A beautiful day in the neighborhood... I'll be tubing my way through the skies and back to California... a bit warmer... and a new year...

Happy New Year!

I noticed it last month when I was in for a funeral… at least three times he mentioned being forgetful. This time… he’s mentioned it several more times… not remembering something… it’s not like him to be forgetful… it’s even less likely for him to mention it... he’s starting the process… albeit a long process… of convincing himself he might just ( Read more... )

A beautiful night in the neighborhood ( Read more... )

Sitting there at the breakfast table for a couple of days… I heard the discussion… as more details of her life unfolded… I knew the basics, her father-in-law had controlled her husband all of his life, that he had been a disappointment because he didn’t want to be a lawyer, like him, but a cattle rancher ( Read more... )

An amazing couple of days...

Cyclone in Myranmar

Earthquake in Sichuan

Tornados and grapefruit size hail in the midwest

Flooding back east

Fires in Florida

Mother's Day

Wars and unrest continue in the Middle East

Next...

If it's Friday... it must be Paso Robles... spending the weekend with friends of my parents... it's one of California major wine production areas... and is on the central coast... green hills, green vines, and not for from the pacific... it's amazing how much land has been devoted to producing grapes for wine, raisins, and the occasional jar of

Yesterday... a day of easy connections and great flights... but a very long day and not home till after midnight... one of the crazy local deer greeted me as it was meandering along the road... Today... made the rounds of errands... a mountain of mail to sort through and the replacement garage door opener arrived... my little vegetable garden has ( Read more... )

Being on the east coast... I some times stop in at a nearby bank... and did so yesterday... he was there... the bank teller... I had seen him there before and had successfully avoided him... not yesterday... he's from a third world country, can barely speak or understand English... I passed my driver's licences under the bullet proof glass and he ( Read more... )

Saturday… another day in the neighborhood… and the uncle’s memorial service… a three hour drive with the family… all the expected relatives there… the pastor and service were good… my father’s “words of remembrance” went well… and most importantly… there was no craziness from the relatives… Most of the older folks looked amazingly good for their ( Read more... )

Yesterday... a long day... it began by finishing the vegetable garden... then, off to the airport for a tubular ride... while waiting for the flight... not one, but two calls from Pizza Hut about a pizza I had never ordered... then, the counter guy at the snack place said... "I'm sorry I didn't realize you were there, sir. I usually notice people ( Read more... )