Hot dang, it's 2010

Jan. 27, 2010

Three thousand yards today for the U.S. Masters Swimming Hour Swim (ok, 2,995) today – NOW I can feel the new year. Sweet Em counted yards for me, the sun was shining after 10 days of rain, and Alan got his cast off.

Ahem. Back up. Fabulous time in Hawaii on the island of Oahu having fun with Josh and girlfriend Shelby and her extended family, who live near Honolulu. Flew in Dec. 29, had a great evening, swam in the morning, picked up Julia at the airport when she arrived early afternoon, and all four members of Team HJ headed to the beach….Sandy’s Beach. Tell anyone on Oahu you’re going to Sandy’s and they’ll shake their heads and ask, “You want kill yourself??”

Josh loves Sandy’s, and has had many good times there. Three of us (not me) body surfed and had a blast for almost an hour just about until "closing time." A lifeguard got on the bullhorn and warned us that the waves are rough at Sandy’s, they’d be leaving, and advised everyone to go to a safer beach. I packed our valuables into my shoulder bag and headed to the water’s edge to get my gang out – just in time to see Alan get smashed into the sand by a big wave that just thunked him down.

Lucky for Alan the wipeout only broke his left arm and didn’t break his neck, which happens a fair amount at Sandy’s, according to the lifeguard who wrapped the arm in ice and gave us directions to Queen’s Hospital, a one-hour drive back into Honolulu during rush hour.

Josh and Alan made that trip in Josh’s rental car while Julia and I drove ours to Shelby’s family’s house where they had prepared a feast for us. Delicious dinner, very big cast for Alan’s arm. The rest of the Hawaii trip was grand, although Alan didn’t get very wet.

How can I spell “many other adventures” awaited us? Five days after we got home, he had surgery at Sutter Davis Hospital. A few days later we flew to Santa Monica for my mother’s dear companion Morrie’s memorial service. And then our kitchen cabinet tore loose from the wall and crashed to the floor the night after we got home, smashing our counter, the floor and all our dishes.

The good news is Alan’s big post-surgery cast came off today and his bone is healing well. Only a Velcro brace for the next few weeks. He took his first run in a month this afternoon and he was thrilled, as was the dog.

That’s enough for one night’s post.

Visual aids: Alan’s arm today sans cast, kitchen cabinet crash.

Blue skies, Cajun shrimp toes

Dec. 23, 2009

The fog has left the Valley…yes! The drippy gray of the fog-shrouded Valley winters can get on my nerves. I put up with it because in my heart the fog and cold balance our glorious March-October unending sunny blue skies -- but it can be freaky to know the sun is shining five or 10 miles from our house while we are “socked in.”

So it is with real joy that Taj and I have enjoyed two days of walks with sparkly blue skies and sun over our heads. The happy boy worked up a sweat of sorts, and had to cool down in a random puddle on Olive Tree Lane, which left him grubby and smelly. A quick trip to PetCo for their doggie $22 bath-only special (no dry) helped; his feet are dirty again because we have to get out and do things – Frisbee games and walks rule in our world.

Yesterday I stopped at the little "Y2K" manicure salon in South Davis for a very reasonable deluxe pedicure that includs a green bath salts leg rub followed by a blue masque, all of which are guaranteed to smooth off flaking winter skin. My finishing touch was “Cajun Shrimp” nail polish on the toes, covered with a gold sparkly finish.

Sun or fog, Taj and I are ready to party!

Narration opens window to Mongolia

Dec. 12, 2009

I finished two days of recording the narration for an online course on Remote Sensing, the cool technology behind Google Earth and other clever ways of figuring out what’s happening on this amazing planet. It was great fun working with Cody, the young man who wrote the script and is the technological wizard behind the setup, recording and online presentation.

We tried a little “dueling banjos” style to make the useful but sometimes dry information easier to listen to and understand. It was almost effortless, as Cody is confident and cheerful and I found it enjoyable to match his mood.

I always learn more than I expect from new things – the narration project has been a window into, of all places, Mongolia.

Cody is actually the link. He was trained as an agronomist and range specialist, a natural outgrowth of his interests and his life, which is split between the grasslands of Mongolia and a family livestock ranch in Eastern Oregon. His dad, a range management specialist, has worked off-and-on in Mongolia for two decades, using that relatively unchanged range-dependent country as a chance to see what the United States and many other areas of the world were like before the incredible changes of the last century. Cody has been flying back and forth to Mongolia between his work assignments, steadily putting together movies about the land and people but also about the way people who study and work in that country are changed by what they see.

