buzzardnotes

A week ago, I awoke to a 25 degree morning.  This was a first for me.  My birdbath was frozen over and the poor birds couldn’t get a drink before I broke the ice (literally).  I didn’t go for a walk that day, but that drop in temperature spurred me to join a gym, which I am now attending three times a week.  The next morning was only 32 degrees and I did go for a walk all bundled up.  The birdbath was only slushy that morning.

The days here can have quite a range of temperatures.  It can begin in the 30s and go up to the 70s or even low 80s.  The morning I decided to complete the staining job on the back fence was in the mid-50s and went up to the 70s in the late afternoon.  I never thought that I’d be wearing shorts when it was that cool, but it was quite comfortable.  Anyway, on to what I wanted to tell you about.   You have to remember that this is all new to me and is still quite an adventure.

A change is beginning!

The cold snap last week caused some of the trees to begin to turn colors and, for some trees, it happened almost overnight.  This picture was taken last Sunday at Diana’s (a great friend from kindergarten through high school) ranch as were some of the other pictures I’ll show you.  I should have asked Diana what type of tree this is, but I didn’t.  It’s beginning to turn but her giant cottonwood is not yet.

Diana’s giant cottonwood

We get some high altitude winds that create some interesting lenticular clouds.  We are in awe when we see these beautiful, colorful clouds, particularly at sunset.

Some lenticular clouds looking southeast (I think) from Diana’s house

Turning around, I saw this looking toward the Sierras.

A couple of mornings later, I happened to have my camera with me and the following pictures will show what I’ve been trying to describe in earlier  reports…that is how the sun dawns on the Sierras. The Pine Nuts range is to the east, which the sun has to rise over to illuminate the Sierras.

Tip of the morning on the Sierras! Taken about 7 AM

Almost full dawn on the Sierras…taken about 5 minutes later

I think these trees are maples, but I’m not well versed with tree names.  They are planted along the open space trails upon which I take the morning walks.  When the sun hits them, they seem to become a brighter red.

The luminous red tree

You can see the luminous quality of the tree as the sun lights it up.  The back side of my house is the second or biggest roof visible to the left of the tree trunk.  It’s quite a large open space here with abundant sagebrush, rabbit brush, thorny plants along with many rabbits, quail, white crowned sparrows as well as coyotes and snakes.

The picture below demonstrates the contrast of the variety of trees

Contrasting types of trees and their colors

The little aspen

The back side of the house

This is a little aspen in my back yard.  Last week, all the leaves were a light green.  My cottonwoods and other trees haven’t begun to turn much yet.  Or maybe they don’t and just drop all their leaves.  I don’t know yet.  Check out the picture of the backside of the house.  Click on the picture and if you look closely in about the center of the picture, you might see the silhouette of a quail on the rocks just to the left of the birdbath.  He’s in, more or less, the bird feeding area that I have set up for all the birds.  In the foreground is the fence that I stained (not real well as you can see holidays on the wood and you can also see bird poop stains since they love to sit on the fence).

I’ve already cropped this, so I don’t know how much bigger he’ll get if you click on this picture.

I might have mentioned Earl Squirrel previously.  He keeps hanging around and last evening, I finally got a shot of him stealing seeds from the quail on the patio floor.  He’s not a golden mantle squirrel but I think there is one like him at the Nevada State Museum.  I’ll find out his official name tomorrow while I’m there.  Earl scurries about and barges right into the area where many birds are foraging on the ground (to get at seed that the other birds spilled from the feeders).  He’ll dig at some of the rocks, trying to flip them over to get at some seeds and doesn’t seem at all intimidated by birds that are larger than he.  They peck at him sometimes but he just keeps on going.  As long as he doesn’t bring all his cousins, I’m not too unhappy that he’s there.

Jerri and I did some observing yesterday at the museum and enjoyed ourselves.  We helped with 31 second graders who were learning about leaves and their impact on our lives.  Next week, we get to observe and help with tours about American Indians (particularly local Washoe, Paiute and Shoshone tribes) and geology and the mine that is in the basement of the museum.  It’s fun to go in because it looks and feels very authentic.

The NSM

The old Carson City U.S. Mint, which is now the original part of the Nevada State Museum and Jerri’s and my new adventure site

Carson Valleyites awoke this morning to something new in the air…or rather a return to “normal.”  The Sierra Nevada were clearly visible and we could take a deep breath without choking or gagging.  The smoke from the Rim Fire near Yosemite that has plagued us for almost a month is no longer with us giving us the sharp views and bright blue skies that we are used to.

You might say, Cora, you’ve only been there 6 weeks and you are sounding like you’ve been there for years.  Yes, that’s true.  But this area quickly rubs off on a person and it’s easy to become accustomed to things that attract one in the first place.

As I began my daily walk this morning, I couldn’t help but grin and put a bit of a hop in my step as I sort of rejoiced in seeing “my” mountains with the sun reflecting off buildings at Heavenly Ski Resort at the top of Kingsbury Grade, the bright green fairways of one of the Genoa golf courses that zig-zag their way up a foothill, and sharp mountain crags on Job’s Peak.  It was just a most beautiful morning and I wanted to share with you the feeling of exultation that I had.

I also wanted to share with you some of the critters I’ve seen on my walks that add to the fun of going out each morning.  This morning was a crisp 44 degrees when I began.  That would be very cold in Cerritos, but here I wore my shorts, a t shirt and a light windbreaker.   My hands get a bit chilly but I stick them in my pockets until I’ve been walking for a bit.

There are some settling ponds just north of my housing development and hundreds of Canada geese spend the night there.  Each morning they organize themselves into family groups of anywhere from 2 to 30 birds,  talk about the journey for the day

A Canada Goose

and then rise up as a unit and fly to their destination.  Now this organizational talk is very raucous with everyone talking at once and it makes me think of the following conversation (condensed)

“Doris, do you have everything you need?”

“Just wait a second, I don’t have my feathers just right.”

“Come on, I told Jack we’d be there in 10 minutes.”

“Junior, Put away the frog!”

And then all of a sudden, it’s “Up, up and away!!!”

I just learned today that a flock of geese in flight is called a “skein” while a flock on the ground is called a “gaggle.”  A skein can also be called a “team” or a “wedge.”  If they’re flying close together, it’s a “plump.”  Who makes up these names?

A skein of Canada geese in the early morning

A gaggle of geese

The skein shot was taken about 6:30 AM.  Sadly, I’ve tried to get pictures on my own, but everything is too far away or I didn’t have the camera with me or I just missed the shot.  So I took some pictures from the internet so that you could see what I am talking about.  Those pictures will not enlarge when you click on them as will the shots that I took.  Bummer.

These geese spend their days in pastures or other areas south of my house and then fly back in huge skeins.  I have heard them flying in total darkness, which seems odd for large flocks.  I suppose they have some type of internal compass or something.  I get a kick out of hearing them fly over.  They seem to continue their conversations as they fly.  Perhaps they are talking about the dumb human down below with her mouth hanging open watching them.

I can’t remember if I told you before that my housing development was originally supposed to be built around a golf course.  The developer decided he wouldn’t make enough money because there are too many other

Cottontail who roams the neighborhood freely

Jackrabbit – a large hare with larger ears

courses in the area, so he turned the course into open natural areas between streets.  It’s really a neat deal as the trails wind through areas with natural vegetation such as sagebrush, rabbit brush, ragweed, tumbleweeds and some other bushes I don’t know…some with lots of mean thorns.  The birds love these bushes and so do the rabbits.   The cottontail and jackrabbit are critters that I see every day.  The jacks seem to be more wary than do the cottontails, but both will not allow proximity to a human.

It follows that if there are hundreds of rabbits, there should be natural predators out there to eat them.  That is certainly true in Saratoga Springs (my development).  The coyotes here are very handsome and well fed.  I have seen 3 not far from my house and have seen their scat in my backyard.  This fellow is not as sleek and good looking as the local coyotes here, but this is the best picture I could find.  None of locals have a hard time like Wiley Coyote used to with Beep Beep the Roadrunner.

A coyote looking for dinner

Our local coyotes never need help with catching vittles

I mentioned in a previous blog that I have seen a mountain gartersnake in my yard but I have not seen any other slithering creatures in the neighborhood.  Neighbors have reported sightings of bull snakes and rattlers, but I haven’t had the privilege yet.

A turkey vulture sunning himself

There are also birds of prey such as hawks like the northern harrier and American kestrel.  Of course, there is the ever present scavenger, the turkey vulture but Jerri and I like to call them buzzards.

A pair of California quail

California quail abound in the entire Carson Valley, not just Saratoga Springs.  Many people feed them and they hang around all year long.  I am one of those people as I love to watch them.  They are out in the sagebrush every morning and I see them scurrying along the ground, sometimes on fences and sometimes in trees on people’s property.  One of the males in a covey usually posts himself as the lookout and if he senses danger, he calls out “Cuidado!”  That’s “Be careful” in Spanish.  Really, the call sounds like that.  When the family is contentedly pecking around, they have a calm little chatting call to each other.  It doesn’t sound like hens in a barnyard, but they sound happy like that.  Jerri tells me that quail mate for life as do the Canada geese.  So it’s sad when one dies as the survivor sometimes dies from heartbreak.

Yesterday, I was walking through the sagebrush when I heard a unique call…sort of a high, thin buzz followed by a warble.  It was a happy sound and I tried like the devil to find the bird.  Eventually, I saw him, a small bird that resembled a wren.  I looked him up when I got home and discovered he is a Bewick’s wren.  This is a new species for me and I was excited about that.

