Thursday

Denis woke up this morning saying that he felt "healthy" and was going to work! He claimed that having "two women" take care of him cured him. Ha! I did nothing! He had a presentation to give. I think that's what cured him! The rest of the day proved to be no problem to him. Why a "flash" fever? I have no clue!

When Meg got home from taking him to work, we packed a box of Valentine goodies--personalized M&Ms, cards, and heart-shaped sunglasses, to send to the grandchildren. Then we took off for Monterey. Megan's back is bad, and my legs aren't much better, so we nosed around a bit and then settled at Demenico's on the Wharf for "lunch". I lost leave of my senses and ordered the most expensive thing on the menu (at Megan's encouragement). The bill, without tip, came to over $85!! We won't be doing that again...but I have to tell you that those Alaskan King crab legs were very, very good! We saw some seals and some sea otters in the wild...and of course, all kinds of sea birds.

Late in the afternoon, we went to yet another mission near Monterey. (The Basilica of San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo.) Beautiful! I bought another rosary for my grandchildren and blessed them with holy water from the sanctuary there. I hope my grandchildren appreciate what was done for them this day because it sure meant a lot to me!!

We picked up Denis late from work, then watched a Russian movie with sub-titles. Now it's time for bed!!

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!!!!!

TuesdayWe

Yesterday (Monday) we spent a fairly lazy day around the apartment. Meg had a class and I was quite tired. We were content just to just hang out.

Today, Tuesday, Megan went to physical therapy for a back/leg problem. I was our plan to crochet some things for the children for Valentine's Day, but we had errands to run...blah, blah. In short, we never did get the crochet projects. Instead, we went to a park called Bayside here in Sunnyvale and ran errands in order to fix traditional Russian foods for the man of the house. It was quite a bit cooler today with a bit of a breeze, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Still shirtsleeve weather here.

Bayside is mostly a park that has been made out of a slough created by levees that prevent floods from the San Francisco Bay area. The water is low now so there isn't much to see. There is a walkway that has been built over the brackish water areas so the public can view the wildlife, etc...but not much is going on now. Still, we walked through a planted garden to determine the names of some native plants. Interesting.

From there, we drove to a Russian store to pick up some things, then to Target to pick up even more. By the time we got home, Meg was astonished at how late it was, so she started on supper.

Supper was quite labor-intensive. Meg, (with only a little help from me) fixed three kinds of "dumplings". They are basically meat-filled raviolis, the only difference being how they are cooked. Manti is steamed; peroshki is baked; pelmeti is boiled. In any case, she was in quite a bit of back pain, so we did the best we could. When she picked Denis up from work, dinner was mostly done. OMG! I can't remember the last time I have seen a man eat with such relish! Denis loved it!! Of course, we had dirtied up just about every pan in the place...

Fixing the manti was a bit of a problem. Megan was working from Denis's mother's recipe in Russian. We had to ask him to translate the night before. His translation included "lemon acid that needs to be diluted" and "salt and paper". Bless his heart! "We" got it done and he enjoyed every bite. Whew!

Megan is trying to entertain me while I am here. What she doesn't understand is that the sunshine and warmth are all I need, considering the circumstances at home. In the meantime, I consider it my duty to indoctrinate my son-in-law in American ways. In short, he has been "forced" to watch movies that I consider classics. Over New Years in Indiana, he watched "Fiddler on the Roof". Sunday night in California, we watched "The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!" Last night, we watched "West Side Story." And tonight we watched "Little Shop of Horrors." Heck...I can't even get US citizens to watch some of those...but Denis has and never complained!

I have so much more to write about California "culture" and things that I've seen, but it is very late and I need to hit the sack. May God bless my Indiana friends who are enduring ice and snow and bitter cold while I am gone. Keep the faith. I'm thinking that first 45-degree day forecast for the weekend may spell the end of the winter misery. Please????

First Full Day in CA

Yesterday (Sunday) Megan and Denis and I headed south to a quaint little town called San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) to visit a very old Spanish mission. It was a gorgeous day in Central California--perfect for the day's escapades.

By way of history: the missions were established to bring Christianity (Catholicism) to the natives. They were outposts on the frontier that included a church, gardens, cemeteries, grazing areas for animals, granaries, monateries, and housing for workers, etc. In short, they were somewhat self-contained and self-supporting. The missions in California were Spanish. Buildings have all of the traditional trappings of Spanish architecture, from tiled roofs to arches, built of adobe bricks and stucco, with wood trimmings. The missions were small villages around which towns grew up. The town of San Juan Bautista takes its name from the mission and probably wouldn't exist without it.

We parked on the street of San Juan Bautista near the mission. The first sound we heard was the crowing of roosters. People had chickens in their yards!

