No place like home

One year ago today I got off that plane after a trip that was too long and too far away. Wonderful to be home in time for Christmas. I celebrated this "anniversary" by pretty much hanging out at home today-just enjoying the pleasure of being here. Mr. Sunny photographed this ornament tonight. The tripod and some of our place shows in the reflection. Nothing special-(except that it kind of is).

I'm Back (sort of)

Even though my inclination is to keep on pouting over the recent loss of our halmoni, my nearest and dearest has requested the blogging to continue, so, here is a picture of him talking to me via cell phone on top the previously featured neighborhood rocks. He climbed up there this afternoon and called me when he was was photo ready. I took it from the back deck. Excuse the fuzziness. I had to go 48 X magnification. Actually he had the elementary-school-aged kids of friends of ours with him. We got some hilarious pics of their antics up there too. But, no can show. Forgot to get permission from their parents to post them on the blog. Too bad too, it was a hoot.

Rock Formations

These are the rocks DH climbed up to take the pics in the previous post.

The Neighborhood From Above

I love October. Anyone who doubts it is welcome to take a look at all my fall foliage posts from 2005. But, time constraints have prohibited me from wandering around and photographing any of it this year. So...Mr. Sunny to the rescue. He climbed up the hills North of the neighborhood and a wee bit East to an outcropping of rocks and called me on the cell phone to report that he had our entire house and backyard in his viewfinder. I went on the back deck to wave at him. Unless that glint of light and flash of color was someone else hiking up there. I didn't use binoculars. Probably should have grabbed his camera and photographed him since he was using mine.

The first picture is: A bird's eye view of the neighborhood without magnification. The red and yellow dots are from the afternoon sun shining through the changing colors of the leaves on the trees.

The second picture is our house in the foreground with the garage Mr. Sunny built in the back yard. He also built the deck. That black blob on it is one of our dogs being lazy.

The 2006 Homecoming King

With his brother who reigned in 2003.

Annual Harvest Moon Photo

This was taken tonight by Mr. Sunny in honor of Korean Thanksgiving which is on the night of the biggest full moon of the year. True, the actual date is tomorrow, but I told him it is doubtful the moon will look any bigger tomorrow night. Besides, we are busy tomorrow night with Jimmy's homecoming king thing.

I was dreading Korean Thanksgiving this year because we hardly have time for it. Between the house-fire at Jason's (everyone's OK but the cleaning up has kept us BUSY) that we found out about as we were packing up to leave town for Justin's marathon (we delayed departure) and the fragile state of Halmoni and Halaboji's health that has been requiring my presence for "translating" with them on DAILY medical appointments all week (the upside of which is that it has been mutually decided by all the relatives to postpone the Korean Thanksgiving celebration since it would be too much for the grandparents and it would hardly be appropriate to do it without them-no complaints about that from me), Jimmy's 18th birthday barely got a passing nod.

Fortunately this was a light week at work. I had been hoping to get a little housework done up ahead this week since it'll be very busy in the call center for the next two. As it turned out I did a very little bit of work at home (but a LOT at Jason's).

Crossing the Finish Line

Justin was able to cross one of his life goals off the list this past weekend by completing his first ever 26 mile marathon attempt.

Plum Crazy

The plums were so thick on the trees this year that their weight broke a branch off. Too bad we don't eat them. They're thick on the ground too. I've been scooping them up with a dust pan to dump in the garbage.

Back From Providence

Oh the amount of catching up to be done after a few days away from home. Sure puts blogging on the back burner. It was a hectic couple of days, but, Number One Sunbeam is successfully moved into her apartment and embarked on a graduate degree-it was accomplished quickly only due to the assistance of my dear sisters (that includes Jackie, of course, and Helene) and the big bro. The Mama Bird drove all the way down from Maine. She said it was an ADVENTURE. (Yeah, it was that, for sure.) We took a little time to relax on Dave's boat and then his DD Sarah had the GREAT idea of going to the Somerset creamery for ice cream. I highly recommend the Cranberry Bog flavor for any who get a chance to go there. The pics are: The Sis, the Sunbeam, and the Sarah cousin at the creamery, and, one of the trolleys that are part of the public transportation system in Providence.

"Labor" Day

We waited until the crowds thinned out and then took the grandniece and nephews for some fun in the sun. I didn't expect to enjoy it for a couple reasons: a little worn out from spending the night hovering over Halmoni in the hospital, never much cared for motorized boats (although under certain conditions the sea-doo can be a pleasant experience), and, watching over that many kids who can't swim is a bit of a handful. But, they loved it so much it was totally worth it. In the pic I was trying to get them to pose. NOT! The three year old is in front. He never wanted to get off. He wanted to drive the thing! The 6 yr old was too scared to sit anywhere except in the middle. But didn't seem concerned about the possibility that his younger sister might fall off sitting in the back. And, the 5 yr old was pouting because she wanted to be in the front. But, when I DID let her in the front, she kept grabbing the gas lever to make it go "faster Weh-su-mo, faster!"

