Wanda's 80th

After a rainy and blustery day on Saturday, we awoke Sunday morning to find the sun shining and the wind nearly still. We called at 9 a.m. to find that Wanda should be able to take her balloon flight out of Del Mar!

Carolyn and I drove to Wanda's home where we were met by Lisa and Katie, so at a little after 11 we left for a brunch in Del Mar. Steve and Candy met us at the Brigatine after driving down from Victorville. We had a great champagne brunch and Wanda opened her gifts. After leaving our waitress with love-life tips (she said she'd like to be proposed to on a balloon flight, but her boyfriend wasn't likely to be proposing anytime soon - we suggested she dump him), we wandered the main street and checked out various over-priced shops including one where you could buy a large jade incense burner at the value price of $150,000!

Then over to the Coffee Bean to meet up with the balloon company and have both Wanda and Carolyn sign away any ability to sue in case of death. We followed their vans through the back roads of Rancho Santa Fe to a small open field where two balloons were inflated, first with big fans, and then with propane heated air. The smaller balloon lifted off with six or eight people rather quickly, but as Carolyn and Wanda where on the "biggest balloon on the west coast" it took two tries to fill it correctly and both ladies crowded in with twelve others plus the pilot to make their ascent. Slowly they ascended and headed to the south and probably reached 1500 feet.

Lisa, Katie and I followed the vans in the chase (Steve and Candy headed home) and utilized Lisa's rental Jeep's four-wheel-drive in a couple of places as we went into fields or over median strips. Wanda and Carolyn landed and called us on the cellular to let us know they were earth bound (after three hops on landing!) and we met up with them about five minutes after touchdown. Then, it was champagne for the passengers along with a few appetizers.

Wanda enjoyed the flight and may try it again on her 85th. It was a long day, but we were glad we could do something special for Nans and that all her kids could show up to celebrate.

The Day After

After massive amounts of turkey, that is. Well in actuality I didn't even go back for seconds, having appropriately mounded my first plate with turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, sweet potato souffle and dinner roll. Did I forget anything? Maybe, but my waistline would disagree.

A few glasses of champagne/wine and appetizers of grapes and cheese were the prelude to another glorious day of American excess! But it was the only meal of the day unless you count the pumpkin and mince meat pie in the evening.

Today, I woke up an hour later than my typical workday morning and enjoyed coffee while reading the paper and a slice of pumpkin bread that Carolyn had made. Now I sit around in my robe at 9 a.m. reviewing my favorite blogs and news sites.

Just got a call from Dennis Hughes who found a Catalina 27 that's for sale up in Long Beach so we're going to check it out! When I shop, I shop!!

I'm hoping for a relaxing weekend with boats, football (American), turkey and stuffing, and Wanda's ballooning on Sunday.

A Cold Wind Blew

This weekend was a cold one at least by Southern California standards. Late Saturday night or Sunday morning, the 20% chance of rain sounded more like 20 inches of rain. It just poured and the wind blew. We were the recipients of an Arctic blast and when Carolyn and I went out late Sunday afternoon, there was snow on Saddleback (quite low in fact) and people were even bundled in parkas and gloves! Not us, of course, we've been to Scotland!

I had left work early on Friday afternoon because I wasn't feeling that great and got home around 4 and crawled into bed for about a two nap. Carolyn said I had a slight fever, but the nap sweated it out of me, I think.

Saturday, Pattie Brown came over (she's here from London for about two weeks) to visit and later Wanda came over and helped Carolyn re-arrange pictures and knick-knacks now that the downstairs painting is practically complete while I got a haircut (the pre-Thanksgiving rush) and took my film to Cal's Cameras to have printed (esp. the 1 roll shot at the wrong ASA speed) as well as to have a few favorites enlarged.

Sunday, because Carolyn still didn't feel that well, we skipped church and read both papers in bed and then continued to work on de-cluttering our house. I ordered some new closet doors for our guest bedroom from Home Depot and went through piles of shirts, et al, that I began to iron while watching pro football. Then, in late afternoon, we drove out El Toro Road to watch the sun setting on one side and snow capped Saddleback Mtn. on the other. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner out in Foothill Ranch, Carolyn choosing Indian while I chose Mexican.

Now, I only have a short week of work (my favorite kind) and the view outside my office window is of the snow draped San Gabriel mountains! I heard this morning that there was even snow in Barstow.

May you all have a happy and tasty Thanksgiving!

Happy as a Clam?

