Remembrance

When mom died two years ago, her grandson Zachary was here staying with my brother. He was able to see her before her passing and she was aware that he was with her. He was able to stay through the funeral but mom was not interred until a couple of month later and he was not able to make the trip out here again. I think that always was a sadness for him.

But today all that changed. It's two years later and Thanksgiving. Zach and his mother (my sister) are visiting again and staying with my brother again. We made a point today of bringing Zach to the National Cemetary at Santa Nella before he left. And now, for the first time since her passing, he was able to see mom and dad together again.


The Romero Ranch Company donated the land for the cemetery to the Department of Veterans Affairs on Feb. 3, 1989. This working ranch provides constantly changing vistas for visitors throughout the year. Green and colorful wildflowers in the spring quickly give way to dry golden hillside that have the constant threat of wildfire hanging over them through the summer. By mid-autumn, the hills are faded, wild grasses died back. Fog lays down its blanket as it did today.
Far off in the distance we saw one of the local cowboys ride through with three of his herding dogs. The overcast sky and light fog cast an otherworldly veil over the scene as the rider moved across the range.

Don, Dave and Zach

It's funny how little tradition get started. I remember first visiting dad after his death in '01. I took a photo of his plaque and my feet were in the shot. Since then, whenever we visit, whoever we are with, there is a foot shot. This is my first of Zach's feet.

And then Dave and I joined for a group foot photo.

Don continued to gaze off into the distance, joining in the quiet as the horse and rider continued on their way.

We left shortly afterwards, Zach's heart a bit wholer than when he arrived.

Mom and dad were together again

Sepia Scenes and A Little Something Extra

St. Joseph and the child, Jesus

St. Anthony's Church, Hughson, CA

And here is the Little Something Extra that is guaranteed to make you smile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpunQZ4cUyI

38 years ago

The first set of slide conversion to CD is complete. Two more to go. The first set included 70 slides of yours truly that were taken 35-40 ago. I camped and hiked a lot back then. And even back that far, I always seemed to have a camera at hand. I'm not quite the same anymore but oddly, when I look in the mirror I yet see the girl that still lives behind my eyes.

A Triple Play

I caught the last hour of the American Music Awards tonight and the evening ended with something unbelievably rapturous. Picture this: Kathleen Battle, Queen Latifa, and Alicia Keyes on stage together closing the show singing Keyes' hit single “Superwoman”.


Latifa and Keyes on stage together is no surprise, but being joined by the great opera singer, Kathleen Battle, was so unexpected that it can only be described as jawdropping.

Battle and Latifa are class meets sass and overseeing it was impresario Keyes. She really pulled off an event. I sure hope this triple play shows up on YouTube because I can't wait to watch them and listen to them over and over.

************OVERNIGHT UPDATE************

Get through the interview. It's short. Then prepare to be enthralled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FM7dd4-oWc

Sepia Scenes #5 and murmurs of memory

Dockside Warehouse, Astoria, Oregon

Heavy heart carries unspoken memories.

Feelings ancient and without source.

Mystery. A puzzle. Time without answer.

Age beckons. Let go. Farewell.

Experiences without number

with Consequences second-rate.

Abandoned Farmhouse, east of Denair, CA.

Lot on my mind

I have a lot on my mind. Just when I think that life can't serve up anymore surprises - well, SURPRISE. With that in mind, I won't be posting much for a while. I plan to continue with Wednesday's Sepia Scenes but I have a couple of projects to work on that will be occupying my thoughts.

I took out my slides today. They go back almost 40 years and looking at them on my big light table stirred up some memories. Now that I've done the basic sorting, I have to sort the sort into smaller groups. After that is accomplished, I'll send all the slides off to either be printed or, if possible, just transferred to CD. Does anyone know if transferring directed to CD is an option?

I also ran across photos of my Uncle Cap. He has been gone for decades but I just discovered today that my dad told Don stories about Uncle Cap's work and assignments in the Mideast when he was a young man. Cap was in his 80s back in the early 70's so you can imagine what era he worked in as a young man. Now that I know Don has some stories, I'm going to post them here later on with come pictures of Uncle Cap as I knew him.

My sister is arriving in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving. Then my brother and I are flying to Texas for her doctoral graduation. Then Christmas. I'm not feeling emotionally myself these days what with some other mom stuff (even after two years) going on. So, I'm going to back off from here except for the occasional post for awhile. I'll still be visiting as I would miss not reading you daily and getting the many smiles or food for thought that each of you give me.

Watch for my Sepia Scenes. As I said, that is still on my dance card.

Sepia Scenes #4 - Interiors seen anew.

Welcome to Sepia Scenes, week four.

This week's offering is a view of my grandmother's secretary. It is one of the few things my mother had of her parents and I am very grateful to now have it.

