Poor Denis

My son-in-law called to be picked up from work early today. He had the chills and was not feeling well. As the afternoon has progressed, he's developed a fever. It hasn't really affected his appetite yet, but he just obviously is not up to par. He didn't have to get sick on my account!

Yesterday, I wrote that Megan and I had stopped at a park that I called "Bayside". The real name is Bayland. Mea culpa!

I saw more of residential Sunnyvale yesterday. California is a different planet. Because of the climate (short rainy season and mild arid times the rest of the year--which my daughter tells me is labeled "Mediterranean"), and because of earthquake threats, homes here are low to the ground, built VERY close together, and have no yards...yet they are quite expensive. Yards, such as they are, are fenced and postage-stamp-sized. (Water is scarce, so sprinkling grass is frowned on if not forbidden...so not much lawn to take care of!) Here (in Silicon Valley, at least) there just don't seem to be any amenities for children. I mean, there are children...but with no yards and not much by way of play parks, etc., I'm not sure how people entertain their kids. In richer areas where people have more money than sense, perhaps there is more. I just don't see it here. Lots of apartment-dwellers whose rent is three times my house payment!

Of course, there is a trade-off. I can live comfortably in the Midwest, but then I have to suffer through the winter. The week before coming here, Indiana had an ice storm that kept me in the house almost a week. The days here are mild with cloudless skies and starry nights. Palm trees. Flowers. Shirtsleeve weather in the middle of winter. But it isn't "home". So maybe I need to figure out what "home" means. It has always been important to me--maybe more so for me than for others because I didn't really have a place called that for much of my life as a young'un.

Megan and I were going to go to Monterey tomorrow to explore, but since Denis is sick, we might not. Playing the day by ear. Making up a Valentine package to send to the children. I miss them!!!!!