Well, my daughter's musings on the above phrase's meanings/origins directed me to a Google search where I found:

John G Saxe discussed the phrase poetically, in his Sonnet to a Clam, in the late 1840s:
Inglorious friend! most confident I am
Thy life is one of very little ease;
Albeit men mock thee with their similes,
And prate of being “happy as a clam!”
What though thy shell protects thy fragile head
From the sharp bailiffs of the briny sea?
Thy valves are, sure, no safety-valves to thee,
While rakes are free to desecrate thy bed,
And bear thee off,—as foemen take their spoil,
Far from thy friends and family to roam;
Forced, like a Hessian, from thy native home,
To meet destruction in a foreign broil!
Though thou art tender, yet thy humble bard
Declares, 0 clam! thy case is shocking hard!

The saying is very definitely American, hardly known elsewhere. The fact is, we’ve lost its second half, which makes everything clear. The full expression is happy as a clam at high tide or happy as a clam at high water. Clam digging has to be done at low tide, when you stand a chance of finding them and extracting them. At high water, clams are comfortably covered in water and so able to feed, comparatively at ease and free of the risk that some hunter will rip them untimely from their sandy berths. I guess that’s a good enough definition of happy.

Leave your thoughts or questions or knowledge on other phrases.

Autumnal Yosemite

Carolyn and I planned a short three day holiday in Yosemite and were getting ready early Saturday morning to depart when the phone rang around 6:30 a.m. Now, typically an early morning (or late night) call is not a good thing, but this time was different. Ashley was calling from Scotland with the fantastic news that her brother-in-law, Carter, had just been offered a professor position at his (and his wife's, Ashley's and Bryce's) alma mater, Westmont!! That is such great news and we know the Hales will be glad to have their grandchildren within driving distance!

And then, before I could ask, Ashley informed us that she has received her MSc degree from the University of Edinburgh - with distinction no less! We couldn't be prouder of her or of Bryce as they continue their pursuit of higher degrees.

So we started off a little later than we expected at 7:30 but made great time through LA and arrived at our hotel, The Tenaya Lodge, in Fish Camp just 2 miles outside of the entrance to Yosemite National Park. The day was sunny, but brisk, just what we had hoped for. We checked in and then made the 45 minute drive into the valley.

Of course, we had to stop at the outlook as you come through the long tunnel to take the shot that everyone has seen on numerous postcards or posters

and then we stopped at Bridalveil Falls which was pretty full after the recent rains and first snowfall in late October. We shot both digital and film and I only found out later that my ASA setting was set incorrectly for the 400 ASA film I was shooting. Dang! I'm hoping that the photo developer can push or pull that roll so I get some of my shots.

Then we drove through the valley toward the Visitor Center and the Ansel Adam's gallery and we stopped to shoot the shimmering Aspens in the meadow as they rained golden leaves down on all who passed by. Afterwards, we stopped on the bridge that frames Half Dome so well in one direction and the quiet Merced River with its reflective glory in the other.

We left the valley in the dimming light and drove back to the hotel where we had dinner amidst a fairly busy seminar/convention crowd and then a great night's sleep. Sunday morning we woke up at a leisurely hour and breakfasted downstairs with enough food to last us 'til evening. Back into the valley we ventured, this time to walk from the Curry Village area up to Happy Isles and then to the footbridge at the base of Vernal Falls. This time Carolyn made it all the way, but we both realize we need to walk more (like Ash and Bryce) so that we can do this more often. It would probably help if I wasn't carrying the equivalent of a 30 lb. pack with me as well (I'm not just talking about my day pack, if you know what I mean).

In celebration of our "feat", we drove over to the Awanhee and sat before the great stone fireplace, had a hot coffee drink in the bar, and toured/sketched the grounds. As we drove out of the valley for the last time on this trip, we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the low hills that roll down to the central valley.

Driving into the hotel, there were I think five cars in the parking lot. The hotel which had been full on Saturday night was now down to fifteen rooms on Sunday! We opened a bottle of the Justin vineyard's Orphan which we had purchased on our earlier trip to SLO and enjoyed the better part of it before dinner where we shared an order of prime rib which was excellent. Quite full, but encouraged/prodded by Carolyn, we went over to the indoor pool and spa for a soak before falling into a long sleep!

Waking at 9:30 (!), we again enjoyed breakfast at the hotel (there was one other person in the dining room with us) and then drove into the park to visit the giant redwoods. We strolled amidst towering trees and a welcome silence of nature beginning its long winter nap.

The drive home was a little longer with the traffic through LA, but we'd had a great time re-visiting one of our favorite places and having seen 3 coyote, 2 field mice and one deer, thundering falls, glorious vistas, smiles of fellow hikers and just regenerating our spirits and our fondness and love for each other.

