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TRIP ~ Day 11

I've thought a lot about home this trip.  I don't live in California now, but having been born, raised and gone to college here, it will always be home.  Driving around, thinking, "Oh cool, a CA license plate," then realizing they are ALL Calif plates.   

My dad's house.

While I never really lived in this house, oddly enough it feels like home.

My parents built the house, whose construction was not completed until shortly before I left for college.  Whenever I am here I am reminded of how much I was involved in the design process!

Mostly I notice my choices in the bathroom.  It's yellow!  My favorite color at 18.   It was designed to be shared by my sister & me.  The tub is the perfect length for my height; I tested out tubs at the bath supply house til I found one that fit.  The shower head is set at the perfect height for a 5'5" person to shower and not get her hair wet!  The last time I waxed poetic on this feature, my husband (who is 6') remarked that the shower head is not ideal for everyone!  Oh well.  This trip I noticed the bathroom window, which is set high in the wall and gives light but complete privacy.

 The view from my bedroom, early morning.

When I left my dad's, I drove south toward my mom's home.  In between is much of my life before marriage:  my childhood home, the gully at the corner where I played as a kid, schools, friends' houses, even the streets & freeways where I learned to drive.  I was smiling all day -- I am a nostalgic marshmallow!  Not many photos.  I have so many in my head, I didn't stop, just drove and felt at home!

 My childhood home,
A typical Valley ranch house,
fer shure!

That's my old bedroom window on the left.

And another high bathroom window, no wonder they feel right, I've always had them.

A most important icon of my childhood -- the street light!
The rule was, when the light came on, it was time to go home.
But some nights, usually the weekend or summers, some group of the 20 neighborhood kids would gather under it for a rousing game of "kick the can."

Next I drove to my elementary school, past friends' houses, even going so far to see if I could find an old boyfriend's house.  I found the street, have no idea which house was his.

Then along Ventura Blvd toward the freeway and my mom's place.
Say what you will about driving in LA.  Having learned to drive here, it was really easy to negotiate.  And no one honked at me the entire day!

Happy Birthday Dad!

 TRIP ~ DAY 8

Today is my Dad's birthday.  We spent it hanging around near boats! (Isn't that a famous literary quote I should know?)

 

 My Dad.

 Off we went in the little runabout in search of breakfast.

My dad is happy on the water.

 Breakfast is close.

A "Pirate Ship," used for teaching.

 A class was on board when we got to the dock near the restaurant.

My dad taught us kids to sail on a 14' boat, similar to these.  He actually made us take a written test to make sure we were prepared.  I passed & y'know, I still have that test!

 

I used to race a little Sabot like this green boat.

Boats at the yacht club.

I know they look like surfboards.  Maybe they are sailboards.

I like the colors!  

In the afternoon we walked over to the new frozen yogurt place - serious yumm - and then to the beach.  I always think of my dad as quiet, almost taciturn.  But he was chatty and it was fun to listen to him expound on some ideas and reminisce about others.

The "Pirate Ship" we saw at the restaurant dock is out on the water, looking beautiful.

Tomorrow my brother & sister come up and we're all going to Solvang for lunch.  That will be fun.  Still, it was nice to have my dad to myself for a day.  He has always made me feel special, even on his birthday!

A Sunday Drive

TRIP ~ DAY 3
more story than pictures . . . 

I was an odd kid.  I loved Sunday drives with my family.  They were pretty.  And quiet.  A lovely respite for me from the constant chatter of my mom & sister.  My dad loved California, having moved here in 1938, when he was 12.  He liked wilderness and trees and he drove us some fun places.

So last Sunday I drove my daughter & her boyfriend North.  It was a beautiful day for a drive.  At the Flea Market sign I got some interest.   My daughter has been dragged to so many flea markets and they aren't her thing.  Who knew her boyfriend was such a sport?  We stopped.

Not my usual flea market.  Here we saw beautiful First Communion

 . . . and Quincenera dresses!

Colorful fruit and veggies . . .

 

. . . and the young men selling them.

They  were teasing each other about being in my photographs, so I made them both stand still for this one.  I probably should have gotten vegetables also, but my daughter was worried they were making fun of us so I took this quick.  They weren't making fun, they were just cute kids.  When I pointed out that she & I know enough Spanish to know when we are being dis-ed, she was ok!

On through Napa, Healdsburg, St Helena . . . wine country.  

We didn't stop at any wineries or vineyards.  Nor did I take photos.  Trust me, it was beautiful, even with the grapevines dormant!