Bewick’s wren

A house finch

One of the more common birds in the area is the house finch.  Dad used to call them linnets, but everyone calls them house finches today.  They have flocked to my feeder and become very territorial over the limited feeding space.  Two or three birds can fit on one side of the feeder but they fight about it and only one ends up feeding.  It’s funny to watch them line up on tree branches to get to eat.

I constructed a little tray for peanuts in an effort to attract blue jays and mountain bluebirds.  These birds love peanuts and Jerri has many of them.  So I wanted to be

A scrub jay

entertained by them also.  I have seen zero mountain bluebirds, one scrub jay and many magpies.  Those rotten birds scare away my jay and eat up all the peanuts.  They are very pretty, but they are hogs!  They also scare away the smaller birds when they zoom in for a peanut.

A black-billed magpie

Earl Squirrel Chipmunk

A visitor that I didn’t expect is a little chipmunk.  He visits the backyard feeding area and is so skittery and tiny that a picture is almost impossible.  I’ve named him Earl and enjoy watching him scurry around the rocks looking for tiny seeds that the birds have dropped from the feeder.  I’m surprised that he hasn’t climbed up the feeder or tree in an attempt to get to the cornucopia of food.   Perhaps that will happen when it gets colder and there is snow on the ground and he’s a bit hungrier.

An Anna’s hummingbird

I have had some hummingbirds and think they are Anna’s hummers.  Like the ones in Cerritos, they are territorial and will chase off another hummer while they are trying to feed.  They seem to not be bothered by the other birds feeding in the same area, however.

There are some new additions to the flamingo holdings that you might like to see.   I purchased Ming while I was in Sacramento a couple of weeks ago and Jerri bought Curt for me yesterday while we were in Reno.   Ming rides his bike in perpetuity when the wind blows and is posted next to Jay, the bluejay and the tilted birdbath that I found in some overgrown brush in my backyard.  The birds don’t care and love to drink there and take baths.

Ming the flamingo

Curt is posted in the front yard next to the porch and greets visitors as they come up the walkway.

Jerri thought his name should be Curt

BC waiting to go outside

Lazin’ in the afternoon

You might be wondering about BC and how she’s doing.  I think she’s finally getting adjusted and hasn’t had any accidents during the past few days.  That’s progress!  She sleeps most of the day in her nest in the workshop but likes to go outside for a stroll now and then.  She particularly enjoys sitting in the sun to catch a few late afternoon rays.  She has chased a cottontail in the front yard but didn’t catch it.  The ol’ girl still has some oomph in her!  As you might surmise from the tales I’ve told about critters and predators, she is not allowed outside without close supervision.  Quite a radical change from her wanderings in the backyard in Cerritos.

The cloud photo was taken a bit ago while I was waiting for some quail to come through the back fence…which they never did while I was back there.  Can you beat the color of that sky?

Looking east from my backyard

It was so uplifting this morning to see the clear blue skies once again.  Everyone I met today was talking about how good and happy they felt upon the lifting of the smoky veil.  It’s amazing how this affects everyone and how much we all enjoy our mountains. So you can see there has been a bit of a metamorphosis, a striking change in the appearance of our skies and also by me, who grew up with hazy skies and now wants to see the pretty blue skies and the sharp outline and details on the Sierra Nevada.

Minden or Bust!

When I left you in the last blog segment, BC, Jerri and I were heading north to Minden on July 26.  BC’s Xanax was not working yet and she was in her little crate in the back seat, talking and telling us she was not a happy camper.  About an hour into the trip, Jerri and I began to smell a foul odor and discovered that poor BC had diarrhea and she was really unhappy about that.  So we took the first exit ramp and pulled off the road to take care of her.  Remember that she had her harness on and that we could attach a leash to her to make sure she didn’t run off.  I mean, who would hold her with that type of poop in her long hair?  Anyway, we did get her and the crate cleaned up and off we went.  (Luckily, someone had recommended lining the crate with disposable diapers and they were a lifesaver)

This method might have made it a bit easier

Jerri and I had to make a pit stop at Red Rock State Park and BC was still unhappy.  So we decided that Jerri would drive and I would hold BC in her crate on my lap.  She settled down quickly after that and she rode like that for the next 300 miles until we reached Minden.  I was STIFF after sitting for so long with little chance to move around but it was better that than hearing her cry for that long of a time.

It made me wish that I paid heed to good friend, Dick Schmidt’s recommendation of special handling for BC. This method might have been a lot easier on her and me.

Beautiful flowers from Connie, Shirley, Jan and Dick

We arrived a bit after 10 that night and Allan, Jerri’s husband was there to meet us.  We drove right into the garage, unloaded BC, unpacked some basics, and viewed a gorgeous flower arrangement sent to me by 4 dear friends welcoming us to our new home.  I had purchased a bed from the previous owners, so had something to sleep in.  Allan had brought over a couple of camp chairs and there was a coffee table as well as a game table and dining table with chairs the previous owners had left.    So BC and I began our campout until the truck arrived on Monday, August 5.  She slept in the laundry room and I slept in my bed.

As most of you know, there was no landline phone, no internet and no TV as Charter would not hook up those items until the TV was

The campsite in the great room

actually in the house.  So, BC and I sat and waited.  Well, that is not exactly true.  I bought a vacuum and new TV stand because I decided the old one was too big.  So with the vacuum and some borrowed cleaning supplies, I set about preparing for the furniture to arrive. This is how the campsite looked with the new TV stand until the moving van arrived on the fifth.  Other than the refrigerator, I didn’t miss all the other stuff too much.  It’s amazing how little one really does need.  Of course I didn’t stay a minimalist very long because I do enjoy the creature comforts even along with the responsibilities that go with them.

The camping days passed quickly with dinners at Jerri’s and my good buddy, Diana, who

Christina, Dalan, Jolee, Cora, Uncle Bev

lives in Gardnerville (a small town adjacent to Minden).   Peeps were watchin’ out for me!  I did and have done quite a bit of walking around the neighborhood to get acquainted with the walking trails and streets in the ‘hood.  Also, our Uncle Bev from Aurora, CO and his granddaughter, Christina from Texas, visited Jerri and me.  It was so great to meet Christina and see Uncle Bev again.  We had lunch and then toured a portion of Lake Tahoe.  As it was Sunday, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic around part of the Lake, but we did manage to find a good place to park to get out and take pictures of Emerald Bay.  Jolee and Dalan joined us for the tour as you can see in the picture.  It was a superb afternoon and evening.

BC was not such a happy camper.  She didn’t like being in the laundry room for several days and then didn’t like being kept in the house.  She showed me her displeasure by leaving little presents in several locations of the house.  Luckily, Jan, a Sacramento friend, had recommended special stuff  called Anti-Icky Poo to rid the carpet of stains and smells.  Such a varmint she is.  Finally, I was brave enough to let her explore the garage and then the workshop.  She loved the workshop and still does.  She first nested on an old piece of carpet the previous owners had left and then graduated to couple of towels I put down for her.  Slowly, she began to adapt to her new environment.

At last, August 5 dawned and the Mayflower truck arrived on Agua Caliente Court about 8:30 AM.  YEA!  Willie, the driver, was met by a helper named Monty.  Together,

Comin’ ’round the corner

they unloaded 6920 pounds of Johnson stuff.  Because I had sold off quite a few big items, BC and I had about half of the normal household weight.  Still, I would not have liked to have carried all that stuff on a hot day like August 5 was.

As I had mentioned in the earlier blog, all my stuff fit into the fifth wheel area of the van.  I still am amazed about that.  The goods were loaded from the middle of the truck but unloaded from a smaller door over that fifth wheel.  It was quite a puzzle to find the right pieces to take out first and begin the unloading.  They worked until a little after three to finish the unloading and put things together for me.  As the boxes stacked up pin the house, I began to feel very intimidated about unpacking all of them.   This is going to be a lot of work!!!

Getting into the fifth wheel to unload

The first load

This shot shows only about half of the kitchen. There is more to the right.

A funny thing happened in the kitchen.  When the refrigerator was moved in, I discovered the dishwasher door does not fully open because the ‘fridge door is in the

Check out the dishwasher door

way.  The only way to open the dishwasher door fully is to open the refrigerator door.    Somebody wasn’t thinking about large refrigerators when the kitchen was designed.

Putting the recliner together

Boxes in the bedroom

BC was kept in my closet during the unloading and wasn’t happy again.  Finally, toward the last and when doors were beginning to be closed, I let her out to check on matters.  Again, her environment had changed.  I had

Forlorn BC. You can see she’s not happy.

been hoping that when she began to smell familiar scents that she would become a lot more relaxed and realize this was going to be home from now on.  I’m not sure that theory worked as she reverted back to the present leaving trick that night and she still does it on occasion.  Such a grouchy, finicky old lady!

The job is done and the truck is finally leaving

The two movers finished up with the furniture and then spent some time putting together my tinker toy bookcase for the office.   As I said, they finally finished up a bit after three and the truck pulled away shortly after that.

I took some pictures on my iPad to show folks how filled some of the rooms were before unpacking, but I can’t figure out how to download the pictures from an email.  They won’t open up properly.  So you’ll just have to imagine many boxes in the rooms.  Jerri came over and helped put away the closet stuff and other things.  But, as she says, it’s hard to put away someone else’s stuff as you don’t know exactly how they would like it done.  But she did a good job and I appreciate her work.  Allan has helped me with hanging some stuff and getting stuff organized

Jason, my nephew-in-law, came over and hooked up my washer and dryer. They work great and now Jerri doesn’t have to do my clothes for me.  She’s cheering!