Some observations and highlights of the day:

1. The mission looked exactly as I had pictured an old Spanish mission in my mind. Not only is this one old, it even LOOKS old. The floors are wooden planks except in the church sanctuary where the floors are like cobblestone tiles.

2. The mission of San Juan Bautista (SJB) was established in 1797 and was never abandoned. Mass has been held there every day for 213 years!

2. SJB Mission was built mere yards from the San Andreas Fault! I practically stood on the fault, myself. Through the centuries, earthquakes have damaged the mission but not destroyed it.

3. Just a few yards below the fault is the only remaining piece of the original mission road, El Camino Real, that linked missions through 600 miles of California. It's not much more than a path!

4. Every Sunday at 3:00 PM, a full mass is celebrated in Latin at SJB. We were there when that began. A woman in traditional headcovering closed the door to the sanctuary while someone rang the mission bells calling the faithful to worship. I'm not sure why, but hearing those bells made me weep. (Why am I such a sentimental slob these days??)

5. The mission cemetery, which is directly outside the doors of the sanctuary, is quite small...but the brochure says there are over 4,000 burials there. There are only a few wooden crosses. Hope the church has records of who is buried because otherwise, no one would know!

6. After mass was over, we slipped into the sanctuary to see it. It is the only place in the mission that seems to have been kept up in terms of paint and decoration.

7. There is a certain amount of reverence involved in touring a place of that age and purpose. In addition to being a significant historical landmark, it is also a place of worship--the parish church for the Catholic residents of SJB, California.

8. The garden had orange trees with fruit on them, huge cactus plants, blooming rose bushes, chickens scratching in the dirt. It wasn't a polished place. It looked like an old mission!

After we saw everything that we wanted to see, we went back to the tiny gift store where I bought a couple of rosaries for my grandchildren. I should have hailed the priest to bless them when I could, but he got away from me. (Interesting, the priest isn't Spanish at all. He's Irish. Father Fitz-Henry, to be exact. He must speak Spanish, though, because at least one of the masses is in Spanish.)

We walked a block away from the mission to the business district. There were a couple of bars that were rocking with Superbowl spectators. We stopped at an ice cream shop and treated ourselves. If we'd had more time, I would have liked to explore the town a little more. I seemed very quaint!

We stopped at a Walmart on the way back, then ate supper at an Applebee's. It was a very interesting day for me...and I'm sure loving the warm weather and sunshine!

I know, I know...To

As reluctant as I was to leave home to fly in the height of a snowstorm...blah, blah...I am in sunny California and loving every second of this warmth and sunshine!!!!!

Okay...so, the weather forecast on Friday said we MIGHT get a half-inch of snow on fly-day Saturday. The snow wasn't supposed to hit until after 7:00 AM. My flight to California was due to depart at 10:10 AM, so I figured I was safe. Au contraire! When I got up at 5:30 Saturday morning, it was already snowing, and it wasn't slowing down. I kept checking on an Indianapolis Airport Authority website. It seemed that flights were departing, so I held out hope. Still, as it got closer to the time for my friends to pick me up for a ride to the airport, it was snowing like crazy...and my driveway was still encased in solid ice from a storm days before. We probably already had two inches of new precip on the ground and still coming down. I donned my snow boots and met Judy and Phil at the curb with my luggage. The roads hadn't really been touched by snowplows. It wasn't a fun trip to the airport, but it happened!

Let's see if I can spell out the rest of the day, succinctly.

1. Got through security with no problems.

2. Plane boarded.

3. We just got on and got seated when the pilot announced that there was something mechanically wrong with the plane. We would either be offered a "new plane" or have to wait for a mechanic and parts. De-planed. "Please take a seat and wait for further word."

4. Awhile later, it was announced that there would be a new plane, but that it wouldn't arrive until 2:40. People groaned. I called Megan to tell her the news. I was concerned that a later departure was going to result in canceled flights because it was still snowing like mad.

5. The agents at the service desk started calling people up by final destination in order to try to accommodate connecting flights. Only one other person was going to San Jose. The agent decided to send us to California through Chicago Midway instead of Denver. That flight was boarding RIGHT NOW. I was the last person on the plane.

6. I called Megan to give her the news only 12 minutes after the last call.

7. Flight to Chicago took less than an hour but was quite delayed before departure due to the need to de-ice the plane. I worried about the connecting flight to San Jose from there.

8. De-planed in Chicago and went right to the gate for the next flight which was already boarding.

9. Once on board, I asked the flight attendant what time we would arrive in San Jose. He said, "We are going to Orange County." I must have looked shocked because he smiled and said, "THEN we are going to San Jose." Whew! I called Megan from my seat before take-off to give her my new flight number. I hadn't figured on TWO connecting flights.

10. The longest leg of the trip lasted just over five hours. The last leg was an hour and 15 minutes, with beautiful scenery below.

11. Landed in San Jose on time for that flight. Considering a disable plane, connections, de-icing and all, I came down to Paradise only about and hour-and-a-half later than originally planned. Not bad!!

