USA Part II- Fall & Winter 2022

It's time for me to catch up with me. Since starting the blogs in 2010, I had no idea it would continue for 13 years, but it has evolved into an irregular but necessary part of my routine, important for letting those who care keep up with my life's journeys and reflections. Personally this exercise functions as an indispensable diary to track my last 13 years.

 Middle Georgia

My last post from September 2022 chronicled the first hectic weeks after returning to the USA including my aborted odyssey to Montana and a nightmare trip to get back East. It all eventually had a happy ending as we headed from Providence, RI to the home of my daughter and her family, specifically "Middle Georgia". I was reminded of this daily by the patriotically painted globular object that loomed over our rented condo with the cryptic inscription "EDIMGIAFAD".  

Resembling a UFO (or UAP if you prefer), it is officially deemed a water tower and the acronym translates to "Every Day In Middle Georgia Is Air Force Appreciation Day". The slogan is very apt as the community only exists because of Robins Air Force Base. According to Wikipedia "The base is the single largest industrial complex in Georgia, employing a workforce of over 25,584 civilian, contractor, and military members."

Our three weeks was spent catching up with the very busy Heard family, especially the kids and their passion for youth soccer. We also competed as a team in a local trivia contest as the Know Buddies.

The Know Buddies

Sofia tipped us off to Food Truck Friday in the nearby hamlet of Perry, GA. It was a perfect early autumn day to wander around, eat, listen to music, and mingle. In front of the courthouse stands a Confederate Monument erected in 1908, and currently the subject of some controversy. As I was photographing it, a man behind me approached and said "You better take a picture of it now because they are probably going to make us take it down".

Perry, GA

On previous visits I had missed the Museum of Aviation on the AFB. As a certified museum-lover, the time was well spent.

Robins AFB Museum of Aviation

Star attractions include the fastest plane ever, one of the Thunderbird's F-16's, and a B-17 Flying Fortress (This evoked memories of the many Revell model airplane kits of my youth. Somehow I always had some glue on the wrong piece and at least one decal slightly askew, never achieving the ideal image on the box cover.)

At 2,193 mph, the fastest plane on earth —

the SR-71 Blackbird

The Thunderbirds F-16 Fighting Falcon

B-17G Flying Fortress

Back to Northern California

We returned to NorCal in time for Margaret's birthday. She suggested we all meet for lunch at the SF Presidio's Colibri Mexican Bistro then walk over the new Tunnel Tops Park to the Wave Organ.  It was a gorgeous chamber-of-commerce day and a reminder of the multitude of pleasures San Francisco has to offer. The food: great. The walk and park: perfect. The Wave Organ: unfortunately this day, disappointing. The natural water motion is intended to produce some acoustic marvels, but none of us could detect much of anything.

Presidio Tunnel Tops

Chillin' with the pooches

Athena, Xania, & Margaret with canines @ Wave Organ

Wave Organ

Back up in Fort Bragg I had one more item of family business to take care of. The ill-fated trip to Montana referenced at the top of this blog and detailed in the prior installment centered around distributing my father's ashes in Glacier Park, MT. Athena, Xania, and Margaret were able to accomplish that task but Margaret brought back the remains of his remains for me to dispose of. Although Montana was his first request, his will had a second option: the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately, I have easy access to said body of water. On a sunny day at a beach north of Fort Bragg, Fayne recorded the conclusion of my filial obligations.

I take comfort in the fact that perhaps some day a trace of my father's mortal remains will wash up on the Timaru, NZ shore.

A Long Late October Weekend In Colorado

One of my top priorities stateside was to visit Denver, CO and environs. Firstly, my sister-in-law Pam relocated from Rancho Mirage CA to Baily, CO to be near her son after my brother's death. I had not seen her since his funeral in 2017 and she has not left Colorado, so I promised I would visit. Secondly, two very dear acquaintances from Timaru, Genie and Ballard Pritchett, closed up shop in NZ in May, 2021 and moved back to the Denver area, and I promised to visit them too.

Pam and my nephew David and his wife Kay could not have been more welcoming. I was pleased to find Pam soldiering on with life despite moving from the California desert to 7,700' elevation 66 miles southwest of the Denver Airport She really is a marvel, tough as nails in many ways. Her house in the country with a significant uphill hike to the mailbox; even I got a bit puffed at first. Knowing her since high school days, we had a lot to catch up on, and even had time to play cards.

A poorly-executed selfie in front of Pam's house

The  deck-view of the front of her parcel

It was so much fun to see Genie and Ballard again. Between Bailey and the Pritchett's place in Littleton is the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater. Home to so many concert broadcasts over the years (especially on PBS), I insisted we stop by for a peek. It is an understatement to say the natural setting is spectacular.