Jason and the laundry room

It is now August 23, 2013 and all the boxes have been opened and most things have been put away.  The workshop is put together more or less (Bob would have loved this room that is attached to the garage) BC has several little nests in the workshop much to her delight.  I had to get her a bigger water dish because the small one ran dry a few days ago and she was ticked about that too.  She’s happy with the blue dish.

BC and her nests

One thing that has been bugging me is the front door lock and dead bolt.  Allan told me that he would fix it for me, and yesterday, we went to purchase a new one that works correctly and that I can end up with one key

Allan and the door lock. What a pain!

for the whole house.  So off to Lowe’s we went and found the perfect hand set for the front door.  We zoomed back to my house and he began to take apart the old lock.  ( I had more or less made arrangements with Diana’s son to do this but Allan insisted on this and it turned out to be a good deal because Jim would have wasted quite a bit of time with this project.)  What happened was that the new lock set would not fit in the routed out part of the of door because modern hand sets only contain the opening lever mechanism, not the actual lock.  My old one has the lock just above the lever with a separate dead bolt above that.  It’s difficult to explain, but suffice to say that the two hand sets we purchased would not work (we also went to Home Depot to try to get one to fit).   Allan spent a long time trying to get the old lock to work properly because the parts were worn and had been Mickey moused several times before.  He finally got it back together and it works much better.  I looked online for the type of hand set I have and discovered I can still get one.  The drawback is that they cost more than $300! I decided to leave the old lock in for a while until it totally breaks.

One thing that has delighted me is being able to get out with some of my tools and do some yard work.  I’ve ripped out some dead bushes, trimmed some other

A long mountain garter snake in the back yard

bushes and then taken out some VERY thorny suckers from a tree.   Some weeding has taken place, too, but I have to ask Jerri which of them are weeds or are some type of plant trying to make a place for itself.  I know that there are rattlesnakes in the area and am careful not to put my hands into bushy areas or little crevices.  I was very surprised one morning to be weeding and see what I thought was some thick black and yellow wire.  Then it moved!  It turned out to be a more than 24” mountain garter snake trying to find a place of refuge amongst the rocks and stones in the backyard.  It was so quiet that I could hear him slithering in the dry leaves.  He quickly found a place to hide in and I haven’t seen him since.

A portion of the back yard. Note the sunken fire pit

This next picture is of a portion of the backyard.  Please notice the little sunken fire pit in the left foreground.  We’re all excited to have a fire in it and make S’mores and maybe even roast a hot dog in the fire.  A few days ago, Jason and Dalan came over and we checked out the backyard.  We noticed a mama quail acting very nervous around the pit and we discovered two of her tiny babies had fallen into the pit and couldn’t get out.  Dalan and I rescued them and eventually they were reunited with mama.  Now I have a couple of sticks in the pit to offer a way for any other strays to clamber out of the pit.

I also have installed a classy bird feeder along with a finch seed bag and a seed block in the backyard, which is not in the picture above.  My Cerritos neighbors gave me the stand, feeder and a hummingbird feeder to get me started here in Minden.  There are two hummer feeders as another was given to me when I moved here.  I guess people know I like birds.  The seed block is for ground feeders such as quail.  I found the bird bath in an overgrown area in my back yard.  The birds seem to be enjoying it.

The new bird feeder and the smoky skies

Note the difference in the sky from the blue sky in other pictures.  The gray is from smoke from the big fire near Yosemite that has diminished our visibility to about one half mile.  It is eerie with odd colored sunlight trying to peek through the ick in the sky.  Many events have been canceled in the area due to the terrible air quality.  It’s crummy for us, but I surely do feel the pain of the residents and firefighters in the fire area.  It must be terrible.

In addition to the snake and various birds in my yard, I have also seen many cottontails who seem not to be perturbed by the wire mesh fence that lines my split rail fence along the back border of the property.  They love to chomp the grass and leave their little deposits on the lawn.  Varmints they are.  But they are a part of life here.  I’ve seen many, many Canada geese fly over in their V formations.  As Jerri says, they could never sneak up on anyone as they are always honking to each other.  I love to watch them in flight but am careful not to stand under their flight path. I know there are coyotes in the neighborhood as I’ve seen their scat in my backyard, but I have not seen one yet.  That and the snakes and hawks is why BC is a more or less indoor kitty now.

The calf with the attitude

Back to the inside of the house.  The great room has a large hearth and mantle with a large area above the mantle that cries out for a special picture of some sort.  Jerri and I were in downtown Minden a week ago and found what we think it is perfect picture for this spot.   The little calf has such an attitude and Jerri and I loved the picture.  So it is now mounted above the mantle, thanks to Allan.  It really is hung straight and level but due to reflections, I had to take the picture off center.

Here is a view of the great room with the photo (taken by a local photographer) above the mantle which also gives you an idea of the view I have from the great room.

Here are a few views of the other rooms but there is nothing real extraordinary about them in terms of decorations or art work.  This is just to give you an idea of what the house looks like.  Jerri says I live like a Spartan anyway, so there probably won’t be much more stuff.

The great room with some furniture

The office with too much glare to see the great view of the Sierras from the window

Jerri loves this bath tub in the master bath

A portion of the master bedroom

The workshop with little BC in her nest at the bottom left

Part of the garage.

All the boxes in the garage will be going to a neighbor who will be moving in September.  Why I’m storing them, I don’t know.  Just a good guy, I guess.  But soon, it will be clean and uncluttered (hopefully)

The house has a few flaws and needs a lot of work in the yard to get it up to where I want it, but all this is going to take time and money.  All in all, it’s a good place to be.

Except for the present air quality, I’m really enjoying being here in Minden and the Carson Valley.  The people are pretty friendly.  It’s fun being close to the family and doing things with everyone.  The little kids can ride their bikes over here and we can go riding on the trails throughout the community.  Eventually, Jerri and I will be getting quads to ride out in the wilderness (even though the family is not fond of this idea) to do some exploring.  But I don’t see that happening until at least next spring.

The last photo is one that Dick Schmidt put together for me.  I think it is true.  This house is made for me.

Made for me

What’s not to love about this sweet face?

This saga really began a couple of years ago when I began to think that I am not getting any younger and even though I have many friends and superb neighbors, it is nice to be around family.  The more I went up to Carson City and then Minden to see Jerri and the family, the more I liked the area and began to think about making a big change in my life.  I made it my goal to be located somewhere near Jerri by the time I was 70.

This past June, Jerri asked me to dog sit for her while she and Allan went to Erik’s wedding in Washington.  You see, Jerri has Max, a half lab and half Great Dane, that is just a year old and acts like a two year-old child.  It seems as though he’s in constant trouble…chewing books, getting into the garbage, coming into the house all muddy after taking a dip in the koi fish pond.  You get the picture.  So I said sure and zoomed up to Minden.  I had also decided to begin looking around at some houses, never intending to find something quickly.  After all, it took Jerri and Allan an entire year to find their new house.

Jerri contacted their realtor and she set up several houses to look at.  Since Jerri wasn’t leaving until the next day, she went with me to check out these places.  The first

1175 Agua Caliente Ct., Minden, NV

place was too dark with no view, the second was too far out in the tules, and so it went…until the last house we looked at.  We walked into this place and it spoke to both of us.  Nice, bright, clean, good neighborhood, a great view to the east and to the west, already landscaped with a drip and sprinkler system in place and it backed up to open space with lots of sagebrush that always smells good.  Jerri said right off the bat that I needed to buy that house.  I wasn’t quite so quick with the decision.

Western view of the Sierra Mountains

Eastern view of the Pine Nut Mountains

Jerri and Allan left the next day and I was left with the dogs to make sure Max didn’t mess up.  I fiddled around Jerri’s house, doing some weeding and thinking about the house on Agua Caliente.  Conny, the realtor, set up some more houses the next day and I requested to go back to the Agua Caliente house.  It still spoke to me when I entered it for the second time and I told Conny I wanted to buy it.  And so I did after getting a loan in Carson City.   The deal was done in four days and was to close on July 17.  Wow!  What had I done?

SOLD! says it all

I went home and began to talk to realtors about selling the Cerritos home.  Some came in very low and Gary, the eventual realtor, let me set my own price after some advice.  He listed the house on a Thursday morning and it was shown two hours later.  The first people who saw it offered full price in cash!  Another wow!  I decided to take the offer as I figured a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and then I’d be done with it and not have to worry any more about the sale.  The buyers wanted to close in 30 days, which made the closing on July 26.  Oh, my gosh!  How was I going to get packed, have a garage sale and get all the inspections done by then?

I began to make daily and long range lists and they worked!  Mayflower was hired to move my stuff, neighbors brought over boxes and even helped pack, (boxes were also

Garage sale prep in the garage

purchased), a moving sale was held on July 13 and I got rid of a lot of stuff with cheap prices, inspections were done and stacks of stuff were moved to the living room and the garage.   This picture is of just a bit of the stuff sold at the garage sale.  Amazing what one person can collect over the years.

Jerri arrived to help me finish packing and then help me drive the car up filled with our stuff and BC.  I was so grateful that she was there as she kept me safe and sane.  The day she arrived was also a going away party given by the neighbors.  Such fun that it was!!!

Everybody brought some type of a salad to Maurine’s house (my next-door neighbor) and it turned out to be a great international offering.  I wish I could have eaten more!  There was much laughter with all the neighbors in attendance.  I had such a good time and yet, it was bittersweet to say goodbye to these folks who have been my friends and neighbors for so many years.  You can see we are a cool ‘hood.