Jury Gets One Right!

Scott Peterson was just found guilty of first degree murder of his wife, Laci, and second degree murder of his unborn son, Conner. After days of jury shifts and changes and two jurors expelled, the newly constituted jury got down to business and found Scott guilty in less the five hours.

I've listened to various pundits discuss the case over the last five months and I think the quickness of the verdict concerned some that it would mean an acquittal. But I guess, the cad like attitude displayed by Scott in his telephone calls to his 'girlfriend' Amber while at memorial services for Laci and the fact that Laci's body was discovered just miles away from where Scott was fishing and that there wasn't enough time for Laci to have been abducted that Christmas eve morning led to the inevitable conclusion that the weight of the circumstantial evidence said - GUILTY!

I can't imagine spending five months on a jury like this or having to be sequestered for the last week and a half. More power to those who were able to get it right!

The Weekend Past

Just a quick update on our weekend.

Saturday, I was greeted by a call from an "unknown" female who then announced it was my daughter. It just didn't sound like Ashley and she sounded so close. I think I need to check my hearing! But we had a good conversation and caught up on each other's activities.

After the normal chores around the house, Carolyn and I headed over to the Prior's for a baby shower for 28 lb. Marcus (Devin's son). It was mostly an open house, converse a little, drop off a gift and watch Marcus easily go from adult to adult. Then we went home and enjoyed a little afternoon nap before going over to Paul Rademaker's surprise 59th birthday party around 5:30.

Paul is in my accountability group so several guys and their wives from that group were there along with others that we didn't know. Carolyn and I sat with a John and Karen eating dinner only to find out they both go to our church (Pacific Coast Church) in San Clemente and that John is an artist/landscaper/waterfall maker! He and Carolyn talked about painting our "cascada" from its current gray elephant status to a more variegated look, and John will be coming over to check it out this week. It's funny how people with various talents or needs come into your life.

Sunday, we ran into the aforementioned John on the Church patio (Karen stayed home to be with her sister) so we ended up sitting together in the service. Afterwards, Dennis Hughes asked us to join him down at the harbor as he wanted to show us something. We trailed him down to the guest dock area where he showed us the 29' Ericksen that had recently been on EBay and had sold for a reasonable price. But one needed a slip to put the boat in and those are on a waiting list. We looked at a few different length boats and it was helpful to see them in person. I think we'd prefer a 27' to 29' length boat with an enclosed keel. We'll keep looking.

Then we headed over to Wanda's after picking up some tacos for lunch. After munching down on those, we three went to the Niguel Shores art show that they hold in their community center. Carolyn continued her lucky ways by winning a small sailboat painting (prophetic?) from the raffle and then we purchased two other watercolors that the Men's Club were selling, one a picture of a cottage in Cornwall, England and the other of Mirror Lake in the Grand Tetons.

I finished up the afternoon with a little pro football while Carolyn read and napped. Then Carolyn made a wonderful Chinese dinner that was delicious and we finished up the evening with American Dream.

This coming weekend, I'm going to take Monday off and we are going up to the Tenaya Lodge just outside of Yosemite so we can easily drive into the valley and walk and photograph one of our favorite spots. We expect it to be cold and beautiful!

Per Bryce's Request

Bryce commented that it would be helpful to have a map that reflects the 2004 Presidential election results. The map below shows those counties which voted for Bush (red) and those voting for Kerry (blue). We are truly a red nation.

My Election Predictions

In an effort to put myself out there before the polls open tomorrow, here are my projections on the national elections.

Bush takes the election with electoral votes of 283 to 255. Bush takes Ohio, Florida and late in the night, Hawaii. Kerry takes Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota (barely). Popular vote: Bush 51.3%; Kerry 47.9%; Nader .7%. As far as the Senate, the GOP picks up 2 or 3 seats and in the House, they pick up 8.

If we're lucky, tomorrow around 10 pm Tuesday night we'll know if I'm correct. Hopefully, we won't have a need for legal challenges

UPDATE As of 11:00 am PST 11/03/04 George Bush has 274 EV with New Mexico and Iowa likely to go to him as well which would give GW 286 EV v. Kerry's 254. Of the three major candidates, GW took 51.4% and Kerry had 48.3% of the popular vote. In the Senate, the GOP did markedly better than my estimate by picking up 3 seats with two more likely in Florida and Alaska which would shift the Senate to 55-44-1. And in the House, the net increase will be about the eight seats I predicted.