Just Can't Stop Blogging

We played hooky this past weekend and took a little excursion. If anyone (other than Mama KAS or Mama Bird and anyone they may have already told) manages to guess where this is I'll go ahead and put up the Harvest Moon post on my other blog a little bit early.

Hint: Kayaking was forbidden in this particular lake but we were able to use them in another one close by. The funny thing was that we almost put the kayaks in here before reading the regulation against it.

Life Goes On

Yeah, I know I said I was off blogging temporarily but, real quick, here some pics of our saner moments. This has been a great summer for the peaches in the backyard. Been giving them away by the sackful to whoever will take them. Problem is, it is a good year for everyone's peaches!

Back from Camping

And we sure had a good time. The pic is of Mr. Sunny and our "bro-friend" sailing out of that cove AGAINST the wind. (Not very easy-made it nice to get BACK to camp however).

Friday night sky

We had a fabulous lightning storm Friday at about dusk. Could not manage to get a single picture of it but did get this pic from the southerly direction



And this one to the North East


And one due West

Cute little kid contest

Not really but if there was one this little cutie would take it away. A bunch of us went to a (very nice) county park yesterday for a picnic. This kid was enamored with playing in the stream. I think she needs one in her backyard.

Reunion Photos

Here, in order of age, is the reason the reunion takes place. Although I have to hand it to the younger generation-they plan to continue with "cousin" reunions after we old fogies are dead and gone.


Someone called this "double trouble". Can't imagine why. WE weren't the ones having trouble. BTW, every single human in this photo is part of the clan.

More Marina Moments

That pathetic figure between the boats is poor little Sunny, gingerly making her way on the slippery dock while it bounced like a ride at the county fair.


Here is Mr. Sunny demonstrating his perfect balance and total poise.

And the skipper who is not a bit afraid of falling in the drink (but might be afraid of his wife seeing this photo) while the first mate looks on in total boredom. Must have seen these antics before.

Providence

As it turns out I am getting a little computer time. The Biltmore has remote access and DH's laptop (from work that he brought along to do the bullets for his laser presentation) has built in remote capability. So, here we are in Providence. I am NOT used to this humidity anymore. But, I really think Jeanne will like being a student here once she gets settled in at the RISD. Good news!!! It looks like we have found a good residential situation for her. This really is PROVIDENCE. Other things we have done is go to see Dave's (my brother) sail-boat. We had planned to be his "crew" for his biggest race of the year. But, the race was called off due to inclement weather. We also took a little side trip up to the area in MA where we used to live. The pictures are: 1)The house we used to live in (big old thing-we took a quick snap from the car window-didn't want the current owners to think we were stalking them or something), 2)The skipper and his first mate. That was the first time I'd seen a dog in a life jacket, and 3)The Marina where Dave keeps his baby..er..boat.

Blogging from the back yard

Sunny's tips for picking cherries:



The prettiest cherry will always be just out of reach.

The birds know which ones are pretty too.

If you manage to get that pretty one, plan on finding out that a bird already took a bite from the side away from your line of vision.

Some of the cherries are sticky coming off the tree. Probably from bird saliva.

When the perfect cherry is in your hand, put it in your mouth instead of the bucket. Chances are it will get dropped to the ground anyway.

More cherries should be eaten than dropped in the bucket.

The bucket is most likely to spill when it is pretty full.

People who are a little afraid of heights should not answer the cell phone from the top rung of a ladder.

Getting a dizzy spell at the top of a ladder is a thought provoking experience.

Although there are plenty of trees, the birds want the one you are in.

The birds resent your presence in "their" tree.

They are scared enough of humans that they won't even come get the spilled cherries under the tree. So, when you move the ladder, gather up the rejects from the ground to toss in the flower bed for them. Otherwise, they will WATCH you, and not in a friendly way.



Quit before the sight of cherries is revolting.

It is absolutely quitting time when black bugs are noticed on the leaves.

The total experience isn't quite the pits, but, it is no bowl of cherries either.