The terrific neighbors!!!

Little Nia giving a fine intro with her harmonica and drum

At the end of the festivities, the neighbors presented me with some going away gifts as well as a cool introduction by Nia Chavez.  She played the harmonica and beat

Farewell to Cora

on the drum a few times.   Don Knabe, our neighbor LA County Supervisor, had a pseudo -official proclamation made up for me which was also very cool.

The next day was back to work for Jerri and me as we toiled endlessly trying to get everything ready for the van that was arriving in just 4 days!  Boxes were beginning to pile up!

Stacking up in the living room

My dear friend, Dick Schmidt from Sacramento, flew down late Wednesday night to photographically document “Heebie Jeebie” day …the day before the van arrived and the actual day of the move.   Little did he know

Hoff sisters in action

that Jerri and I would put him to work in packing a couple TVs and sound equipment.  There is no rest when the Hoff sisters are in charge.  (That was the “handle” Dick assigned to us when he saw us in action)

Here are a few shots from that day.

Dick, the media man

All through this process, poor BC couldn’t figure out what was going on.  She would go off in a hidey-hole and sleep all day.  The trouble was that her favorite places were being packed and she had to find new ones.  Eventually, she chose Jerri’s bed because that seemed safe and people weren’t going in there to pack.  I tried to give her special attention but she didn’t want much to do with me as I was causing her consternation and stress.

Where can I go to hide?

Jerri’s bed seems best right now

Maybe I’ll eat and maybe I won’t.

It seemed symbolic to note #100 box

In packing, I had found a 1904 newspaper with my grandfather’s name written in pencil with the date.  I had assumed it was in Chinese as he was in China during the

Checking out the Japanese newspaper with June and Bo

Boxer Rebellion.  I asked June, my Chinese neighbor, to take a look at it and see if he was mentioned at all.  It turns out the paper was Japanese.  I think that since Grandpa was hurt near the Great Wall of China, he was sent to a hospital in Japan to get fixed up.  That’s the only reason I can think that he would have been in Japan.  Anyway, June did translate it (she knows something like 5 languages) and Grandpa was not mentioned.  Rather it was a regular newspaper with stock quotes, stories, and ads advertising canned milk. June and her husband, Bo, were quite animated when they were telling us about the paper and I found it fascinating that they both could read it and tell us what was going on.

After Bo and June left, I indulged in the last little bottle of Bailey’s.  For some reason, it was a little orphan in the garage ‘fridge and it needed to be consumed or tossed out as it would not have been good for it to make the trip in the van.   Dick documented its exquisite taste for me.  It was truly delicious after a hard day of packing and saying goodbye to neighbors again.

The delectable taste of Bailey’s!

The Mayflower team and me

The van arrived about 8:30 AM and the guys began to work almost immediately after some preparation with getting little green tags on every single item.

Dick did a great job of capturing every significant event that happened that day.  I really do appreciate his attention to detail and his sense of humor.

We were concerned about BC seeing everything leaving the house, so we made sure the master bedroom was empty so the movers would not have to enter the room.

This is a crappy place to hide!

That was to be her home for the duration.  She did one better, however.  She hid out behind the toilet and would not come out until I put her little harness on for her ride in the crate that was to be her transport device.

Her harness was not an easy thing to put on her.  She wanted nothing to do with it.  I had given her a Xanax (prescribed by the vet), but it didn’t really kick in until hours later. We didn’t try to put her into the crate until just before we left.  Poor thing was really traumatized.

It was an amazing thing to watch the movers load the truck.  My stuff was first onto the van and every single piece of it was packed solidly into the very front of the truck.  I guess it would be called the fifth wheel area.   This is the first item loaded and the next picture is of the items and how tightly they are packed.  My total household was packed to about a foot or two just this side of that step down area you can see in the foreground or about even with the ladder.  Then, two other households were loaded behind my stuff onto the truck.

The first item to be loaded.

Securing the load with just a bit more to be put on the truck

WOW! It echos!

The house was empty shortly before two and we were on the road at 2 PM trying to beat the outgoing Friday traffic through LA, Palmdale and Lancaster.

A couple of final farewells to friends and neighbors and off we went.

BC was last out of the house. She’s not too please to be in her crate.

A fond farewell to Duane

The three amigos, Cora, Dick and Jerri

Nos vemos, Cerritos! We’ll be seeing you!

As I said before, it was bittersweet to leave 41 years of memories and friends and neighbors who have meant the world to me.  But, at 1:58 PM, it was off to a new adventure and new chapter in my life.

 Just a year ago, I was on the beautiful, yet sometimes somber, Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai that for more than 100 years was the home of thousands of Hansen’s Disease (leprosy).  It was a very thought provoking 5 days that I

On board the Catalina Express

spent helping the Sierra Club do a service project.  I didn’t think that I’d be on another island this soon, much less an island so close to home.  After all, Santa Catalina is only 26 miles across the sea, just a-waitin for me!  But here I was enjoying all of Catalina’s attractions with two lively, pun filled (plus groans), happy-go-lucky buddies, Connie and Dick

We left Long Beach on the Catalina Express catamaran, which seemed to go very slowly, but it only took a bit over an hour to arrive at Avalon.  I was excited and thought the trip was worthwhile just to see the dolphins frolicking near the boat.  Some just bounded through the water but others put on a real show, leaping high out of the water and doing a bit of a spin.  I was ecstatic to see this display!

Beach and Casino from Steve’s Steakhouse

We parked our bags at the Pavilion Hotel because our rooms weren’t ready yet and sauntered over to Steve’s Steakhouse for lunch.  It’s a neat place because not only does it have good food, it is on the second floor and provides a wonderful view of the bay and casino.  I had my first buffalo burger ever there and enjoyed every bite of it.  I doubt if it was a Catalina buffalo as just about every restaurant there offers those burgers and that would decimate the small herd of 250.

After lunch we were able to get into our rooms and then had a brief staff meeting to decide that we would go on a tour of the famous Catalina Casino.  What a delight that was.  I had walked around the building but never gone inside.  So this was a real treat.   By the way, there was/is no gambling in the Casino.  It was built strictly for social amusement such as dancing and viewing first rate movies.

The Casino

The Casino Ballroom that could hold thousands of people

The Casino of today was built in about six months in 1928-29 for about $2 million by chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley, Jr.  It was built in Art Deco and Mediterranean

The theater had/has terrific acoustics

Revival styles and the first to be designed specifically for films with sound.   With a height equal to a 12-story building, it was built to serve as a theater on the main floor and a ballroom and promenade on the upper level.  About 3,000 dancers can be accommodated at one time!  An amazing fact is that several thousand people can be dancing to a live orchestra in the ballroom while movie patrons can watch undisturbed a film downstairs.  It is that well constructed and insulated.  We were told the Casino was built by 500 men working 24/7 and that the building’s concrete was done in one pour.  That seems far-fetched but it might be true.  A testament to the fine construction and materials used is that many of the accoutrements of the Casino have not been replaced such as the walnut wood and ceiling material in the theater lobby.   Wrigley installed ramps in the building to allow large numbers of people move safely and quickly to their destinations, an idea gleaned from Wrigley Stadium in Chicago.   You can tell that I was impressed with the building.

Upon finishing our tour, we decided to visit the Catalina Museum since it is housed in the Casino’s basement.  We saw

Dr. Glidden’s charnel house (aka museum)

pictures of celebrities who have visited the island throughout the years, exhibits of tragedies (such as Natalie Wood’s unexplained drowning in Two Harbors) and exploitation.  A Dr. Glidden (who may or may not have been a real doctor) fancied himself as an archeologist and excavated many, many Native American artifacts on the island.  Glidden displayed his “treasures” in a garish, irreverent fashion. He sought respectability as an archeologist but, in reality, was a shameless promoter who tried to make a lot of money.

Posing with the buff (not in the buff)

Walking along the waterfront in Avalon doesn’t take a long time since it is only about 5 short blocks long.  Not far from the Casino, we espied a tame buffalo on the main street

right by Big Olaf’s Ice Cream Shop and posed for pictures.  He was very amenable to our wishes and didn’t even ask for a tip.  Probably the cheapest service on the entire island.

A daily offering at our hotel was afternoon wine and cheese tasting and, of course, we couldn’t miss that.  Oh my!  That wine was very tasty!  Originally, we were sitting near the

Ben, the considerate gull

main street ,which is right on the beach and it became cool with the afternoon breezes.  So we decided to move back into the hotel courtyard where lounges were strategically located amidst beautiful flowers and other flora. There, we encountered Ben, a gentleman sea gull who loved the fine cheese we were tasting.  Obviously he had done this trick before, but it was new to us.  He hopped up on the lounge and watched us.  Connie fed him a bit of cheese and soon he was eating out of her hand.  Ironically,  both Dick and I were taking pictures and we snapped the same shot from opposite angles.   You notice I said Ben was a gentleman gull.  He didn’t peck Connie’s hand and he hopped off the lounge when he had to poop.  I thought that was very considerate as sea gulls can be very messy.

Dick’s gullwings

Looking into the courtyard at the Pavilion Hotel

This courtyard, its privacy and serenity along with the colorful flowers, reminded me quite a bit of being in Hawaii.  In fact, I felt the entire experience was very relaxing just as I

Entrance to the Pavilion Hotel

have experienced in all the Hawaiian Islands.  Perhaps being on an island has something to do with it.  The pictures above display the simplicity, yet elegance of the Pavilion Hotel.