Learning about Cody’s work has been a terrific outgrowth of this voice project. Take a look at some of his work here, at his Autonomy Productions website: http://www.autonomyproductions.com/Out_of_the_past/index.htm.

The photo I uploaded here is of a Mongolian village I found online, taken by G. Berger.

Christo - we have Charlie!

December 3, 2009

Today is my half-birthday. To celebrate, Anne and I, Charlie and Taj drove to the edge of the Putah Creek Reserve and started our walk there. We walked west into Solano County to see a spot Anne thought would be great for one of Charlie’s outdoor clay slip public art set-ups – under the Pedrick Road overcrossing.

It was a beautiful day, the dog loved racing in and out of the creek, and the under-overpass graffiti was colorful and somehow just right. Turns out, the site wasn’t quite what Char had in mind – he loved doing his “performance art” at the Lake Berryessa dam area and in Southern California, too, but this was a little different. Not the spot for Char's art right now – but it was just the site for our outing.

Happy half birthday to me, another glorious day for all of us.

And it's December again...

Dec. 2, 2009

Taj and I spent part of the first day of the last month of 2009 down at the Putah Creek Reserve. It makes a nice walk from our house - about 2 miles. Not a lot of water in the creek yet, but it was still and lovely. The freezing cold of the morning had turned warm; I had shed the sweat shirt and gloves by the time we hit the creek. Taj, ever alert, listened to the critters.

In the evening, Alan testified at the City Council about the poorly prepared company that was trying to spring a cell phone tower on Village Homes, among other locations in town. He's very articulate and I was proud he represented our community. Davis isn't a good place for a utility to try to surprise neighbors with a 41-foot tower, and Village Homes is probably the last development I'd pick to try to slip something over on the residents -- and this utility and contractor was hoping to put the first tower on Elaine Fingerett and Alan Hastings front lawn area! Not too smart...

Josh is home from Eastern Europe, and his first stop after dropping his bags off at home was to visit Grandma followed by a trip to the ocean for a nice surf session.

Maybe now I can sleep!

Windy night after best bird…

November 27, 2009

The bird was delicious, and so were all the other dishes, so everyone, including the vegetarians, were sated and happy. Of special note were the pies – pumpkin (one made with wheat flour, non-hydrogenated shortening, the other more “traditional”) and pecan made by my sisters-in-law Lorene and Pam, and the apple pies made by Alan’s mother Alice. Wow, we’ve been eating them for breakfast. The sweet potatoes were the BEST ever – Alan tried a recipe with fresh oranges, too, and topped them with pecans he had harvested right here in Village Homes and shelled.

And then there was the “chrain” made by my Uncle Davie - a potent potion of horseradish, vinegar, sugar and a little grated beet for color. Pam also made the rolls and ambrosia salad. Alan and I made the stuffing, green beans, peas-and-onions and veggie trays, which worked well this year in place of a green salad. Davie rightly suggested the veggie trays instead of a salad because the salads tend to get wilted. “Wilt not” in this house!

My personal delight was the fact that both Mom and Davie made it up from Santa Monica and Beverly Hills. April and Gary were responsible for that – no mean feat to get two post-87-year-olds 400 miles north. The cold weather really surprised them, even though it’s not horrendous (40 degrees at night, and up to 65 mid-day) and they knew it was coming. It’s just different in Northern California compared to Southern California. They both delighted in the crispy weather when they were wearing enough sweaters.

Davie, April, Gary and Jeff stayed in our friend and neighbor Virginia Thigpen’s house. Now that is a special vacation in itself.

Off to bed!

[That's Uncle Davie smiling in our comfortable chair, with my father-in-law Fred behind the plant.]

Through my eyes

Nov. 25, 2009

Sometimes happiness is simply reflected in my eyes. I am grateful for so much.

My mom, Saralee Konigsberg Halprin, in my house, thoroughly enjoying my (freshly tuned) Yamaha upright. Thrilling 1 minute video courtesy my new phone. As my mom’s mother Anne would have said, “America, it’s wonderful!”
video-2009-11-24-16-49-12

Unbelievable red red flaming maple trees at Shanghai Bend on the Feather River last week right where the levee broke in 1955 on our M.A. Halprin Ranch.

Taj playing in the Feather River at Shanghai Bend.

World Diabetes Day at the California State Capitol building in Sacramento--blue lights lit up the Capitol and we gathered under a blue balloon arch. We’re raising awareness (& research funds!) to cure this stupid disease so my Julia can throw away the needles