Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Happy Days in Uncertain Times

Fellow kayaking in Santa Barbara Harbor
 In these disturbing and uncertain times
I am posting happy memories from a month ago.
Boats in the S. B. harbor

Strolling along the breakfront
 Is "breakfront" the right term?
This really isn't a pier but it is a fun place
to walk and people watch.
Discussing the day's events

Just ridin' along on his bike.

Gathering for kickball on the beach!

Family out for a little ride along the beach!

Run, run, run!

High 5s!

Just me & my puppy... life is good!

I love spinnakers.

Now if we didn't have all these kids we could play kickball too.

Early morning family outing. Wish I could do that.

Giraffe float from the Solstice Day Parade in downtown Santa Barbara.

Folks enjoying a Saturday afternoon downtown.

Balloon man.

Gathering along the beach.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Relaxing day at along the beach at Goleta, CA

Pier from restaurant window in Goleta Beach, CA

Human and canine love the beach

The guys and their dog on the beach

Hanging out at Goleta Beach

Cecelia


Relaxing at the Harbor
Boats as seen from a restaurant

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Big Sur... Beautiful!

 How can a place be this beautiful?

 We drove from Santa Barbara to Monterey on Monday
and saw these wonderful scenes.

 Big Sur begins just north of Cambria and ends at Carmel.

It is the most beautiful 83 miles I have ever driven.











Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Visiting Pablo & Saying Goodbye to Gail

This past September when the G-man & I were in California,
I dropped him off at the golf course early on Friday morning
and drove to Redlands (about 70 miles away) to visit my dear friend, Pablo.
We went to breakfast and then returned to his home
& orange grove for a short visit.
We have known each other 34 years from our days in San Antonio.
His wife, Gail, and I met in a weaving class at the Southwest Craft Center.
We became fast friends & kept up with each other over the years.
We visited in Spain.
We visited in Germany.
We visited in Abilene.
We visited in Dallas.
Finally we visited in Redlands in the early 1990s.
In 2002 Gail died suddenly, but Pablo & I have remained in touch
via phone calls, emails, and meets in Nevada.
At long last I was able to return to their home,
to see Gail's studio that Pablo so lovingly built for her,
to revisit the orange grove,
& to photograph parts of the house as a remembrance.

Pablo, the G-man, & I will get together again in Las Vegas or New Mexico,
but this was probably my last visit to their home in sunny California.
Below are photos of Pablo's abode.
When we visit it seems like we just pick up
the conversation where we left off.
That's the way real friends communicate.

Garzilla's Grove

Pablo & his truck

LF (Lizzy's chair)

Gail's Window

Adios my dear friend

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Palm Springs Street Festival

While we were in California we went to a fun street festival. On Thursday evenings in Palm Springs a street festival is held on a main street. Traffic is shut down and vendors come to sell their wares. There were many produce vendors selling fresh fruits and vegetables and also artists and crafts people selling their wares. Along with these vendors were booths set up by political parties, masseurs, a pet booth, and my personal favorite, a Rabbi with the signage on his booth stating, "Ask the Rabbi".
"Ask the Rabbi" was the first vendor I spotted.
During the course of the evening I noted that the Rabbi
had several people come up to talk to him.
I wondered what they were discussing...


Next came the pets.


and the pet owners...


...and the pet shop.
Isn't this little painting adorable?
I love the whole thing with the dogs...
Everyone seems to bring their dogs out for a stroll.
Gertie would have loved it!

The weather is quite pleasant after the sun gets low in the sky.
Outdoor cafes abound.
Restaurants and coffee shops all have outdoor seating.



Of course with this being California, everyone has a cause!
It seems Palm Springs is quite political.
The first booth I saw was a Republican one.
So, of course, I had to wander around looking for
folks who where more in line with my politics...

Republicans...

Democrats...



Young women with their own message...



Of course there were many fruit & vegetable vendors...




...and pastries


...and strange entertainers

front...

...and rear

Interesting art work was on display...


Woman spinning wool into yarn...


The G-Man sitting beside a sculpture of Sonny Bono.
Many of you will probably remember Sonny from "Sonny & Cher".
He was also the mayor of Palm Springs until his death due to a skiing accident.

We had a fun evening just wandering around
and enjoying the culture of Palm Springs'
Thursday evening night life.