Do you think the paparazzi will recognize me?

That evening, we ate at the Lobster Trap that a nice lady told us was excellent.  I think she had a dish other than what I had.  It was ok, but certainly not excellent.  I think Connie had the same experience.  But we made up for that by visiting Big Olaf’s and had some excellent Dryer’s ice cream.  The Pavilion Hotel provided a very nice continental breakfast the next morning.  Lots of good fruit, some pastries and coffee worked out very well.

At our staff meeting that morning to decide upon the day’s itinerary, we elected to begin with hike up to Mt. Ada (named after Wrigley’s wife).  Actually it’s not far and we were able to get some great views of Avalon and its bay.  It

The female Atlas

was fun to walk through the neighborhood away from the beach and see where the “real” people live.  Eventually, we accessed a relatively narrow road that kept going and going up in elevation.  We walked by a small canyon with little foliage and many markers that turned out to be a small pet cemetery.  It was obvious that Catalina folks loved their pets.  As we rose in elevation, the value of the houses did likewise.  It made sense as we were on the road to the Wrigley Mansion that is now an expensive inn.  There was a house overlooking the bay that was for sale with a view to die for.  We speculated on living there and Connie decided she would like it for her summer house.  We did get to the best vista point and took many pictures testifying to the fact that we were there.  Connie even got one proving to her personal trainer that she did work out on her trip to the coast.

Our patriotic Aloha from Catalina!

We hiked back down the hill and then headed up another canyon toward more points of interest…the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden, the golf course, the ball park, the hospital and Bird Park.

Connie had to stop and kiss a frog, but alas, there was no prince after the kiss.

Looking for a prince!

I was robbed!

The Memorial was waaaay at the end of the canyon and we never made it due to heat, fatigue and a time factor since we were scheduled to take an interior island tour that afternoon.  But we did visit the hospital where Dick was once

Looking for Cart Exit 44A

Dick no longer has to stand by

ensconced for possible heart problems.  We also saw a small ballpark but not the same one that the Chicago Cubs trained at during the 20s.  We walked by Bird Park, which once housed an aviary built from the steel framework of the original casino.  There are no birds in it now, so it’s just a bird park in name only.  One thing that struck me funny on our hike was  the Wrigley Field  #44A exit sign.  Most of the locals (and all tourists) drive golf carts (except for buses and trucks that need to go to the airport or remote locales of the island).  So there are no freeways or even wide roads, for that matter.

That afternoon, we boarded a 1953 bus that reminded Connie and me of Clyde, the bus that took Chapman students to contests or tours.  I doubted the bus could make some of the steep roads, but it did just fine.  Freddie was our very knowledgeable driver on the inland tour.  He fancied himself quite a jokester (We always knew when Freddie told a joke because he laughed like crazy at his own jokes) and, indeed, he had many puns. That fit right in with our punny duo.  (I’m primarily the foil which all punsters need). Freddie did give us a very thorough history and good running commentary of what we were seeing although about half of the tourists didn’t speak English.  I felt sorry for them, but they chose to take the tour, probably having no idea of what they were going to see or hear.

This was a great tour as far as I was concerned as we got to see two Catalina buffalo and one Catalina Island fox.  Freddie said his tours hadn’t seen these critters for a few days, so we were lucky to have the chance to view them.  The little fox is only as big as a large cat and is very skitterish.  So we only caught a short glimpse of him.

The elusive Catalina buffalo

Our tour took us to the “Airport in the Sky” aka Catalina Island Airport, a non-traffic controlled facility (elevation 1602’,

Catalina Airport in the Sky

runway length 3000’).  It sports a little restaurant, museum, hangars and places to park planes.  Here you can see the bus we were in.  Such a kick!

Our trip back to Avalon was uneventful as we saw no extraordinary critters or sights.  We did stop by the Catalina Zip Line place where the kids who run the concession were practicing on the lines.  It looked like fun, but I don’t think that I would like to try it.

We hit the wine and cheese tasting one more time before bidding farewell to Avalon.  It was a lovely tasting but there was no Ben to help us with our cheese.  I thought he was waiting for us at the dock to wish us “Bon Voyage.”

Sipping some classic wine

Ben again

I was right!  There he was atop the fish food machine, giving us the once over (and quietly exhorting us to give him some bites of our sandwiches)

The return voyage was great for me as we got to see some more dolphins giving us a short escort back to port.  Dick got some beautiful photos of the Port of Long Beach and I’ll share one of the Queen Mary.  I love his photos!

The Queen Mary in Long Beach

The next morning marked Connie’s transition from a relaxed Catalina cavorter to a “we’ll never be ready!” florist for her granddaughter’s wedding the following Sunday.  Off we went to the flower district in downtown Los Angeles.  The visit, in and of itself, was a new experience for me.   I don’t think I’d ever been in that part of LA before, much less seen any of those flower shops. Connie had ordered her flowers ahead of time and that part of her purchase took hardly any time.  They were ready for her!

Checking the flowers twice at Mellanos

After consulting with Ricky, her personal Mellanos’ advisor, she decided she needed more flowers and we went next door.  It reminded me so much of the Rose Parade and all the flowers they use there.  It was an amazing place filled with flower stalls, buckets, flowers of all kinds, colors, scents, and people scurrying to beat the deadline of the place closing at noon.  (They open at something like 2 or 3 AM!)

The following is Dick’s journalistic recounting of our experience at the Mart.  It’s short but to the point and that’s a journalist (especially a photo-journalist) for you.

The highly regarded and nationally-recognized floral design company of Colorado Springs, Connie’s Creations, sent their founder and Chief Executive Officer, Constance Raub, to California last week to oversee floral arrangements for the major wedding ceremony of Meredith Vivian and Brian Turner, Saturday, May 25, 2013 in San Pedro, CA.

In advance of the wedding, Ms. Raub performed professional expertise and keen acumen during a visit to the famed downtown Los Angeles Flower District, on Thursday, May 23rd.  From an array of billions and billions of botanic blossoms, blooms, buds, greens and various flora-miscellany spilling over the floors of the sprawling square-block LA Flower Market, Ms. Raub decisively selected the precise items in her floral vision that would beautify the wedding two days later.  She was accompanied by her West Coast Operations Director, Cora Johnson.

These photos convey Ms. Raub’s professionalism during her floral safari through the vast LA Flower District, the atmosphere of which, for an ordinary florist, would be a difficult, intimidating and confusing experience.  But an ordinary florist, Ms. Raub is not.  Striding assuredly through the District, from vendor to vendor, across the warehouse landscape of the LA Flower Market, she smoothly and efficiently gathered the ideal floral items to pay tribute to the bride & groom, to beautify the wedding party and to decorate the ceremony venue–all of which she would later assemble in her makeshift floral design studio within an otherwise ordinary room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in San Pedro, CA.

A bouquet of accolades and kudos to Connie for her floral vision and expertise under unusual conditions and deadline pressure!

Checking the invoice

Selecting more flowers

Almost done with selction

Where’s Connie?

Where was Connie?  I’m not sure. When we left her at the Doubletree Hotel, she was amidst hundreds of blossoms in the makeshift floral repository(aka the shower).  I know those flowers were stripped and prepped for manipulation into gorgeous creations  and Connie was pretty tired that evening.  I assume the wedding went off without a hitch…oh wait, they were getting hitched.  So I guess there was a hitch..  Anyway I haven’t heard anything to the contrary.  Connie created a wonderland for the bride and groom and I know the wedding was wonderful and will be remembered by all.

BC getting a little TLC

Dick and I zoomed back to Cerritos to see BC and take care of her needs before we drove over to Brea (some 16 miles) for Dick to get a Schlotzky’s fix.  He adores those

Dick showing off his Schlotzsky’s sandwich

This is a great cone!

sandwiches and, since there are none in Sacramento, he indulges whenever he is within 50 miles of one.  It was a tasty meal and we both enjoyed Schlotzsky’s best that they have to offer.  I must say that I really enjoyed the ice cream afterward as much as the sandwich.  Love that soft ice cream…especially with the chocolate sprinkles!

Again, this account has lengthened itself into an epistle, but there is just so much to say!  I used to not have much to say, but I when I’m having a good time, I want to share it with everyone!  So here it is.

I want to thank Dick and Connie for a wonderful, remarkable journey into two completely different realms.  It was great being with them and I hope they had as much fun as I did.  I also want to thank Dick for the use of his pictures because his always tell a great story.  Thank you RD!!!

Jerri and Jolee stayed for a few days after the Walk so that we could do some other activities.  Jolee drove out to Bullhead City, AZ on Monday to pick up her kids, Dalan and Megan, and brought them back to my place.  That was a very long day for her.  But I was glad that she made that long drive because I love being with the kids.

We all had to go over to the Donate Life office because I had accidentally made off with the keys to the cool new Donate Life van (I was unloading it from the Run/Walk and forgot they were in my pocket).  Jerri, Jolee and I were going to take a repeat picture in front of the Porta Potty at the Walk (like Jolee, Jason, Scott and I did last year) but we forgot to do so.  So we did the next best thing at the Donate Life office.

The Pose in front of the Porta Potty

The pose recaptured

Then the kids got into the act

After our poses, we went over to Camelot Entertainment Center or whatever it’s called for a game of rip roarin’ miniature golf.  It was roarin’ because we could hardly hear at times because the course is right next to the 91 freeway.  But we persevered and had a really good time.  My day got off to a good start with a hole in one and then quickly deteriorated.  Megan ended her day just right with a hole in one!  It was a hard course and this was a pick me up for her!

