Autumn In October, while the weather still had just a chill in the air before the leaves turned golden yellow, orange and red, we decided to take a day trip to Carmel. Our recently acquired SPCA rescue, Buddy, was raring to “go for a ride in the car.” The ocean was beautiful (I never find a time when it’s not). It seems everyone had the same idea; visit the ocean before the weather turns.
“Go(ing) for a ride in the car” was Buddy’s joy while walking on the beach, getting his feet wet and dealing with other eagerly bouncing dogs—not so much. He seemed to experience it much like a child ready to be potty trained might feel with his training pants full—wet and yucky. He is a people dog and only appears to tolerate other dogs after the initial sniff. So after a few hours we headed back home. In the back of my mind the seed was planted that Buddy needs a buddy to bring out his playful dog side.
We stopped in San Juan Bautista (http://www.san-juan-bautista.ca.us/) for a snack and caught up on dinner, some history, music and ice-cream before the drive back.
Winter Now that the leaves have been falling and we are getting ready for winter (I am never really ready), I’ve been taking pictures of trees—their colors this year seem to be more vivid than ever. For some reason the camera never captures the vivid autumn colors, but I keep my camera ready anyway and snap pictures while driving.
One day after lunch with my aunt, while browsing at the bookstore in Riverpark, she wanted to see the animals in the SPCA shop window across the street. “You don’t want to buy a dog,” I said.
“I just like to look at the animals,” she said.
“Oh, what a darling Chihuahua,” I said—and then took him out of his cage and held him.
Guess what happened next? I am the proud owner of a buddy for Buddy, meet Milton:
Now that autumn is here, the cool weather has revived me from the malaise of an extended wave of late summer heat. I went over all the little trips I took that didn’t really lend themselves to a whole blog entry by themselves; a series of little adventures I quietly let slip into the terrine of life’s memory soup, and instead decided to blog about last month’s trip. I went to Laguna Beach for a few days in September to my niece’s wedding. It was a very nice trip, with great weather.
It brought back memories of my days as a teenager in the Los Angeles area, specifically one summer when I lived in a small apartment in Venice Beach with my mother. I loved the cool, moist mornings of a beach town waking up—before the tourists come and the hot sun bleaches everything clean, including the sand between your toes and the salt that licks your body. Oh the joy of sunny days running around barefoot in shorts heading to the beach or coming from it?
Then, in the late afternoon after the bathers have gone and the life guards pack up to leave, the locals come out like house crabs leaving their shells and moving at a leisurely pace or jogging slowly and rhythmically along the waterline, walking their dogs or gazing at the ocean, reflective, as they watch the setting sun.
Early morning before the wedding day, I took a nostalgic drive along the ocean out of Newport. I stopped by the Pacific Whey Baking Company on "the PCH" (Pacific Coast Hwy to the uninitiated—I find it funny to hear everyone call it the PCH instead of Hwy 1) to grab some breakfast (a strong, yummy cup of coffee—best I think I’ve ever had—and a bag of pastry).
I drove down the coast to the pier overlooking Balboa Island and stood watching the ferry take cars back and forth to and from the island while I munched on breakfast and thought about how much the coast has changed.
When I finished, I went to Fashion Island Shopping Center in Newport Beach for a pair of shoes. While waiting for Macy’s to open, I watched the fish in a large Koi pond and the carousel getting ready for the first ride of the day.
The next day, after the wedding, it was time to head home but. . .
The beach girl in me had to make one last ocean stop to squiggle my toes in the sand under the pier in Manhattan Beach and watch the ocean for a while before getting on Hwy 5 for the long trip home.
In February we took a trip down to Southern California. We went to Bakersfield and over through Tahachipi. Fred knows all the back roads and little used roads from his trucking days.
Going through the desert and observing the landscape quiets the mind like no other scenery.
This field of white boulders was amazing. I'm sure somebody has the geological explanation for how they came to be in this area, but that doesn't negate the wonder. Joshua Trees—I kept seeing them in abundance, and when I finally decided I should take a picture, there were only a smattering left along the road.
We went to Escondido to attend a live taping of Wayne Dyer’s lecture Excuses Begone (currently being broadcast on PBS).