We also visited their current rental home and drove by the lot where they plan to build their Forever House. It is very near Roxborough State Park where we took a lovely stroll through the red rock formations before parting.

Given my love of museums, we squeezed in a visit to the Denver Art Museum for a special exhibit entitled Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks. Most of these works have never been seen in the US before. I appreciated the detail, precision, and humor they demonstrated.

Portrait of and Elegant Couple in an Art Cabinet F. Snyders (1579-1657)

Pantry with Game- P. Neefs c.1652

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Your Mouth Shut- Q. Metsys (1466-1530)

Wrapping Up in NorCal

Perhaps you might think that 5+ months in the US would provide plenty of time, but trust me we remained as busy as bees. Between making sure we saw all of the very important family and friends (except one: Sorry Judy V; next time fur sure!), we had tons of mundane matters needing attention and energy, some new and some long-neglected. Those things don't make for a particularly compelling blog reading, especially those without a good photo. I apologize for not mentioning everything we did and everyone we saw. No offense, but I suspect many of my loyal readers believe I edit too little, not too much.

There were two trips to Watsonville to visit the Nestlers, in August for Emma's 96th (?) birthday and December. As is tradition, every visit features a birthday cake for me, and I may have gotten three in calendar year 2022. Very delicious and worth the calories, but I fear this may be causing me to age at an accelerated rate and may actually be 85+ in Nestler years!

The Clan, August 2022 (photo courtesy of DH Nishikawa)

Emma with her cake

The December visit with a proper selfie  and more cake

Meanwhile, back in Fort Bragg, a lot was going on. Our power went out for 24 hours due to heavy rain water seeping onto our ancient copper wiring to the house, completely melting them.

PG&E to the rescue

The melted wires

 

Great times and great food on multiple occasions were enjoyed with Christine and Doug and family including granddaughter Bijou, seen here playing the role of a karaoke chanteuse at a Beatles sing-along at the Fog Eater Cafe, Mendocino.

Breakfast at the Noyo Harbor Inn with Linnea

And eating again @ NHI with International Man of Brunch, Dr. Flo O'Connell

Terry K. has found her happy place working at Hospice of Humboldt and living with son Nathan, his partner, and newly minted granddaughter. We had a lovely overnight there, lodging at the 100 year-old Eureka Inn, a fascinating faux-Tudor hotel with a history of hosting a long list of luminaries, including W. Churchill, R. Regan, R. Kennedy, and Aubrey Plaza. Many visitors are commemorated with portraits hung on the walls. Grand and past its prime, it was a delight, just our kind of place.

Eureka Inn image courtesy of Wikipedia

Terry introducing me to local fave Los Bagels, including Slug Slime

 

Waterfront walk overlooking Eureka Harbor

It is a gift to spend the holidays with loved ones and share some traditions, such as:

Feasting on leftovers from multiple Thanksgiving meals —

Enjoying Holiday lights at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens —

and Christmas at the cabin in the Sierras.

2022 Holidays were extra-special due to a visit from Sofia and the grandkids, their first return to California since 2019. Everyone was excited to have a mini-reunion in Fort Bragg with childhood friends and their next generation (a shame Shannon couldn't make it!).

We always have a great time with Kimarra and Isaiah. They are enthusiastic about most everything we do, like taking a Virtual Reality trip to the International Space Station, a meal at Chick-fil-A (The Heard family favorite), quizzing, watching the Spanish language replay of the World Cup Final (what a match!), and vicariously joining New Year Celebrations around the globe via YouTube.

My only complaint: the visit was too short!

Just time for one or two birthday dinners for yours truly.

(photo courtesy of DH Nishikawa)

1/16/23 Dinner @ Lara's in Marina Bay, Richmond CA (photo courtesy of DH Nishikawa)

Back to Timaru

So we are now back in New Zealand, probably until the end of July. We arrived on January 19 to the news that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had resigned (to great surprise), followed by historic and deadly flooding on the North Island (not here: the South Island is in a drought).

We made it in time to celebrate Camille's dog Dozer's 2nd birthday (SPCA's Mr. February)....

... and take in a local production of Fast & Furious Shakespeare (all the good parts in 75 minutes).

Our wee house thrived in our absence, as evidenced by our swan plant with caterpillars which may become monarch butterflies.

Crudely marked, in case you have trouble finding them.

And finally, just this weekend was the 2nd annual Timaru Seaside Festival over the Waitangi Day weekend, featuring this sand castle and some pretty spectacular giant kites. Enjoy!

(I have never had success inserting a video no matter how short, but this is pretty cool if it works.)

So time to go back to work next week, for about the next five months. Later.