On the course

We all had a good time and enjoyed ourselves.  We really had a good time and got our money’s worth because we all had many,many strokes.

You can tell Dalan and Megan had a good time, too.

Megan’s checking out Dalan’s pose to see if Uncle Scott would approve.

The next day, we enjoyed a game of bowling and a great afternoon at the Discovery Museum in Santa Ana.  It’s supposed to be for kids, but I really enjoy playing with the scientific gadgets and learning stuff.  The kids enjoyed doing a type of scavenger hunt in the dinosaur area.  Dalan enjoyed it so much that he did five different hunts.  He got to be pretty good at it.  He went home with a pocketful of wooden coins that were given as prizes for completing a hunt.

Much to my chagrin, they all had to leave the next day because things at home were calling them.  It sure was quiet that night without listening to chatter, questions and some bickering.  Kinda reminded me of Jerri’s and my childhood when they were at my place.

Following is the chronicle of preparing for and participating in the 11th Annual Donate Life Run/Walk – April 27, 2013 – The largest Donate Life event of its kind in the nation 

The Golden Girls – Shirley, Cheryl, Norma, Me, Sharyn

Actually, I’m only going to talk about the penultimate and ultimate weeks prior to the Walk, but we had actually been doing tasks since before last Christmas (while we were also doing stuff for the Rose Parade)  When I talk about “we,” I’m referring to the Golden Girls, a small group of ladies who devote many, many hours at the Placentia Donate Life/One Legacy office doing sometimes mundane things like stuffing envelopes and packing and shipping stuff all over the country as well as fun stuff like making buttons for donor families.  All of us have a connection to organ/tissue donation and feel it’s important to help spread the word and educate folks on the importance of registering to be a donor.

Our chores were complicated this year with the expansion and doubling of space in the office.  Expansion was a good thing, but in February and March, we had to be very flexible in working around construction areas, a lot of dust and then putting our work area back together.   Setting up shelves and moving all of our stuff to these new shelves was another challenge.  One of the biggest challenges was remembering where we put everything.  We are still in this mode and will be for another couple of weeks as some more construction will be done to complete the office.  It’ll be great when it’s all done!

During the last 2 weeks prior to the Walk, as a group, we processed about 4500 tee shirts for donor families who had formed teams in honor of their loved ones.

Checking the task board

 These shirts all had pictures of the loved ones and had to be counted to make sure the families will be receiving the correct number and sizes.  We also made about the same number of buttons and those buttons were placed in the bag with the shirts.  Thousands of Run/Walk brochures were mailed out to DMVs, dialysis centers, hospitals and other entities.  A multitude of tasks had to be done and it seemed as if we didn’t slow down for the entire month of April doing all these  jobs.  I’m not complaining, just trying to explain that we were busy.

Ann, one of the ladies in our office likened preparing for the Walk to planning for a wedding.  You spend months and days on the tiniest of details and then the event finally arrives and t’s over in just a short time and we have to clean up.  In our case, we planned for about 12,000 people to arrive at Cal State Fullerton between 7 AM and 9 AM and it was done about 1 PM.  It’s an amazing event.

Workin’ hard

The Wednesday before the Walk, Jerri, my sister, and Jolee, my niece, came down from Minden, Nevada, to lend their volunteer hands.  They joined many other folks who came to the office to lend a hand. By the end of the Walk, more than 750 people had volunteered from all walks of life.  Coordinating those volunteers is a tremendous job and very well done by our Ambassador Coordinator Erika.

By Friday afternoon, all activity moved to the intramural field at Cal State Fullerton where a stage had been constructed, many easy ups and other tents type structures had been built.

The field that would hold 12,000 people the next day

Almost the same view as the empty field. This was right after the doves had been released.

   Many dignitaries and other VIPs, such as mayors, assemblymen/women, county supervisors, and CEOs attended the Walk.  Celebrities such as Nick Canon and All for 1 entertained the excited crowd.

A couple celebrating 18 years of transplantation!

 My job at the event is to welcome and check in the VIPs before they go into the actual VIP tent to schmooze and to have breakfast and/or lunch.  Then they go out to participate in the dove release and some even do the walk. This picture has the VIP tent and check in area in the background, but the couple in the foreground is the more inspirational story.  The husband donated his kidney to his wife, saving her life, 18 years ago!  Loved their tee shirts!

Jolee, Jerri and I are by Bob’s sign

A very inspiring and emotional area of the Run/Walk is the Circle of Life Garden.  It is a special place dedicated to honor a donor, recipient or loved one and inspire others to donate life. People, such as me, pay for a sign to be made and it is hung in the garden along with about 165 others.  A team of volunteers decorate it very tastefully and it becomes a sort of sanctuary for folks to wander through to see their loved one’s picture or just be inspired by the garden.  Some folks bring flowers and/or decorations for their signs and many get their pictures taken by their signs.

An interesting story evolved about the garden fro a picture on our brochure.  A mother whose son had been part of the ROTC military guard at our “fallen heroes” area last year saw her son’s picture on the brochure.  She contacted us and wanted to know if it was too late to get her son’s picture in the garden for this year.  Come to find out, he had been killed (not in military duty) last fall and had been a donor.  So this year, he was honored by the ROTC guard.  Quite a story.

ROTC Guard

Also on display in the Garden is what we call a ribbon quilt.  For each donor family team that we make buttons for, we make an extra button and pin it on a ribbon that becomes sort of a “quilt.”  Jerri and Jolee put the ribbon quilt together this year and are standing beside their product.  The picture was taken toward the end of the event and several of the buttons are missing due to families taking an additional button.

The ribbon quilt

The Donate Life Run/Walk is the culmination of thousands of hours of preparation by hundreds of people.  I believe it is a comfort to donor families and does inspire many people or at least make them more aware of organ and tissue donation.  We have many families who come back year after year and use our event as a sort of family reunion.  Some have told my boss, Kathleen, that this event is even more important to their families than Christmas.  So, for me, it is a labor of love and is a way for me to pay forward, in some small aspect, Bob’s gift of life that he received from the Baptista family.  For without them and their generosity, we would not have had an extra eight and a half years together.

To Life!  It’s spring and it’s busting out all over here in Cerritos.

 I saw a great performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” last night and while I was walking to the Donut Donut store (the real name of my donut place, but I only go there for coffee and Lotto tickets) the song “To Life” (or “L’Chaim”) was running through my mind.  That got me to thinking about spring and what I was seeing and hearing this morning.

Black Phoebe

Bushtit

The sunrise with many shades of pink and gray was gorgeous on this cloudy morning and I delighted in the multihued sky.  The birds were waking up and they were singing their greetings to each other and me.  Black phoebes were twitting their little chirp while darting from and to perches while catching little gnats.  Bushtits were flitting in their erratic flights through trees while twittering their calls to each other.  They like to pick bugs off leaves and sometimes hang upside down on twigs.  I get a kick out of these tiny birds because they remind me of Woodstock in “Peanuts” and how he flies in the comic strip.  The neighborhood Cooper’s hawk screamed his greeting while he was looking for breakfast. Later on this spring, his youngsters will harass the local crows as they practice do training hunting flights.  I’ve witnessed this event in past years with much humor as sometimes the feathers are turned and the crows chase the hawk.  It’s almost like a game between the two species.

Cooper’s Hawk

The usual house finches were out in force with their chatter.  I love when a flock is in a tree and they’re waking up.  It reminds me of a happy classroom with lots of cheery sounds.  Of course, crows were making their early morning caws to each other, trying to figure out who has some food to steal.  They’re such moochers.  Several ducks flew overhead quacking directions to each other.  We’ll soon see little ducklings being led by their mothers to water for their first swim.

Other signs of spring include much pollen falling from the pine trees that line some of our streets.  It is really apparent when a puddle on the sidewalk has dried up and there is a yellow tinge to the

Front Yard poppies

outline of where the puddle was.  Pollen is also very apparent as a pale yellow film on the surface of my pool.  Some of the other trees are beginning to make little white petals, which will soon drop and create a snowy cast to the street.  One neighbor has an ivy-covered wall that has ugly, bare, old, and dead looking vines during our winter.  It is beginning to leaf out and will soon be a lush green, belying the ugly wall.  My daffodils and freesias have come and gone but my California poppies are going crazy along with some other posies.   These poppies are on both sides of my driveway with the little Donate Life garden flag in the background flapping in the slight breeze.

Join Us at the Run Walk!

Speaking of Donate Life, tomorrow, April 1, beings Donate Life month and a celebration of inspiring and advancing donation and transplantation of organs and tissues through research, public education, and honoring donors whose legacies live on.  I will be working hard this month on a volunteer basis for the Donate Life Run/Walk that will be held at Cal State Fullerton on April 27.  At least 11,000 people will participate in this celebration of life.  L’Chaim to all of these participants and volunteers!

Mary Wu

Today seems like a good opportunity to give a  L’Chaim toast to Mary Wu, a fellow 2012 Rose Parade float rider, who celebrates  life every day.  If ever anyone knows what life means, it’s Mary who is a two-time kidney recipient.  She inspired me many times as I read portions of her blog where she recounted her inner thoughts of her life journey.  I’m the proud owner of her newly published  Confessions of a Kidney Transplant Recipient.  It’s a good read and is available at amazon.com

I’ve been traveling quite a bit during the last two months (as B.C., my ornery cat would attest and she lets me know every day as she begs for attention), and this morning seemed like a good time to sit back a minute or two to catch my breath, look at the world and cuddle B.C.  Life is good and I’m enjoying every minute of it (except when I have to clean up B.C.’s “mistakes” or what I would call getting back at me for not being available every two hours to lavish attention or feed her snacks.  That’s what happens when you have a possessive 19 year old feline)

March 18, our first day, began very well.  Dot and I got an early start in order to get through LA traffic easily.  Our first stop was at David’s, (her son) in Santa Barbara about 8:30 to see the

Dot, Wesley and Jane

grandkids,Wesley and Jane.  We had a delightful time with the grandchildren and visited some with Stacy and David.  We were soon on our way and made good time to San Luis Obispo where we had lunch.