While visiting San Diego, we ate crab sandwiches at one of our favorite places on the wharf under the watchful eyes of some scavenger gulls. I love visiting Old Town while in San Diego. An excerpt from the San Diego Chamber of Commerce:
Old Town San Diego is considered the "birthplace" of California. San Diego is the site of the first permanent Spanish settlement in California. It was here in 1769, that Father Junipero Serra came to establish the very first mission in a chain of 21 missions that were to be the cornerstone of California’s colonization. Father Serra’s mission and Presidio were built on a hillside overlooking what is currently known as Old Town San Diego. At the base of the hill in 1820’s, a small Mexican community of adobe buildings was formed and by 1835 had attained the status of El Pueblo de San Diego. In 1846, a U.S. Navy Lieutenant and a Marine Lieutenant, raised the American flag in the Old Town San Diego Plaza.
Historic buildings include La Casa de Estudillo.
La Casa de Estudillo has been kept totally intact as it was in the 1800s when it was a private residence-
from the herb garden,
to the outdoor oven where they baked bread
and the furnishings in all the rooms.
It’s quite a treat if you like history and want to get a feel of what it was like to live back then.
I am always amazed at just how much we have grown in a little over 100 years. Everything was so downsized back then.
Before the drive home, we swung by the ocean one more time and came across this old surfer dude. He was up there in years (way up there). He’d had a stroke, leaving him with limited use of one arm and limping, but by gum he was goin’ surfin’. Now that is determination.
It was the perfect footnote to Wayne Dyer’s lecture, Excuses Begone; there's little you can’t do if you get your mind in the right place and this ole geezer exemplified that.
Izzy, German shepherd of last month, has a new home. She was a beautiful puppy but all my energy and time had gone into training and managing her, and bandaging the resulting wounds. I had designated an area on the bathroom counter for the bandages, band aids and peroxide I needed daily. That last morning, while resisting me and trying to assert her dominance, her tooth sliced my finger open. It was the last straw. She went back to the breeder who had graciously given her to me. I felt like a failure.
Lesson learned: know what you want and need from a dog and know what kind of dog would fit into your family routine. You can’t expect to turn a dog’s breeding of hundreds of years into something it is not. Izzy taught me that I am a small dog person. At my age all I want is easy and cuddly. So I decided that I would look for a small dog, ideally not a puppy (I’m done with the potty training).
I started dropping into the different rescue organizations and events around town on and off for a few weeks with no success. Then, during one of Fresno’s hot summer evenings, I got an overwhelming feeling to go to the SPCA. One dog, who looked lost, forlorn and about 5 or 6 years old, was listed as a Pomeranian mix. It was wrong. It was a Lhasa Apso, a breed I’ve had in my home for 40 years.
I got mixed feelings. He was not excited (it’s the pound, hello, full of bouncing, barking dogs) and he seemed old, despondent and uninterested so I left. But, next morning I awoke with the feeling I needed to go back and give him more of a chance and take a better look at him. I walked him outside, away from the noisy kennel. He was good on leash, tail up, responding to my lead. But he didn’t seem interested in me. I noticed that his tail started wagging at the young girls walking by who help take care of the dogs in the kennels. They acknowledged him and he responded to them.
I reminded myself that the adult Lhasa does not warm up to people easily. They are a cautious breed (once used in the temples of Tibet as inside dogs to evaluate visitors motives; whether friend or foe). So I sat and communed with him for a while and finally decided to take him home.
Buddy!
He’s a dear, mellow, non Alpha dog. All he wants to do is sit next to me and be a buddy. He loves his walks and he’s coming out of his shell now that we are changing his diet and giving him boundaries. The vet said he is about 3 years old and he is beginning to look it. He’s more energetic and trusting each day.
He had a breakthrough after his bath this week (he actually stood there quietly while I bathed him, something that has never happened with any of my other Lhasas) when I finished lightly drying him off outside and he started racing around the yard like a crazy dog (typical small dog behavior). He got so excited I had to calm him down. I think his pound experience was hard on him but he is coming around and loving life right now. Me too.
Summer vacation—days of sweet smelling flowers and evenings of warm shirt sleeve weather outdoors with friends and family. Sounds peaceful and relaxing doesn’t it? What happened?
I accepted a gift from my neighbor. He’s been bugging me about this for over a year now. “Try it out for a few days, and if you don’t want her, we’ll take her back.”
Hubby says, “That sounds like a car salesman’s hook.” I laugh, and think, I can resist. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll give her back.
