buzzardnotes

Connie at the High Hand Nursery

It has been my experience that when most folks are celebrating a milestone event, that it lasts a day or maybe a week. But, my friend Connie is celebrating her 70^th birthday over a span of at least three months! Her actual birthday is in June but she is celebrating from May until mid-July! That must be a record! In her defense, though, this didn’t happen because of her “high-handedness.” Margie, her sister, wanted to have a surprise party but getting folks to Colorado Springs and keeping it all a surprise was just too much to integrate with all of Connie’s activities/events/church/flower creations. So Margie told Connie the plans and a date in May was decided upon when a very small group of people could get together in Sacramento.

High Hand Brand packing label

So it happened that this little group convened at the High Hand Nursery in Loomis, an old farm town a bit east of Sacramento. A nursery sounds like a funny place to have a milestone luncheon, but this is really a cool place…a perfect place for the founder of Connie’s Creations. It’s an old fruit-packing house that’s been converted to an excellent restaurant, several tasteful shops (including wine tasting J ), galleries, and a real nursery.  We had a delightful lunch, frivolity with the conversation, some memorabilia gifts (what else could there be when you’re turning 70?), and a tour of the garden/nursery. It was a memorable occasion! Our wine was even memorable…Hands of Time Chardonnay.

Connie and her “Toast to Connie” book

Hands across time – Good stuff!

Taking a tour of the nursery

Posing in the old packing house…Steve, Margie, Connie, Cora, Dick

After strolling around the nursery for a bit to settle our lunch and perhaps to find new treasures, we drove back to Sacramento to that old-fashioned ice cream parlour of Farrell’s!  They provided even more frivolity, drum beats, songs, celebration and treats for Connie.

Celebrating in Farrell’s

Truly, it was Connie’s day, even though it’s not really until June 15. There was so much entertainment and so many comments that poor Connie didn’t get to enjoy her birthday sundae until it was half melted. Always a good sport, she didn’t complain, perhaps because her special sundae was free?

It’s my day!

Only one candle???

Margaret and Steve left shortly after the party to return to Merced while Connie and I checked into our room at the Quality Inn in Sacramento.

Steve, Margie and Connie

We rested a bit and then had a quick snack with RDS (aka Matt Rivers).  We retired with Tu keeping guard over us.

Tu’s celebrating as well

Late the next morning, Dick Schmidt picked us up to go to Burr’s (my favorite ice cream parlor) for an early lunch and, of course, a hot fudge sundae in honor of Bob. I couldn’t decide what flavor of ice cream to have, so I had a two- scoop sundae. Needless to say, I didn’t eat dinner that night.

You might call this the pig trough. It was GOOD!

Here is the lucky dude clowning around with some of his babes in front of Burr’s.

Thus ended two days of birthday celebration in Sacramento. Later that afternoon, Connie went to Merced for a bit more celebration and then to LA to celebrate with Deanne and Peter. The marathon will continue soon in June and July. You go, girl! We all love you and wish you the best and happiest of all birthdays!!!

2014 cast (Don’t forget to click on the photos to enlarge)

Above, you see the cast of characters for the 2014 Prime Time at Pajaro.  No, Pat is not asleep. I think she was beginning to blink. But I think this is still a good picture with good smiles all around. We missed those of you who were not able to attend and hope that you all be able to come either next year or in 2016.

Trish’s place is the one that looks like a light is on in the second story

Diana and I were the first to arrive and haul all our stuff up to Pelican 10. We had the first night’s dinner with us, so we had a bit more than usual. Dot and Sherry arrived next with essentials that they picked up at the grocery store…essentials like TP. It was unusually HOT at Pajaro. I can’t ever remember it being so warm…low 80s or high 70s.   Diana and I thought it felt a bit like a Santa Ana wind even so close to the beach. Of course, this is the first time that we’ve been there in May. Pat, Lynda and Shoo were to arrive the next day.

It was so warm that we were able to walk on the beach without the usual heavy jackets.  Part of the beach close to the berm was roped off so that the snowy plovers can nest in peace.  The little plovers nest in depressions in the sand, perhaps one that a footprint created. I guess it works for them, but it seems rather unprotected to me. Plovers are a type of shorebird that scurry along the water line looking for tasty morsels. I always get a kick out of how quickly their little legs seem to turn. It’s almost like cartoon legs.

A little snowy plover on a nesting site

After Pat, Lynda and Shoo arrived, we walked again, thus adding more miles to our tally (not that we were keeping track). It’s such a flat beach that we can walk a long way without pooping out. You can see that by the picture that it’s flat and one can walk literally for miles.

We love it this beach!

In the next picture, you’ll see the view of the beach from Pelican 10. However, it is somewhat marred by some passing seagulls’ deposits. Trish decided that it should be washed, but if you’ll notice in the picture of the condo with the “light”, that one needs a VERY TALL ladder in order to get to it. Trish had a solution, using a hose and squeegee with Dot’s able assistance. Those of us inside took great delight in pointing out missed smudges. They really did a good job, though, and the view was greatly improved.