As we drove along, we commented that we didn’t know there were so many varied colors of green.  We’ve had enough rain to make the grass and other plants sprout with luscious colors.  There was a lot of lupine, mustard, pretty little yellow flowers, ceanothus and many, many poppies (although we saw more of them closer to Pajaro).  All in all it was a beautiful drive to Pajaro.

Close to Pelican 10

We knew we were in the right place when we saw the Pelican Point sign out on the point by Pelican 10, our final destination.  There were many hugs for who were there and soon we broke out the wine, M&Ms, pretzels, and Lynda’s luscious biscotti.   YUM!!!  It tasted so good and we managed to consume our fair share.  Check out the amount of M&Ms in the cornucopia.  I don’t know how many packages Pat brought to Prime Time, but it had to be several as the cornucopia is fairly full.  By Friday morning, it was quite empty!  But there were seven of us!

The cornucopia overfloweth

Our wine cellar

The first major topic of discussion was to rehash the OHS Reunion held in September, 2012…who was there, who was not, how people looked, how well we think we’ve aged (YEA!  FABULOUSLY!),  how well the reunion committee organized the event, checking out reunion pictures and then commenting on everyone.  Such fun!

Dot and I prepared a sort of chicken alfredo with brocoli, salad, sourdough bread, and vino with Gizdich Ranch pies and ice cream for dessert.  The Bailey’s came a bit later.  Ah, Dot is such a good cook!  She is so creative and I sit back and enjoy the kudos that she should receive alone.  She’s the brains and I’m the brawn for doing things like boning the chicken.

Dot and Trish had some antique pictures and other items for Diana, our antiques expert, to take a look at and perhaps give an idea of whether or

Diana and Dot evaluating Dot’s pictures

not they were worth selling.  I’m amazed at the extent of Diana’s knowledge, the result of  interest, extensive self-education and reading.  She’s amazing at how she can give an opinion and tell someone if they have something of value (or not).  Then she knows where to go on the internet to support her judgments.  I was pretty impressed when we went to a couple of antique shops and her opinions of good values.  She was looking for some good props for weddings on the Jacobs Family Berry Farm  http://www.jacobsberries.com  (Check out their web site to see pictures and learn what all is going on at the farm) While I could sort of see what Diana was talking about(especially since I’ve been on the farm), it was very difficult for me to imagine how these props would be incorporated.  Diana has the insight to do these things and get then to fit.  Diana ended up not buying them, but I could certainly see why I’m not a decorator of any kind and Diana deals with aesthetic things.

Diana is serious about this business

For the most part, the weather cooperated (it only rained one night) and we were able to take several long walks on the beach without a lot of wind.  It was so comfortable that we didn’t need heavy

Why do many of them stand on one foot?

jackets!  Some of our crew walked past the north end of Pajaro which constituted a very LONG walk.  I’m guessing that they walked about 4 miles.  There were many shells to check out, but not much sea glass.  We all enjoyed looking at the many shore birds that were trying to find their dinners.  One of questions of the day was why many of those birds choose to stand on one leg when they definitely had two able legs.  One possible answer was that perhaps it’s a way to keep one leg relatively warm while the other is freezing in the cold water.

Dining at Gayle’s

We all visited an antique shop in Soquel and then drove to Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria to eat some sandwiches and pastries.  Gayle’s is in Capitola, right next door to Soquel and has delectible food!  It took me a long time to make up my mind as to what sandwich to eat but not the pastry.  I guess my sweet tooth has more of a determined mind.

For year, a topic of conversation was the cement boat in Aptos, a little town just south of Capitola.  This year, we finally made the trek to check it out.  The following is from a web site about concrete ships:

…The S. S. Palo Alto (“The Cement Boat”) is the most famous concrete ship on the west coast. The Palo Alto was built as an oil tanker by the San

The Palo Alto then

Francisco Shipbuilding Company in Oakland, California and launched May 29, 1919.  She was 420’ long and 54’ wide at her beam.

The Palo Alto remained docked in San Francisco Bay for over ten years until she was purchased by the Seacliff Amusement Company of Nevada and towed to Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, California. The ship was grounded in the bay and connected to the shore by a long pier. An arcade, dining room, dance hall and even a swimming pool were built on the ship.

Unfortunately, the Seacliff Amusement Company went out of business two years later under the financial crunch of the Great Depression. Then, in winter, a storm cracked the ship across her midsection. The Palo Alto was stripped of all salvageable metal and fixtures and turned into a fishing pier.  The S. S. Palo Alto can be found at Seacliff Beach in Aptos, California. Until recently she was used as a fishing pier but has now been closed due to deterioration.

The Palo Alto now. Ugh!

The bottom picture is what the Palo Alto looks like today…rather decrepit and rather an ugly nuisance that no one is able to use today except for birds.  A sad commentary on a once proud ship (however odd it sounds to be able to sail a concrete 420’ long ship).

To keep with tradition, we all dined at The Whole Enchilada at Moss Landing on Wednesday.  They have such delicious Mexican food and are always so accomodating of a large party.  This picture was taken before the food arrived.  You may notice that some of us were trying to kill any bugs that we may have had with some alcohol.

The Entire Enchilada Group

It was about Wednesday that several of us began to come down with what we called the Pajaro Crud.  It eventually struck six out of the seven leaving us with very sore throats, headaches, achy muscles, sneezing, coughing, and runny noses.  Some had low grade fevers that didn’t add to one’s well being.  Dot didn’t feel well at all while we were driving back to Cerritos and I felt badly for her that she had to drive home to Murrieta the following morning.  But she made it safely and that was good.  I am assuming that everyone made it home without incident and that everyone is recuperating from the Crud.  I probably will have to take the day off from the Donate Life office tomorrow, but will be good enough to volunteer on Tuesday.

Dot is checking Trish to see how she’s smashing crockery

Trish had a craft project that involved using shells and/or sea glass, solder and little necklace loops.  We got to pick out various shapes of glass or shells, wind copper tape around the edges and then solder the tape onto the object.  We had great ideas but none of us could get the solder to look nice or get the little necklace loop to sit right when we tried to solder it together.  I sort of gave up after I accidentally soldered a knuckle.  Kinda smarted.  I still have my little object de arte with me and will try to sand the solder to make it look smooth.  Hope it works.

Thursday, the five who were left went to a little Hole in the Wall restaurant (can’t remember the exact name of it but it did have a hole in the wall

The state flower in profusion

for “Go” orders on the back side of it) and then took a ride out to Sunset Beach, a state beach north of Pajaro.  It’s a campground as well as a day use beach.  We drove quite a way through the campground that was on a bluff above the ocean and then finally dropped down to the beach which was less than a mile north of Pajaro.  It was so pretty with many, many poppies in bloom.

Is Dot teaching Lynda about Scorpion Solitaire?

One thing that was a topic of discussion several times was the use/ownership of an iPad, Nook, or Kindle.  Sherry was interested in getting one or the other but didn’t know the advantages/disadvantages or possibilities that each has.    Pat has an iPad, I have a Nook and Lynda has a Kindle and each brought their little possession.  I don’t know if Sherry arrived at any conclusion but we had fun talking about them.  Since the Nook is similar to the Kindle, Lynda was able to explain some features that I didn’t know were on the Nook.  Of course, it would have helped to read the manual.  But why should I do that when someone will eventually explain them to me or I might stumble upon them by myself?  Life is an adventure!  I think Sherry’s conclusion was to choose what functions she might use the tool for.  That way, she would fit her needs and not what someone told her what is best.

Pat with her mah jong

We missed all of you who were not able to attend this 2013 chapter of Prime Time.  We didn’t seem to laugh as much (Michel, take note.  You are one of our best humorists!).  We missed everyone’s input on all the things we talked about, plus more.  Books, trends, etc. We spent some time reading (but not discussing what we were reading) and/or doing some research on the computer.  This, in part, could have been that we all were not in the best of health and were somewhat subdued.

As you know, we spent four nights at Pajaro where we usually spend three nights. Again, perhaps we weren’t feeling up to par, but some of us feel that going back to three nights might be best.  Also, for those of you not with us, should we go back to including a weekend for our Prime Time?  That might help those of you still working to get there without missing too much work.  Please give us some input as to your feelings about this little item.   Inquiring minds want to know!

Here are some additional photos of us and the environs.

The snake under the bush

Someone found a snake in the grass and I wanted to be sure to share it with you.

Sherry

The M&M cornucopia on Friday morning, departure day

The cornucopia runneth dry

.

Lynda

Trish

Diana was not feeling well when she left us Thursday morning and we all wanted to wish her a good, safe trip home.  But, she did not want to infect us even more than we were, so she invented the Crud Hug (I can’t think of a better name at this time.  Perhaps someone else can name it more aptly).  You face the recipient of your hug, extend your arms and wiggle your knees.  Dot and I are demonstrating this technique below.