My gift is Izzy, a full blooded German shepherd pup and she is a FULL time job. It’s a good thing that I have the summer off from substitute teaching or I would be a total wreck. And, no, I can’t give her back. Demanding, mischievous, defiant as a small child—testing and trying me at every step. Growing so fast that I barely keep her collar adjusted fast enough for the size of her neck. Can’t pick her up anymore to cuddle her—she doesn’t fit the lap (I’ve had 40 years of Lhasa Apsos and now have to get over the idea of a lap dog). Nips and bites meant as play have scarred my arms so much so that Fred says I need welder’s gloves when I handle her. This is not the fun part.
“Keep on, be persistent. She’ll be worth it. They are so smart. She’ll be such a good companion. She’ll be a great watchdog, look how her ears are developing ". . . and on, and on. I feel like I am being dragged along by a leash of hope even as I drag Izzy along because she doesn’t want to walk. Who ever heard of a German shepherd that doesn’t want to walk? Cesar Millan, Dog Whisperer, I need your help! I’m doing everything all wrong here.
Okay, so I go back to the basics. Cesar says I’ve been anxious—she won’t trust me if I put out anxious energy—Rules, Boundaries and Limitations, Cesar’s mantra. Hmmm. So, I think, remember when I started teaching. Decide on the rules, then step by baby step, teach the rules with rewards and consequences—and don’t let up for a second.
Today is a new day. I’ll give it another try. Izzy forces me out of my comfort zone, forces me to be consistent—not a bad thing when you are retired (or semi-retired); forces me to come up with new challenges for her, while challenging me to be assertive, positive, and never let her see me sweat; a puppy teaching this old dog some new tricks.
It’s been a long dry spell for blogging. Before catching up, here is my second installment on our trip to Hawaii: Our second week in Hawaii was on the island of Maui. This was our third trip to Maui and I had promised myself that on this trip we would visit Haleakala, the inactive island volcano. It’s one of the promoted things to do on Maui; get there at dawn to see sunrise above the clouds and then watch the changing colors of the landscape as the sun rises. You are told to dress warmly as the mornings up there are quite cold before dawn. What they forgot to mention is the wind. It intensifies the cold many times over. When you plan a trip to Hawaii, you don’t think to bring winter parkas, hats and gloves but that’s what is needed to be comfortable up there.
We started our drive at 3:00 a.m. Fred doubted we needed to start out so early, but I like to plan for delays and it was a good thing we did. The drive was way longer than what I'd assumed from reading guide books.
As we drove across the island from our lodging in Lahaina, I was surprised by the huge fires of piles of burning sugar cane stalks dotting the lowland. (wish I had a picture)
Haleakala rose above the cane fields with a string of headlights snaking up its side (reminding me of the scene in movie, The 13th Warrior, as the enemy came down the mountain in the night. All you could see were the slow moving lights of the blazing torches as they descended the mountain).
I wasn’t prepared for the exhausting tedious switchbacks. Each time we thought we were getting close to the top, we’d take another turn and see more miles of slow crawling lights ahead. If you decide to take in this site, take a tour bus. Haleakala is 12,000 feet above the ocean.
After arriving at the top rim of the volcano in the dark, we jockeyed for position with everyone else amidst flashlights and lighters. We found the “best spot” and wondered why we were so lucky to get that top spot since we were not the first arrivals. In about two minutes in we knew. We couldn’t take the icy wind whipping over the rim any longer and had to move to a lower, warmer spot. Camera at the ready, we waited and waited in the freezing morning air, huddled together for warmth, fearing the sun would never rise before we froze. But then it started, and the cold became less important.
(When you drive from sea level to 10,023 feet, you drive through as many different life zones as you would if you drove north from central Mexico to Alaska: internet information)
It was a nice visual experience but on this day it was not one of those spectacular sunrises bragged about, just merely beautiful.
After the sun was up, the viewing station opened up and we went inside, more for warmth than for edification. The view over the interior of the crater was a Mars-like landscape of colors. Impressive.
I had always wanted to see the Silversword since reading a Phyllis Whitney romance novel many, many years ago that featured this strange plant that grows no where else.
I bought this photograph by a local artist, on our last visit to Maui, of a field of Silverswords at different stages.
After a long flight from San Jose, we flew into Oahu where we caught our connecting flight to Kauai.