12. The only bad part was that my checked bag did not arrive with me. I placed a claim and we waited at home for the last two incoming flights in case it showed up...but it didn't. That meant a trip out to pick up a few things that I needed. To bed (very late) in an effort to make up for jet lag.

Today, Sunday--now Monday to most of you reading this--my bag was recovered and has been returned to me. I will have to fill you in on the day's activities tomorrow, if you are interested. It's quite late, so I need to hit the sack.

My biggest post script to all of this is that the weather here the last two days has been absolutely fantastic. While in Indiana, I was shut in the house for close to a week due to weather. Ice storm. Snow storm. Not fun. I really, really needed this break in climatic circumstances and don't regret leaving Indiana a bit. Sorry, folks! It won't last forever, but for now, it is saving me from cabin fever and depression!!!!

California, Here I Come!

For an ice storm post-mortem, I can only say that I have made three attempts over four days to free my car from several inches of ice. I have only been marginally successful. The driveway and sidewalks are a lost cause. There is tree trash everywhere. Schools were closed for an unheard of fourth day today. Most roads are in good shape, but parking lots and sidewalks aren't, and people simply can't get out of their own driveways. (Like me.) Several streets in Indy have been closed due to falling ice. Roofs are collapsing. Digging out from snow is one thing; digging out from several inches of ice is quite something else. And it's not over yet. Snow due to arrive tomorrow with more on Monday. I am praying for a window. *What window? I am due to fly to Denver in the morning, then on to San Jose, California. My daughter assures me that the temp will be 70 when I get there. I am packed. I am ready for warmer climes! I haven't been off the property since early Monday. (Thank GOD I prepared to be in for awhile!) It is now Friday. Please, God, let my flight happen tomorrow! I feel guilty about leaving my car and my property in the shape that it's in, but even if I stayed home it would look the same. There is simply no way I could even make a dent in the carnage. The police and my neighbors will be looking after the place for me. I just want to come home to dry ground and a hint of spring. *My next post will be from Sunnyvale, CA. I hope. :)

Winter Sounds

I live seven miles from Indianapolis International Airport; about a mile-and-a-half north of a busy interstate highway; and on a relatively busy intersection of two streets in Plainfield, Indiana. Normally, the birds are chirping, the dogs are barking, and there are planes, trucks, cars, and motorcycles to give sound to the neighborhood. My, how this week's weather has changed all of that! *You know how muffled the world sounds when it's snowing? Even the tires on the roadways are quiet. Well, I'm here to tell you that ice storms are different! Monday afternoon and evening, we were getting rain which froze. Every twig and blade of glass was coated with almost a half-inch of ice. There were no cars on the road, no planes in the air, no dogs outside to bark. Even the birds were hiding from the storm. It was eerily quiet in a hollow sort of way. I stood outside my back door to look at the crystalline world. It was then I heard the not-so-quiet ice storm sounds. The encrusted branches rattled. Every few seconds, things would snap and pop. Every few minutes, a tree branch would hit the ground. (The last one I heard before I shut the door on the frightening outside noises sounded like a big one. There was a long craaaa-a-a-ack, rattle-rattle-rattle, thud.) *Then I came in to the INSIDE sounds. Since my house is built on a cement slab, there are no floor creaks. Once in awhile, one of the doors will squeak, but basically this is a quiet home. Not so in this storm! There were things hitting the wall air conditioner in my bedroom. Things hitting the roof. At one point, my lights flickered and I heard a BOOM. (The boom might have been one of my garbage cans that blew over in the wind. I'm not sure.) I heard things that I have never heard in this little house in the entire 19 years I've lived here. Through it all, I prayed and prayed that the power would stay on...and it did! (It did go out during the night for awhile, but was back on before I even noticed.) *At one point, I was feeling somewhat sorry for myself for having to endure the storm alone, worried about what would happen if something horrific occurred--like a tree falling on my house or car--but at the same time, I was grateful that the children weren't here for me to worry more. (They endured a blizzard where they are, but they have a fireplace, etc., for auxiliary heat.) *My sister reports that they have huge snow drifts in Springfield, IL. Guess they have finally dug out, but the winds persist. Schools here have been out for two days. I look for them to be out for tomorrow, too. We'll see. In the meantime, we aren't out of the woods yet. As long as there is ice on trees and wind to blow them around, we could still lose power. I'm crossing my fingers, crossing my body, saying my prayers, and hoping that the weather gods will finally give up. My trip to California--if it actually happens--will carve two weeks of pleasant temperatures out of the worst month of the year in the Midwest. I'm hoping to return to the "down" side of winter. Anyone with any romantic notion of how snug and cozy an ice storm is merely needs to TRY to walk to the mailbox or get the icicle of a car cleaned off. Good luck!