Backroads adventure

Today is Veterans' Day, a break from work during the week. I looked forward to reading and kicking back. However, things worked out a bit differently. This morning, instead, I was tearing through all of the documentation I had on my mother's estate.

The IRS had sent me a notice claiming I owed over $5,000 tax in unclaimed income. After picking myself off the floor last week, I went to the local IRS office yesterday, completely mystified. The news was not good which led me to today. Thank God my brother came over and between the two of us, we found or lined up most everything I think we will need for my next trip to the IRS office.

Once I had found my power of attorney, I started breathing better. Off we went for coffee and some decompression time. Dave ended up kidnapping me and my camera for a drive in the country and the results can be seen below.

The warm breath of a horse, muzzle softly pushing into the palm of my hand started my winding down process.

David playing "getting to know you".

Cattle are easily spooked. A slight movement on my part and the herd went flying away from the fence, babies surrounded by adults. The horse in the background, who never did approach the fence, took it all in stride.

An unexpected surprise of yucca plants exploding in bloom along the side of the road.

Down another side road, acres of grapes ready for harvest grew right up to the edge of the road. I had never tasted a grape right off the vine so I didn't miss this opportunity to discover the sweet, warm explosion of flavor that filled my mouth. The seeds and a surprisingly thick skin went out in one direction; the sweet watery pulp slide down in the other. Delicious.

Just past the grapes we found a private road lined with equipment and debris that had not been used in it looked like for decades. It wasn't until we reached this cabin that we realized this might be someone's home. In fact, there was an old farm house farther up the road that looked like it might be occupied. The old cabin made me think of something my father used to say - "Hey, a honeymoon shack!" My dad was so funny. He was always saying silly stuff like that.

There is something about flattened grass that always soothes me.

And finally, one last thought. Have you ever wondered what happens to old orchards when they don't produce anymore? In our area, there is a company that handles orchard removal from cutting down to stump removal to mulching and hauling away. The mound below is the last of an old almond orchard. The ground will now be prepared for new trees. As you can see in the last picture, acreage has already been replanted in one area.




After all the stress of the morning, my backroads drive with my brother really did the trick.

Crabfeed Fun

We've lived in the valley for 20+ years and in all that time we have never gone to a Crab feed, one of the most popular fundraisers in the area. There are at least 4-5 crab feeds a year around here benefiting one thing or another. One of the big ones is the Crab feed sponsored by the Athletics Department at work.

Last week Don walked the precincts with one of the candidates, Amy Bublok, for city council here and it turns out that she is married to the university's athletic director whose brainchild the university crab feed is. Like lines connecting dots, Don walked, lunch was shared, conversation got around to the crab feed, Don told Amy and her husband Milt I worked at the university, an email arrived for me Monday morning and voila, I'm buying tickets to the crab feed.

We went expecting to know no one and that's pretty much the way it was but we were seated at one of Amy and Milt's tables and no one knew anyone so we just dove into the waters and ended up have a lot of fun.

Here is our server, Millie (women's soccer team) bringing us the main event. Salad, pasta, and bread preceded the crab legs but pasta was only lightly partaken of at our table. We all saved plenty of space for the crab legs.

There were at least 100 tables for ten set up through the room, many of them purchased by local companies and organization. There was a silent auction - high end stuff - but looking was free so it was fun to mentally spend lots of money and then drift back to the table waiting for the crab to arrive.

I must say, the $5000 necklace I won in a raffled, looks exceptionally good on me. Oh, just kidding. One raffle ticket cost $20. The odds were really bad so no throwing our money away. Someone had a happy ending though and the cool thing was that the donated necklace was exchangeable for something(s) of comparable value if the necklace was not to the winner's taste.

I think all the students in the athletics department were there serving and staffing the event and after 15 years of crab feeds, it hums along, a very smooth running, well-oiled event.

Remember these guys? If you are in an area that sees the Foster Farms road trip chickens commercials, you will know them. Foster Farms is local and donated several hundred of the little stuffed guys to the event to serve as table centerpieces. No one else at our table wanted the chickens so I brought both of them home. Kris got a kick out of them and Tanner claimed them as his newest toys. Ouch.

And here is the main event. Darn this stuff was good and thank goodness for bibs. What a great time we had making a really BIG mess. Three buckets later, we were stuffed to the gills (pun intended) and we had our doubts about managing dessert. Operative word there is "doubts". We managed. Whew.

Once the auction started (separate from the silent auction) we left. Well, more like we waddled out. We were at a crab feed. The tables were decorated with chickens and we turned into ducks. We ate so much, we waddled out. Two days later, I'm still dreaming about The Little Mermaid (the night's theme song) and dancing to Caribbean rhythms.