Calistoga

Almost 40 years ago, when I met my husband, this was a sleepy little town.  We used to come here on our days off from summer camp to do laundry and get soup at a cool organic, vegetarian restaurant.

 Victorian Cottages

 Great Porches

Architectural Details.

I wanted to live here, heck, I still do.  But my DH has never thought there would be enough work for a jazz musician.  He's probably right, but I get nostalgic for the life that might have been whenever I visit.

 Redwoods, looking up

Up over the hill we drove to Middletown, the former home of the summer camp where my chosen family (as opposed to birth family) began.  I met my husband there, and years later our son, age 9, & daughter, age 6, started going.  They spent three summers, loving the place every bit as much as we had!

We drove back on the Silverado Trail.  I love that name, so romantic.  Years ago it was rural and western.  Today its mostly wineries and vineyards.  It's still beautiful and it was a lovely day spent with my dearest daughter and her equally dearest young man.  This was an absolute perfect day for me!

2011, A Year to Celebrate!

I was born in a year that ends in 1, so this is a decade birthday for me.  Thinking about it last summer, I kinda freaked out.  I know it's only a number, still it sounded old to me.

Don't get me wrong . . .

 . . . I love my birthday, I always have . . . 

(That's my younger brother sitting next to me.)

   . . . I think of my birthday as this special, all-about-me day.

You can't really tell from the photo, but that was an amazing cake!  It was angel food, the kind with a hole in the center.  My mom was really good at cake decorating and she put a Barbie-like doll in the center and frosted her torso and the cake to look like a fancy ball gown!

These girls are ones I was at school with from 3rd grade thru HS graduation, or most of them anyway.   Two of them were at the  surprise "Sweet Sixteen" party my parents threw for me.  I was kinda delighted to see I remembered their names (my mom helpfully wrote them on the back of the photo).

 Ah, sidetracked by memories . . .

Back to how I got to declaring 2011 "My birthday year."

I was ready to make a big deal about this year's birthday, I just didn't know how to do so without making a big deal about my age!  (which I didn't want to do). I thought maybe I would celebrate for a month.  Jodie, at everything vintage, does.  If you want to see how she celebrates her birthday to the max, start here!  It is very impressive.  But I knew I would never be able to post everyday for a month!

 It's a birthday!  Every journal needs a little BLING!

I mentioned the birthday commemoration idea to a friend from high school, who turns the same daunting number and she said, "Hey Marl, it's taken you a long time to reach this age," (don't you love the honesty of old friends?)  "you should celebrate for a long time."

 

Age doesn't matter.  Friendship does!

And that was the seed of an idea.  To celebrate for the entire year.  It has taken on a life of its own, it's no longer about me and getting to a certain age.  It's about the word and the possibilities and having fun and going for baroque!  It has been such a wonderful process.  I have had the best time planning, and the year has only just started!

It's all pretty fluid, this year.  I mean, how can you plan out an entire year.  Well maybe some people can, but not me.  I change EVERYTHING, drives my son nuts.
But I did come up with some template ideas:
Travel, each season.  Mark that aspect of a year.
Make more art.  Just do it!

Have projects.  Take time for things I have ignored . . .

Get through the horrendous piles of magazines all over the house.  Read, rip out, recycle, give to the library mag exchange.

Read books . . .                                      

Art books for projects.

"The Classics:"  F. Scott Fitzgerald & Wm Faulkner because I assiduously avoided them in college and feel I should have read them.  Jane Austin &  Huck Finn & Steinbeck because I loved them the first, second or third time I read them!
Go Deep:  Delve into a subject that interests me.  Currently it's Native American culture, Crazy Horse and the warrior tribes.  Or the early women's movement in America -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Seneca Falls, et al.

Would art-making be easier if the worktable was kept clear?

Create!

maybe even get published.

Happy Pink Saturday.  Again, thanks Bev at How Sweet the Sound for hosting this great group of posts!

 Things completely unrelated to this post, but having to do with my daughter!
I was amazed when I saw the photo of me sitting in the chair.  I look so much like my daughter when she was this age.  Neither one of us has ever seen the resemblance, but that cute smile is a ringer for my sweet girl!

I had dinner with her last night and she had nice things to say about how I have aged.  It was sweet.  At 23 (silly girl!) she has been worried about getting older and looking like a wrinkled old crone.  She said that looking at me she realized she didn't have to look bad when she gets old, cuz I don't.  I recommended my pricey, but effective skin care regimen.

Happy New Year!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

 

Happy New Year!

a little pink, and in French . . .