Bird deposits on the window marring the view

Trish and Dot with the hose

The Whole Enchilada in Moss Landing was on the agenda for that night’s dinner.   It’s tradition to have at least one meal there while at Pajaro and get our picture taken there. I think we look darn good in this one.

Having fun at the Whole Enchilada

The Enchilada owner came by the table and gave Lynda a Lotto ticket after she agreed to be his partner with the winnings.  It was for the Mega Lotto that was worth $136 million. We were all thinking about how we would spend our portion of the winnings. Alas! We had only one matching number.

Lynda and her Lotto partner

A full moon was so pretty shining through the trees.

A ghostly sight

At Diana’s and my suggestion, several of us brought some pictures of us as youngsters and we all got to reminiscing about past times. Angel, we were all happy to receive your picture of you with that bag of candy. You were/are so cute! Thank you, too, for sharing some of your childhood story. It had never occurred to me that you and your family suffered after the War.  I guess, because I didn’t know you then and I don’t think you and I ever talked about the war. Thank you for making me more aware of that part of post-war history.

I think if I had to choose a theme for this year, it would be dealing with life changes and challenges. All of us have had some challenges, but Pat is dealing with some health issues that have yet to be identified. She told us that it is NOT Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s and that is good news. She will be learning more in future doctors’ appointments. We all wish you well, Pat, and please know that if any one of us could help you in any way, we’ll be there.   I’ll tell you one thing, though. Pat has not lost her wicked sense of humor. She had some good lines this year.

Being at Pajaro in May for the first time showed us some differences in nature that were fun to see.  The sun set behind the Santa Cruz peninsula (or whatever that land is called) instead of sort of in the middle of the ocean as we usually see in February or March. I already mentioned the plovers nesting, but there was also a starling nesting in the eave of Pelican 10. I just happened to catch her leaving the nest as I was taking a picture of brown pelicans.

Sunset behind Santa Cruz

Starling in flight with pelicans in the background

The bees were visiting ice plants and we saw some folks riding their horses on the beach at sunset. I thought they made great silhouettes.

The bee is at about 11 o’clock

Horses on the beach at sunset

The surf was calm and almost good for surfing if one wanted to do that. Seagulls were on the shore, but we didn’t see many little birds. Perhaps they will return soon when their babies hatch and they need to be fed.

Seagulls taking a break at water’s edge

It has become Diana and Trish’s job to add new captions to our album documenting our Pajaro and Cambria adventures. They have a really good time doing this task but I don’t think they began imbibing soon enough as they didn’t get very many done this year. They had fun doing what they did though.

This caption is the best!

Now, as all know in our Pajaro group, the majority of us are turning 70 this year (three of you will do that next year). Diana ordered a beautiful, tasty cake from Gayle’s in Capitola. Oh my goodness! I loved all 3 layers of hazelnut and chocolate cake iced with chocolate ganache (I’m not sure about spelling. Spell check isn’t helping and my dictionary doesn’t have the word. Whatever, it is, it is really good!), whipped cream and regular icing. We celebrated with candles, party hats, ice cream and later, some Bailey’s.

Lighting the lights

Happy birthday to us!!!

It was great!

Trish loved it!

As I told you, it was hot and the sand was also. Pat went barefooted during one of the walks and in crossing the hot sand from the shore to the stairs to get back to the condo, her feet got too hot. She began to hurry across the sand and ran into some wood in her path. She really banged up two toes (one of which I feel sure was broken) and shortly had very bruised toes. The first aid committee got together and fashioned an ice pack for her and bound it with what Pat called an Arafat kerchief. I hope she was able to board the plane to go home without any problems.

First Responders

Pat and her Arafat foot cover

Prime time always has to end and parting consists of many hugs. Our friendship means so much to all of us.  I’d like to include some comments from Diana and Dot about our friendship as I think they are much more eloquent about US than I am.

Dot said, “I loved visiting with each of you. We are all different in many ways and yet meld together into a great group.”

Diana’s comment was, “How blessed we are to have each other! I think it’s remarkable that over and over year after year, we have fun together, discuss serious subjects and yet never ‘bump into each other.’ That was Schwab talk for have a squabble in the olden days. Let’s squeeze every drop of togetherness we can out of the years to come.”

I liked this shot and would like to close with it.  We’ve been making tracks together for more than 50 years!  Yea!!!

Best friends making tracks together.

The twelfth annual Donate Life Run/Walk was held on April 26, 2014 at Cal State Fullerton with more than 13,000 people celebrating the Gift of Life.  The fact that this event began with only about 1500 people (or less) in attendance and has grown into the largest of its kind in the country is positively amazing.  It has been my privilege to attend and/or work with at least 9 of those events and I continue to be inspired by how Kathleen Hostert and her mighty crew of staff members and volunteers continue to grow this event.  (Don’t forget to click on photos if you want to enlarge them)

Bob’s and my first DLRW in 2005.

