En Passant Tropical jelly long tendrils hanging Sea horses, mouths agape, passing :Bobby Nichols 12-23-2004 Dreams of Summer Whence flowed these fond sparkling dreams Memories of hot days and cool gentle streams :Bobby Nichols 12-24-2004 The Light See the Light Jesus was sent to save us all Peace and love and joy :Bobby Nichols 12-25-2004

"En Passant "... a French term meaning "In Passing". Also a move used in chess that often beguiles the beginning player. There would be much more to write in such a poem as this... being relegated to only 20 'tiles' left me to ponder more for the future.

"Dreams of Summer "... My favorite summers... cycling from home in the East Bay to Yosemite Nat'l park on 10-speed bicycles with Burt in '70, Jim in '71. Memories of: mosquito bites (once closing my eye for a day or two from swelling); Niles Canyon; Caswell State Park; Planada, where I was impressed at the amount of flies around a small eatery; tossing rocks across the Merced River with Burt; sleeping on or near park benches in sleeping bags; getting wet in Oakdale and Merced when the timed sprinklers came on after turning in; eating dehydrated camping rations; wading in the Toulumne River; Burton's flat tire fixed at an irrigation canal in Modesto; the gears freezing up on the bike I borrowed from my brother-in-law; sometimes having to walk the bikes up particularly steep grades... once or twice a short trip in the back of a pickup truck; my white Schwinn 10-speed that I bought with my own money after working at a Liquor store for minimum wage ($1.50?/hr. USD)... my bike later stolen at my high school (though locked up) as I attended a basketball game; having stupid songs go through my mind as a cadence; orange hats; a brief rain shower near the entrance of Yosemite; chopped-Harley rider amused at our straining our loaded-down bikes on a long flat straight back road in the heat, motioning as if he was pedaling in passing; stopping at small Mom & Pop stores for a snack or water or soda or phone call home; B-52's near Merced, close to the place of my birth; the beauty of Yosemite; pictures taken with an old Kodak "Brownie" camera that I still have; mostly downhill home!!!; getting a ride home in '70, once we made it from Yosemite to Merced, 'cause school vacation ended earlier than we thought; being left behind, alone, don't remember why?, once we made it from Yosemite to Sunol the following year...o.k., I was probably lagging pretty much at that point... but I made it all the way home!; and OH! the soreness!!!

"The Light "... I made a minor edit by adding the word 'us' here in addition to my entry. Jesus is the Light by whence all righteousness is restored to the Earth and by whom all may be saved. I celebrate the Son of God's birth this 25th day of December, 2004, with the prayer that all come unto Jesus, the Christ.

Peace be with you on this joyous Christmas Day... Adieux!!!