The Crud Hug

…A combined composition by Connie and Cora

 Our old friend, Shirley Porter, was being given a 70^th birthday party by her sister, Barbara, to which we invited ourselves.  The party was to be held on Sunday, March 10, 2013, in Grand Junction, CO.How hard could that be?

 The two Cs began plotting.  Flowers seemed appropriate as a gift.  Pictures are always a good idea.  Then we found out that a Shirley Roast was being planned.  Well!  How much better could it get?  This is right up our alley!

Shirley is a good friend, but the two Cs have very active lives (just as Shirley does).  Big C had a Donate Life meeting the morning of the ninth and, thus, scheduled a flight to Denver with a 5 PM arrival.  The plan was that Connie would drive from Colorado Springs to pick up Cora and the two would stay in Lakewood and then drive to Grand Junction on Sunday.  Perfect…no sweat!  We both had to be home on March 12.

Enter Mother Nature and Springtime in the Rockies.  Connie was paying attention to predictions of a large storm moving into the Colorado area over Shirley’s weekend.  Being a California chicken and not fond of driving mountain roads in the snow, she moved into a prevent-defensive mode.  She called Cora to discuss the pending storm and her plan to get over Monument Hill before the snow hit early Saturday, causing icy roads and blowing winds.

“What about coming out a day earlier?  Your plane might not even be able to land on Saturday,” Connie said.

“Tomorrow?  You mean tomorrow?  I don’t know if I can get everything done to do that,” Cora replied.  Cora investigated making a change and Southwest Airlines was very accommodating.  No additional charge.  So travel preparations moved into high gear, neighbors were notified and the cat was taken care of.

The flight was successful with the two Cs meeting up at planned.  There was enough time even to have dinner with Cora’s uncle and his wife who live in Aurora.  It was great timing as Uncle Bev had plans to leave on his father/son trip the following Sunday.  The big storm was still to hit the Denver area and people were making preparations to be sort of shut in for Saturday.

Since it was snowing a great deal on Saturday morning, we elected to stay in our hotel room to work on Shirley’s floral kayak.  Connie had brought all kinds of materials to work with and we began to

Recycling Santa Claus boot leather for the kayak

create a kayak skin around a bowl using pseudo leather, duct tape, staples and spit and polish.  Once the actual shape was put together, Connie strategically placed flowers to create a wonderful floral tribute to Shirley.  Many of Shirley’s likes were contained in this piece…skiing, kayaking,

Taking shape

and teaching.  Of course, there was a little dinosaur to pay homage to the fact that Shirley was now 70.  It was a work of art!

A floral kayak complete with racing stripes

Once that was done, we moved from our hotel in Aurora to our originally scheduled hotel in Lakewood, a town near the foot of the Rockies and where we would take I-70 to get to Grand Junction.  That trek was done slowly but surely since it was still snowing and was very dangerous to be out on the roads with their icy, slushy conditions.  We found a delightful pie/sandwich place where we had lunch, took out food for dinner and then  hunkered down for the night.

Hawkeye’s lookout on Lookout Mountain

We woke up to a winter wonderland filled with beautiful snow and ice.  We enjoyed a great omelet provided by the hotel and then packed up for the big move to Grand Junction.  As was forecast, the sun came out and began to melt the snow off the car and roads, but we still had to be very careful of the ice.  We left about 10 AM to avoid the skiers’ rush and to allow the highways to get plowed and a little less icy.  This might have been a fortuitous move since there was a horrible accident with multiple cars at Lookout Mountain.  The eastbound lanes were complete shut down with a 25-minute delay on the westbound side.  This caused us stress in thinking that the entire journey may be filled with accidents and delays but decided that we had no control over this and to settle back and enjoy the gorgeous views.  Since Connie was driving, Cora was able to espy a deer in a majestic pose that was overlooking the freeway.  The camera wasn’t available for this critter but Cora did get a picture of a big hawk sitting in the top of a tall pine tree that was also near the freeway.  Since Cora was relatively new to pretty snow scenes, she was taking pictures of the snowy mountains and enjoying

An icy waterfall

the ride.  Connie, in the meantime, was driving very carefully and did a great job maneuvering us through some treacherous, dicey roads.

We made a pit stop at Grizzly Creek in Glenwood Canyon, which is a pretty place to stretch the legs and take care of business.  We were both happy to be there since we had both stopped there with our respective husbands many years before and had pleasant memories of this area.  Not much snow was on the ground but there were little “puff balls” of snow sitting

Two chicks at Grizzly Creek

on tree and bush limbs.  They reminded me of cotton bolls.  The snow puffs on the red bud were particularly pretty in our estimation.  We took some fun pictures and eventually pressed on to our destination.  Shirley was awaiting our arrival!

Snow globs on the red bud

The drive over the Continental Divide is so interesting with the many changes in altitude, climate and terrain.  On this day, we went from very snowy conditions to relatively dry and from low to high to low again, all in the span of 5 hours.  We always think about the pioneers who had to traverse these wild lands in their covered wagons and are always glad that we aren’t suffering their same hardships.

Grand Junction greeted us with perfect weather and we found Shirley’s house with no trouble.  Shirley greeted us with hugs and before long, we three amigas were sitting at the table chatting as if no time had passed since we’d seen each other.  IT WAS JUST GREAT!!!!

THE PAR-TAY

Shirley and Barbara

The BIG event was held at Wayne Kennedy’s lovely huge home.  He and Barbara met us at the door and offered us wine and other spirits.  It was

Wayne in his railroad set up

most important that we sample and approve the goods since people had gone out of their way to make a special wine run of the local fare just for us!  We are so difficult to please!

We were introduced to many of Shirley’s friends as we toured the enormous house.  In the basement, Wayne had a large miniature train collection set up, covering a 20 X 15 foot area.  He eagerly showed it off running several trains in opposite directions and throwing switches to avoid disasters, much to our delight.  We had a great time getting acquainted with Shirley’s friends and relatives.  They were all such fun and, obviously, loved Shirley very much.  Cora thought she’d get the long distance prize but, Shirley’s nephew, Steven, won the prize coming from Alaska.  He’s a really nice guy and fun to talk to.

Steven’s arms are tired after his long flight from Anchorage

Cora on Donate Life

A sit down dinner for 17, a catered affair, was quite delicious. As we gathered around the table, Cora was the center of attention and she held her audience in rapt attention, regaling the group with stories and information about Donate Life.  A great chance for her work as an ambassador.

After dinner and Shirley blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, gifts were presented and then the roast began!  Everyone shared funny and

Blow, Shirley, Blow!

touching remembrances of Shirley with Barbara starting the fun.  It’s so nice that people can share these stories BEFORE they are held at someone’s memorial service!  We were pleased with our part in the roast offering insights into Shirley’s past in California through humor, photographs, flowers and song. She took it all in stride and seemed pleased with our Kayak arrangement and even the bouquet of dead flowers, sprayed black in her honor.

Shirley admiring her black bouquet

Connie is amazed to find that the blue tab is a unique type of snow screen

Here, Shirley is trying on some new glasses that fit over her regular glasses.  Connie is amazed to find out that the blue tab is a unique type of snow screen.

Connie related some of the classic RFs we pulled on Shirley when we three were at Fremont Junior High as well as our friendship throughout the

Direct us, Connie!

years.  Some good puns were delivered by Connie, too.  Gullible’s Travel’s was just one.  She also commented that Shirley was so hip that she received three hip replacements!  Cora is wondering if she is directing the crowd in song or exhorting Shirley to begin RFing GJ friends in this picture.→

Cora also got into the act with some surfing, hiking and teaching stories.  She also shared some Shirley pictures from years past.  As was stated above, Shirley surely was a good sport about all this.

It was a delightful experience to help Shirley usher in another decade and celebrate her person, for Shirley is truly one of a kind, a loyal friend but one who tells it as it is.

The Tres Amigas are a force to be reckoned with

We are truly blessed to have Shirley in our lives and to help make us what we are today.

The three of us spent the next morning together gabbing and also discussing Shirley’s pending trip to the Czech Republic in May.  She’s going on a small group tour that will be a circle tour of the country, seeing many sights that large tours might not get to see.  She’s also hoping to learn more about her Bohemian roots in that part of the world.  What an exciting trip!  Have fun, Shirley!

Checking Czech notes

All too soon, Connie and Cora had to head back over the Continental Divide to the Denver area.  The weather was improving and we had heard the weather would be good all the way.  Again, it’s springtime in the Rockies.  We ran into snow near Vale and it continued all the way to Lakewood where we were staying for the night.

About midnight, Cora heard a high-pitched, incessant noise in the hall.  She finally got so irritated that she poked her head out the door to give the devil to whomever was making the noise.  Much to her surprise, there was no kid, but rather a fireman who said, “The building’s on fire.  You might want to leave.”  He was so calm about his statement that Cora was not terribly alarmed (plus she didn’t see any flames or much smoke).  She got Connie up and, together, they dressed, packed up and took their belongings out to the car to await the fate of the hotel.  Come to find out, someone had run through the hall with a fire extinguisher turned on, creating an irritating, smoky atmosphere.  There never was a fire, but

Our friend, Dick Schmidt, said this is the real reason for the alarm

someone reported it as such and four fire engines and a couple of EMT trucks arrived on the scene.  Eventually, we were allowed back into the building but were hyped up that we couldn’t go back to sleep for a while.  Never a dull moment, it seems.

That afternoon, Cora was winging her way back to LAX and Connie was driving back to Colorado Springs to prepare for her hula lesson, which she missed because she forgot about the time change and that her clocks hadn’t been reset.  Oops.

Thank you all for a fantastic weekend that will be in our collective memories forever.