This April, I felt a bit at odds bods, sort of not feeling exactly right. It finally dawned on me that I wasn’t spending every day in April helping to prepare for the Walk…packing stuff for the various Walk areas, hauling donor family t-shirts to be counted and inventoried, speaking at several city council or county supervisor meetings and accepting proclamations proclaiming April to be Donate Life Month, amongst other little chores. Here I was in Nevada doing NV State Museum tours, working in my yard and other mundane chores.   The Walk was calling me!

I zoomed down south in time to be able to help make final packing preparations to move all the equipment, shirts, VIP bags, promotional material, ad infintum to the Cal State Fullerton campus. It used to be just a couple of truck loads of stuff taken to the campus. Now it takes many more loads to complete the task. Then…it all has to be sorted out and set up in the various areas. (Kathleen has devised systems to make that easier, but it’s still time consuming)   To complicate things this year, there was a threat of rain which did actually materialize during the night. The actual Walk day dawned with glorious sun.  A great day

Sorting donor family t shirts into their proper boxes. There are thousands of shirts that are put into these boxes. Each shirt has a picture of the family’s loved one on the back.

Getting ready to load those boxes onto the truck. They will be claimed in the morning by the donor families who proudly wear their shirts on the Walk.

Meanwhile, activities continue in the office portion of the Placentia Office of One Legacy/Donate Life.  Lists are being finalized, stuff is still being packed, sheets are being laminated and the list goes on and on.

Iva and her endless lists. She keeps track of EVERYTHING!

The Nut House (or Kathleen’s office)

Where I’ve worked for the past several years. It’s fun to meet the VIPs and their families and sometimes it’s hectic when someone thinks they are a VIP and aren’t.

Promoting the social media aspect of Donate Life to increase awareness of the cause. Just point your smart phone and click. Doesn’t work on my phone, though. I have a dumb phone.

Some of the contributing sponsors, of which I was one

One of the necessary evils of an event like this with SOOOO many people is the trash detail (and also the port-potty issue, but we won’t go into that.  Ick!).  Dave Hollon and his son, Michael, have worked on this area for many years and have it down to a pretty good science.  The fact remains though, that he has to line all of these cardboard “cans” and distribute them around the campus.  Then someone has to empty them when they are full.  It’s a continuous task to keep all of this trash from overflowing and looking awful.  Dave and Michael do a great job and makes it look pretty easy but I wouldn’t trade jobs with them.

Dave Hollon and his “cans”
Can he or can’t he?

Monica Ramirez took my place as chairperson of the VIP Check-in area.  She also does many tasks at the office…a gal of all trades.

Monica waiting for her first VIP to check in. Do you think she’s practicing her welcome smile?

Checking in the VIPs. Sharyn Miller is the helper.

Nicole Hostert greeting the crowd with her family around her.

Donor families releasing doves. It’s always an inspirational portion of the program, especially when you know some of the donor families and/or have been directly affected by donation.

After the release of the doves, the Walk is just about ready to begin.  Just a couple of more things to do…the National Anthem and the countdown.  This year, Emily Reisling, daughter of good friends and a sophomore at La Habra High, sang the Anthem.  She was terrific!  People actually stopped talking, listened and acted respectfully.

Emily Reisling

A small portion of Emily’s audience at the starting line

And they’re off!!!

A very inspirational portion of the Walk is the Circle of Garden, an area where posters are hung to honor loved ones who were donors, are living donors, are waiting for a transplant or perhaps who have passed waiting for a transplant.  It’s supposed to be a sort of reverential place but with 13,000 people, it’s difficult to have total quiet.  But I like to go into the Garden to see all the people looking at the posters and to see Bob’s poster.  This year, I chose a picture with the two of us in Delft, Holland with the caption, “We enjoyed the Gift of Life.”  This gift from Tim Baptista’s family allowed us to travel near and far and allowed Bob to be best man at our nephew, Michael’s wedding to Floor in 2008. Bob was so pleased that he got to do that.

Bob’s sign in the Garden before it was hung up in place

The Walk and ensuing Family Festival activities ended about noon and I was on the road back to Nevada around 1 PM. It was a short visit and I apologize to the many friends I didn’t get to visit.  It’s just that now there were several obligations up north that I had to keep.

Here is a little addendum to this blog portion. As most of you know, I have a bird feeder in the back yard that attracts several species of birds and sometimes critters such as ground squirrels and little chipmunk type animals. This week, yellow-headed black birds graced the feeder along with their cousins, red-winged blackbirds.  Sorry the picture isn’t bigger, but one can only crop a shot so much.   I like these birds as they don’t seem to be afraid and don’t fly away if I’m working in the backyard.

Yellow-headed blackbirds (Click on it and it’ll get bigger)