playing tourist in our own backyard

Yesterday was our anniversary.* We had a great time hiking, then eating at a nearby farmhouse restaurant (I had a delicious cioppino). Then we drove home and had dessert on the terrace of a favorite french pastry place, while listening to a band of old guys having a great time. Very mellow, lovely day.

It is a long way down to the lighthouse.

The equivalent of 30 stories.

Getting closer.

Last time we were here (a decade ago?), the lens house was closed.

This time, we timed our trip accordingly.

The wait to get in was long, but the views were spectacular.

This little house is where the fuel (bird fat!)

was stored back in the gas lamp burning days.

One thousand plus prisms in 24 panels.

Amazingly gorgeous mechanics; made in France (a Fresnel lens).

And now, for the ascent.

Really, there are way more than 308 steps,

because they don't count the long ramps between flights. 

*poof*

 But we made it!

and *poof* again.

I hope there is a beach house in my retirement.

*(vingt-neuf !!)

holiday treats

I've had some photographs of  Christmas presents  I received (or bought with gift cards) living on my desk top for a couple months (all prepped for a blog post I never wrote). I think it is time to post them or toss them. So here we go.

From MP1 and MP2, a great collection of makeup (my wishlist just read mascara, so it was great to get lots of new stuff to play with.)

And from TH, I got books, books, and more books and from my wish list, a great immersion blender. I asked for this brand, but w/o all the accessories (just because I have other versions of these accessories), but just the other day I put a couple of these new ones to use. So thanks TH.

The rest of this I bought with Xmas gift cards or gift money, although the butter liners (below) I got for MP2, as part of a huge bunch of gloves and socks and stuff to keep him warm over there in the freezing north Texas plains and then went back for a pair for myself (before he'd even flown home), because they are so, so comfy and perfect for walking and casual use all by themselves.

And then when we were in hometown (well it is sort-of our hometown--we both moved way too much as kids to truly have a 'hometown'), I engaged in retail therapy in the most literal sense of the word  and bought this costume jewelry from Brighton, which used up the last of my gift money. So sixties, and so much fun.

2011 it is...

back to real life

So, the holiday weekend is over. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and the table overflowing with good food and conversation. So nice to gather with the usual feastday fictive kin and see how all the kids have changed (and how the adults have not--to wit: all the reminders to "draw first" and "discard last"). This year,  MP2 won the card-game-on-steroids at somewhere around 1:30 a.m. Texas-time. A chorus of hallelujahs immediately filled the air. By then, the baby in the bunch had been asleep for hours, the pre-teen girls had won and lost all the property on Park Place (interesting conversation coming out of that huddle), and at least half of the parental units were glazed over (which did not apparently stop one of them from discarding the very card MP2 needed in order to close out the night). Good sports all around though. Thanks again to the hostesses. And now, back to the business at hand. Later, a post on thesis reviewing, signing, and sabbatical-ing at home.

happy flying

MP2 comes home today for the first time since Christmas last year. It'll be great to have him back home, if only for a few days.

Happy Halloween

I am watching the World Series and waiting for the onslaught of costumed kiddies in search of candy (I bought a bunch of it--none of which I like or will be the least bit tempting to me).  By all appearances, this is a holiday-celebrating town, so I think the door bell is going to get a work out.  I went shopping this past Thursday in the central district of nearby town. I got some Christmas shopping done, despite the fact that the entire downtown was in Halloween mode. Enjoy.

 

 

This little boy asked me to take his photo while he

and his sister waited for their turn sitting on the bear

in the fountain (above)--apparently lots of kids have

their photos made while riding the bear. 

(Cute parents, too, who were totally hip to

having their kids featured on my blog.) 



salt, sand and tsunami signs

 

 

 

I want one of these...

3rd blogoversary and 4th photos

In the spirit of my first blog post, here are few scenes from our Fourth of July celebration: a very casual pool party and bbq with a few colleagues from our two departments, followed by pyrotechnics street-side. I'll NEVER ever understand why our state allows this--but it does--and for TH, this is just an irresistible opportunity to blow (up) some $.  For me, it always brings back great memories of my really early childhood, because my dad also loved to do this kind of thing. He was really a rock star when it came to making memories for the four of us kids:  family barbeques with our cousins on the 4th of July--followed by a long evening of playing with sparklers and setting-off firecrackers that are probably illegal everywhere by now, camping trips in Yellowstone highlighted by unruly bear and clueless-moose visits to our campsites, lots of vacationing in places--like Ouray, Colo. and Bull Shoals, Ark.--where he could trout-fish and then let us safely run-amok in the shallow rocky streams, while he filleted the catch of the day, cross-country road trips that were really all-night driving marathons, with we four siblings stretched out in sleeping bags in the rear of the station wagon (seats all folded down) falling asleep while stargazing in the Badlands or the Smoky Mountains or the Grand Tetons--this after a long day of playing the license plate game and asking 6 zillion times "are we there yet?"  Good times, all.

Wishing a happy & relaxing summer of roadtrips to those of you stopping by...

10 days

Enough already! I have now been sick for 10 full days. I came down with something late on the 28th and it has just gone on and on and on. I had to bail on my colleague's New Year's Eve party and just finished canceling my Sunday plans to go antiquing with friends. The venue is outdoors, and it is cold and damp these days and I don't think I could survive yet another setback. I'm not very good at being sick (although I would have you note that I seem to schedule all sickness for in between semesters; this is why I have sick days banked like nobody's business--not a good thing). The first four days of this misery entailed trips between the bed and the couch and back again--and lots of really, really bad TV. By Sunday I was feeling semi-better. The aches and chills were fewer and much farther apart. And I was SO sick of looking at dust and Xmas debris, that I decided to give the living room the most thorough cleaning it has seen in a year--or maybe ever. I mean, I moved furniture around, rearranged the huge persian rug and pad, dusted paintings and *behind* the TV and speakers, got out furniture polish, and generally cleaned like the crazy person I am. And of course, the next day I had a nice relapse. At this point, I think I'm mostly nursing the tail-end of a sinus infection. At least I'm well enough to cook, and to read, and to be really happy that I haven't yet heard whether or not my spring furlough schedule is formally approved. The latter keeps me from having to worry about constructing syllabi. It's the little things in life that get us through.

2010

This is going to be a delicious year all on it's own for a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, I aim to make it even better by getting out of town for at least one weekend a month. Sounds great, doesn't it? Happy New Year, everyone.

road trip

On the 26th, we headed out of town for the weekend.

location, location, location (of cabin in which we stayed)

foothills/mountain town, population: 1,100

southern Sierra view from the front porch

the Tule River runs through the backyard. Cold, but gorgeous

and lovely to listen to whle falling asleep...

nearby horse ranch

view (above) as TH and I headed onto nearby-reservation the next day

I have a minor, but ongoing interest in the exhibits in Native casinos...

after seeing the reservation and casino (and having lunch there), we headed into the mountains...

Florence Peak

arriving in Camp Nelson

love the sign (enlarge to see why)

really cute cabin...

took this photo (above) for MGC's benefit--note Cigar Store Indian

Headed back home for the New Year via a scenic route suggested by CG--MP2's gf --it was her Aunt's cabin that we stayed in. It was great to meet her extended family and to get out of town for a while...