Time Speaks

I was once new and stately,
uncracked,
unbent,
unchipped.

My adornments were
admired,
spoken of,
pointed out.

I lead to a house that was
the envy of the neighborhood.
Now my house stands
empty.

Winter has broken my back.
Life oozes though the cracks
separating,
lifting,
eroding.

Once a home for bustle and hurry,
Once a welcoming spot for friendly visits.
My only occupant now, a wary cat,
as abandoned as I am.

This week at Sepia Scenes (#3)

Welcome to Sepia Scenes, week three.

This week's offering is a quiet bench set in a gentle, park-like setting at a monastery in Oregon overlooking a beautiful farming community.

When I was very young

When I was very young, my dad was in the Navy. When he wasn’t stationed on a ship and overseas, we would live in either California or Illinois. At the time air travel was financially untouchable for most people and even though low ranking military could get along then on one income (unlike today) air travel would have been financial folly.

The romance of the road that is nostalgically recalled as Route 66 was for us a reality. When dad was with us, he would load us up in our old green Nash Ambassador Airflyte. The irony of the name of this car isn’t lost on me either considering cross-country flight was never an option for us. However, I had the entire back of that car for the days long trips back and forth between California, Illinois, and oh, let’s not forget the Korean War era and our trip to stay in Wisconsin. That car was so big you could practically set up housekeeping in the trunk. The backseat was a child-size bed and it was in that backseat that I claim my earliest memory.

Route 66 for us started in Illinois and dropped south through the Texas panhandle, across New Mexico and Arizona until we finally reached California. Somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona it was night and I was tucked into that big old bed of a backseat and was staring up into the desert night sky. I was maybe four at the most and definitely under five because my sister was not yet born. There was little or no moon and the stars were so dense and unbelievably bright. The world then was cleaner, the sky clearer, the stars visible even on a full moon night.

Now, fifty plus years later, when we travel at night through the desert I lean my head up against the car window and gaze at the night sky. It looks a bit different today. Even in the most remote areas one can see a solitary light where some independent soul has decided to live. Or high up on the horizon one can see lights blinking suggesting radio stations, weather stations, or military posts. The sky isn’t as bright, air pollution has dimmed its luster but that earliest memory still sparkles in my heart and mind like the stars that so enchanted me in my long ago childhood.

Totally Optional Prompts - Elections

At the risk of sounding like a broken record

Self-important celebrities influence young minds;
Media pundits spit sarcasm. This is humor?

Media mania – express yourself! – Who do you think you are? Madonna?
There are no innocent questions. You said WHAT? Denounce him. DENOUNCE him!!

Say it loud, say it enough, say it long and clear – there you will find the truth
Repeated bytes and clips, midnight to midnight. We are blinded by repetition.

Mock. Belittle. Demean. Dismiss. Anything to divert, subvert, avert, and distract.
When did the civil exchange of ideas become a war of words?

I thought I was old enough to recognize the quality of a person’s character.
But clearly there are lessons to learn and I am way too old for this shit.

A meeting of two men I greatly admire

Typically, I would post such an article as follows at my Benedict Notes blog and, in fact, I did. But the article itself really speaks to one of my core beliefs - that there is no conflict between God and science. That it was illustrated by two men whom I great admire, makes the story even more meaningful to me.

Pope sees physicist Hawking at evolution gathering
Reuters – Pope Benedict XVI (R) greets British professor Stephen Hawking during a meeting of science academics …

Slideshow: Physicist Stephen Hawking

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict told a gathering of scientists including the British cosmologist Stephen Hawking on Friday that there was no contradiction between believing in God and empirical science.

Benedict, who briefly met the wheelchair-bound physicist at an event hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, described science as the pursuit of knowledge about God's creation.

"There is no opposition between faith's understanding of creation and the evidence of the empirical sciences," the pontiff said.

"Galileo saw nature as a book whose author is God."

The Catholic Church found the 17th-century astronomer Galileo guilty of heresy for insisting the earth revolved around the sun. It did not rehabilitate him until 1992.

Hawking is a guest at the week-long event, which will explore the theme: "Scientific Insights into the Evolution of the Universe and of Life."

In an interview with Reuters last year, Hawking said he was "not religious in the normal sense."
"I believe the universe is governed by the laws of science," he said. "The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws."

The Catholic Church teaches "theistic evolution," which accepts evolution as scientific theory. Proponents see no reason why God could not have used an evolutionary process in forming the human species.

The Pontiff admired the technology that allows Hawking to speak through a voice synthesizer. Hawking is crippled by a muscle disease and has lost the use of his natural voice.

Hawking, author of the best-selling "A Brief History of Time," will speak about the origin of the universe at the closed-door event.

(Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Catherine Bosley)