By the time we rented a car (be forewarned that any maps you get on Kauai will not be to scale and appear out of whack. I'd believe they're designed to purposely confuse you if I could figure out a logical reason why), we drove around confused and frustrated searching for about an hour (but how frustrated can you be in paradise, right? and Kauai is not all that big). We finally found the Sheraton after asking three different people who told us three different directions (are they confused also?).
We were just in time to unpack, open the balcony door, breathe deeply then head downstairs to the lanai for free Mai Tais and entertainment by the ocean.
It was raining and foggy the day we took a bus tour to the WaimeaCanyon which is the Grand Canyon of the Islands.
We had to go back the next day in our rental car to actually see the canyon which was still a bit foggy. Our highlights of Kauai were the people we met--very friendly, open and down to earth.
On the bus tour our driver, a native of Kauai and consummate story teller, shared a story of his childhood on the island. To make that loooong story short (the long story is much better but I could never tell it the way he did nor do I want to lose half of you with a novelette length story here) here it is; when he was a boy on the island, living up the mountain, the sugar cane factory had a train that transported the cane to the mill down closer to the water. When electricity came to the island one of its first uses was a traffic light at the crossroads where a dirt road transected the tracks. It was such a novelty whenever the train made the trip, that it captivated and fascinated him and his family.
On holidays they would pile into the family car and head down to the ocean to picnic and swim. Sometime in the afternoon, they would hear the sugar train start to move down the track. The whole family would jump into the car and race to the intersection to watch the new wonder; the big "eye" that would blink and ding. He’d clap and dance around with excitement at this red-eyed wonder, a highlight of their day at the beach. Here is the red-eyed wonder, now a little worn with age.
I love the red earth of Kauai.
It makes the lush green of the island stand out even more. I think that might have something to do with my love of the Kauai coffee (for me it beats Kona). We spent an afternoon sipping all the different varieties of Kauai coffee and watched videos of how their coffee is processed.
There are some really wonderful spots to go to on Kauai. Briefly, here are a few we made time for:
A river boat tour takes you to the Fern Grotto down the WailuaRiver. We'd made the trip over 30 years ago when we’d gone behind the falls of the fern grotto—so magical.
Walking down the path, photographing all the beautiful, exotic flowers (while stumbling over everyone else taking pictures) I was anticipating the grotto.
Then, when we arrived, I learned that the big hurricane of 1992 caused a landslide which covered the hillside walkway, closing it forever. Now there is a platform to view the grotto at a distance, not the same as going inside and experiencing it.
On the upside, the boat owners had brought along entertainment, a family who sang, danced and played music for us. The older “Auntie” sang the Hawaiian Wedding song for a newly married couple, and those of us on our wedding anniversary (41 years for Fred and I). We talked to her afterward and made a real heartfelt connection.
On the ride going back down the river, she dedicated a song to us, welcoming us back to Kauai. We were very moved.
Lighthouses, churches
and protected sea lions sleeping on the beach.
Palm trees, sunrises and sunsets.
Gardens,
strange pine trees
. . . . and island roosters unique to the island of Kauai (that’s a story for another day but here is a little video I captured of a rooster showing off for me).
A little love from the island of Kauai.(Be sure you have your audio on to hear his crowing-so funny)
Writing along the edge--between magic and reality, science and mysticism, life and death. Reincarnation? How would a past life affect this one? From present day to the distant past—I write about love, suspense and one step further.
take a day trip to Carmel. Our recently acquired SPCA rescue, Buddy, was raring to “go for a ride in the car.” The ocean was beautiful (I never find a time when it’s not). It seems everyone had the same idea; visit the ocean before the weather turns.
and dealing with other eagerly bouncing dogs—not so much. He seemed to experience it much like a child ready to be potty trained might feel with his training pants full—wet and yucky. He is a people dog and only appears to tolerate other dogs after the initial sniff. So after a few hours we headed back home. In the back of my mind the seed was planted that Buddy needs a buddy to bring out his playful dog side.
for a snack and caught up on dinner, some history, music and ice-cream before the drive back.
ready), I’ve been taking pictures of trees—their colors this year seem to be more vivid than ever. For some reason the camera never captures the vivid autumn colors, but I keep my camera ready anyway and snap pictures while driving.
This field of white boulders was amazing. I'm sure somebody has the geological explanation for how they came to be in this area, but that doesn't negate the wonder. 
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