Bonne Annee!

I hope you have a wonderful day.

My husband & I will be watching the Rose Parade.

I'll be oohing & ahing over the creative use of florals, & thinking of my family -- the engineer who loves the mechanics, the horsewoman who knows horses & riders!

My husband will be listening to the bands and commenting of their turns.  In high school he marched in this parade.

Visit Bev's How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday participants.

Christmas Eve Tradition

 This afternoon we continued a Christmas Eve tradition started when I was a child.  We ate dinner out at a local Mexican restaurant. 

 Our son's comment on my photo taking at a restaurant was, "If this was the summer or I was my sister, I would give you grief for taking photos."  It really is the height of gauche to look like a tourist, or be embarrassing.

Eh!  We eat here a lot, the staff recognize us, I don't think we will be taken for tourists.  Mostly this post is about a restaurant 3,000 miles away, I can't get photos there, so I took them here!

When I was a kid growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, one of my parents friends told them about a great Mexican restaurant in Camarillo.  It was a good hour's drive from our house.  But my dad enjoyed driving and we gave it a try.  My parents' friends were right!  The food was wonderful and the staff made us feel like family!

El Tecolote (The Owl)

We'd go about once a month.  I can remember my Dad's birthday dinner there one year.  Once or twice we took my brother's best friend, and ever after the owner's son would ask if we had Norman with us.  It really was one of those places amazingly important to my family history.

One year my parents decided to go to El Tecolote for Christmas Eve dinner.  So we piled into our station wagon and off we went.  Little did we know that El Tecolote closed for the entire month of December.  In the 1950's & '60's, the owner, Mike Loza,  hired Mexican nationals and their work visas allowed them to work in the US for 11 months and required they return to Mexico for a month.  When we arrived at El Tecolote, it was dark.  I think there was a sign saying why they were closed.  I remember my mom saying how nice they could be with their families.  We all thought yes it's nice, but where were we going to eat?  

At the time, Camarillo was a very sleepy little town.  Home was an hour away.  We found a Mexican restaurant that was open.  It was a bit of a hole in the wall, but my parents had 3 hungry little kids in the car and they were game.  I remember, the food was filling, there were lots of lights and Christmas decorations and everyone was very kind. 

We continued the tradition, My dad got recommendations from co-workers of restaurants closer to home.  El Tecolote always made us feel part of the family and each year we would say, this is good, but we wish we were at El Tecolote!

 My husband likes Mexican food as much as I do, so it was no trouble keeping this tradition going with him.   The kids embraced the tradition and I hope they keep it going when they start their own families.

I loved eating out this evening and I have loved remembering a really wonderful part of my childhood.

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS!

 ~Marilee

Stop by How Sweet The Sound to see what other Pink Saturday participants are doing on Christmas.

Pink Saturday

If I was at home, I would think of sharing photos of pink lustre tea cups or pretty pink linens or the pink pointsettia I purchased for the shop.

But I am in the desert and discovered there are some beautiful pinks amongst the succulents!

A Barrel Cactus

Different Barrel Cacti


Prickly Pear
genus Opuntia
(genus info supplied by my environmentalist son)


Prickly Pear
with insect residue.
(I tried to remove it to make a prettier picture, but well, that seemed a little to0 punctilious, even for me!)


Being together with our kids is such a joy. We all went to The Living Desert the day before Christmas. The guys went hiking, the women looked at the animals (cats were the favs). When my daughter got tired of it all and wanted to read Harry Potter, I wandered off into the gardens, happily taking pictures and enjoying the quiet of being by myself.

Happy Boxing Day!
Hope your Christmas was full of love, joy, family and good things.

and now, since we are at a desert resort, we're all going swimming!

"It was 20 years ago today" +5

Today is our son's 25th birthday.

25 years ago I was a college librarian with faculty status.

The day before he was born, my husband and I participated in graduation, we saw a movie, looked at changing tables, and . . .

The next day I was a mom!
It has been the best "job" I ever had!


Little hands and fingers loved grabbing my long hair, so
within 6 months my hair was as short as it's ever been!


We have a long family tradition of miniature golf.
Here is my husband with our son, age 3 months. As I remember, the baby did not constitute a handicap!

When our son said he'd like to play mini-golf on his birthday, here's where we went.

Feeding the koi at the 18th hole.

Commemorating the day with mom & dad.
Since he's holding the camera out at arm's length and can't see the view finder, I think he's wondering if we are even in the shot.

I'm really glad we got to spend time together today!