Justin is Back

His comment: "It was a good experience but not life-changing or anything." Take into consideration that this was not his first time out of the country. Also, that he was never one to express exorbitant amounts of visable enthusiasm. For example, when his favored team won the world series after 86 years, this avid fan (who had not missed a single televised game and had been absolutely living for this moment) murmered softly, "This is the happiest day of my life." That was the extent of his reaction. Meanwhile his cousin Mossflower called us SCREAMING from the Red Sox Nation. No coherent words. Just screaming. We knew it was her and understood what she meant. She then called her sister's home in Canada and for all I know may have screamed at every one she knows or is related to. That's how she expresses herself!




Here is the weary world traveler, relaxing on a family kayak outing this afternoon.

The "Green" Desert

A decade and a half or so ago we moved "out West" from "back East". It was a welcome move. I had never adjusted to the weather in the Northeastern seaboard. We arrived in what was touted as "the greenest time of the year" (approximately this time of year). To which I replied, "Yeah, right!" There was simply no green to be seen! Unless you counted that greenish brown look. It took a couple of days to begin to appreciate the high desert's own special stark and rugged beauty. (Translation: It was so different and strange looking that we were almost in a state of shock. But it wore off in a couple days as we got used to it and the area started to grow on us)

By our one year anniversary, in the midst of blessing God that we had landed in such a great spot, I found myself commenting on how lovely and green the desert was this time of year! Now I take special care to notice the green every Spring and give it a "green" rating based on previous Springs. This year it was late but above average. Of course, by now I am fairly expert at finding what green there is year round. Not the vivid greens of the East of course, but, anyone can see that green!


Here is a random shot of desert Spring "green." I specifically took it of an average looking area just so it won't seem like I'm always bragging about the scenery around here. I admit, you do have to kind of look for the good parts.


It doesn't show in the top picture, but frequently mixed in with that desert "green" is large reddish brown areas which come from this little weed that tends to grow in patches.


It is probably a nuisance, but, so prettily graceful when the wind blows on it-what's not to love?

Night Sky

Not that I need to get a life or anything, but, the kids are all away tonight and, I obviously have too much time on my hands.

One is in Venice Beach where she resides right now.

One is in Europe, Spain, I believe today.

One went over the "hill" (local vernacular for the Sierra Nevada mountain range) to look at a scooter. From the sound of the dogs, I'd say he just got home.

One went camping with a bunch of friends. Silly lad. It's way too cold to camp up in those mountains. Going to go down to freezing tonight. In his defense, a LOT of folks don't seem to know that.

Yes, it's the number one 'sun' getting home. Gotta go.

Evening Out

Skies cleared up so we

went here,


looked at this,


and reflected on that.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

SNOWING here on the Eastern side of the Sierra's. (Sunny side of the mountains indeed! This is supposed to be a RAIN SHADOW.) Fortunately Sunny took lots of photos in recent days when Spring was in the air and can now look IN instead of OUT for some cheery scenes. Guess that old saying about the weather is true around here. "If you don't like it, just wait 5 minutes for it to change."

Sunny's Boring Blog

Was in serious danger of being deleted with a single click. It's getting boring even to Sunny. The interesting events in life are not bloggable (But if anyone wants to know the most recent adventure, email me privately). However, since it was requested that the nature pictures continue, and was further suggested that a picture of the lupine in our front yard be featured-here they are. Lupine ARE an interesting wildflower. The bees go into the petals to get the pollen, not realizing that there is a sharp point in there that will stick 'em every time. One child I'm close to (who happens to despise bees) thinks it is great that there is a situation when the bee gets the sting!

Quick Trip

We FINALLY made it to see Jeanne in Venice Beach. A very quick trip-we were with the child just barely over 24 hours. The area is as nicely organized a beach as I have ever seen. The bike paths, sports areas, picnic places, children's and adult playgrounds, and exercise centers make a very nice place to play.



We went to the sushi bar where Jeanne works. The tall golden canister in the center of the pic contained the $250 bottle of Sake before she sold it - and got a one hundred dollar tip!


Because we don't get to see it very often, we really enjoyed Korea town. I especially liked the signs with a little English, a little Spanish and a little Korean. Is it just me, or, is this one particularily hilarious? (Well, how would YOU have translated that "7" in front of the Spanish word for "days"?)

Many Korean people knew when they immigrated to LA they would have to struggle with a new language-they just didn't know it would be Spanish!



Jeanne particularily liked this sign, with a little Korean, a little English and a little "Vietnamese".

Spring Flowers in Korea

He hit it just right. While he was away the weather was downright nasty at home. In fact he came home to a snowstorm (blech). And, no sooner did he leave Korea than they got hit with a smogstorm!

More Korea Pics

This pagoda is in a park overlooking the Han River. It is a short walk from the cousin's house where he stayed. But, I am not jealous because A) Been there and done that, and B) He has jet lag and I don't.