhere. Sounds cozy, right?!

The snow finally stopped around 9pm, a very pretty sight and…tomorrow, we get to test our our new green toy! For now, enjoy a little of the winter wonderland I’m sharing. Happy Snow Day!

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