Canyon Livin', Part III
Day four in San Diego saw another full schedule of AAA sessions and expo floor wanderings (read previous entry for more details). It was also our gracious hostess' birthday. She decided to whip up a BBQ and have some friends over.
Karmyn and John stock their pantry with mostly organic products, and the chicken breasts and eggplant that were grilled were excellent. The party was out on the patio, overlooking another wonderfully xeriscaped garden, much like the one we had seen at cousin Vinnie's a few days earlier. A wide semicircle path was surrounded by all sorts of flowers and bush that Sonia could identify (my botanical knowledge lacks a bit). We picked some strawberries and had a few with the snackies before the main meal.
We met an interesting fellow, an endocrinologist who was very easy to talk with, about a great many topics. I was also able to strike up a conversation with a speech language pathologist. Always nice to meet a colleague in the field (even a sister profession). She described her having to live with Multiple Schlerosis (she's 35, a typical age of diagnosis). Coincidentally, that morning the balance talk I attended addressed MS and the sorts of clinical findings one might see and associated symptomology, so now I was armed with more complete knowledge and questions.
Another couple at the party were neighbors from down the street, the wife born and raised in SD and happy to be back after a stint in Indiana. Her husband is a football coach and had taken a job at a high school there. He was a very down to earth guy, very grounded in his faith, yet his affect and words did not suggest the usual persona. Many Christians I meet follow this particular blueprint in terms of political leanings and interests. This gent confounded it all the longer we spoke, crediting his Catholic mother for the man he is and even questioning some of the Christian subculture mores. Maybe it's because he's been in California for a while. Yet another selling point for me.
And there are many. I spoke of the terrain. I love looking out in any direction and seeing altitudes, vallies. OK, so CA is not as green and lush as FL but that doesn't bother me. In fact, the lack of rain in CA was a topic at the party. You can almost count the # of days the state gets precipitation. Over the last several years, I have fallen out of love with rain. It's true. I hate it now. Yes, yes, I know it is essential to the ecosystem. I know. But the romantic nature of a rainy day is lost on me anymore. I used to love them when I was younger. Now, I just wish it would rain overnight when I don't have to deal with it (sorry, graveyard shift workers). California would be perfect for me because of the lack of rainy days. Yeah, they just bother me. But, listening to media outlets in South Florida proclaim there are mandatory water restrictions and that Lake Okeechobee is too low is even more annoying.
What a whiner I am, eh? If I were some obnoxious zillionaire, I might even wonder something stupid like, "who do I have to pay to control the weather? Heh Heh Heh."
Anyway, we lit candles on several banana bread cupcakes and sang the happy birthday song. There were several children at the party and they jumped off the swings and slide to sing along. A beautiful Southern California sunset bathed our scene. I wanted it to last, not slip away. Like ice cream that you want to savor but have to act fast upon or it will melt away.
We concluded the night on the family couch after all the guests had departed. We just chatted with our hosts about our lives while young Vanessa danced and played with her karaoke machine (hilarious). Skylar the cat lazed on the floor, her pregnancy sparked more conversation (she would have six kittens 2 days after we returned home). We spoke of how we'd love to live in CA. Someday, we hope.
We awoke before dawn Sunday morning to drive back to L.A. and our 10:15 A.M. flight home. We took the 5 with only one traffic snag; the trip took about the expected 2 hours. More great scenery. Hard to leave it. We'll be back.
Karmyn and John stock their pantry with mostly organic products, and the chicken breasts and eggplant that were grilled were excellent. The party was out on the patio, overlooking another wonderfully xeriscaped garden, much like the one we had seen at cousin Vinnie's a few days earlier. A wide semicircle path was surrounded by all sorts of flowers and bush that Sonia could identify (my botanical knowledge lacks a bit). We picked some strawberries and had a few with the snackies before the main meal.
We met an interesting fellow, an endocrinologist who was very easy to talk with, about a great many topics. I was also able to strike up a conversation with a speech language pathologist. Always nice to meet a colleague in the field (even a sister profession). She described her having to live with Multiple Schlerosis (she's 35, a typical age of diagnosis). Coincidentally, that morning the balance talk I attended addressed MS and the sorts of clinical findings one might see and associated symptomology, so now I was armed with more complete knowledge and questions.
Another couple at the party were neighbors from down the street, the wife born and raised in SD and happy to be back after a stint in Indiana. Her husband is a football coach and had taken a job at a high school there. He was a very down to earth guy, very grounded in his faith, yet his affect and words did not suggest the usual persona. Many Christians I meet follow this particular blueprint in terms of political leanings and interests. This gent confounded it all the longer we spoke, crediting his Catholic mother for the man he is and even questioning some of the Christian subculture mores. Maybe it's because he's been in California for a while. Yet another selling point for me.
And there are many. I spoke of the terrain. I love looking out in any direction and seeing altitudes, vallies. OK, so CA is not as green and lush as FL but that doesn't bother me. In fact, the lack of rain in CA was a topic at the party. You can almost count the # of days the state gets precipitation. Over the last several years, I have fallen out of love with rain. It's true. I hate it now. Yes, yes, I know it is essential to the ecosystem. I know. But the romantic nature of a rainy day is lost on me anymore. I used to love them when I was younger. Now, I just wish it would rain overnight when I don't have to deal with it (sorry, graveyard shift workers). California would be perfect for me because of the lack of rainy days. Yeah, they just bother me. But, listening to media outlets in South Florida proclaim there are mandatory water restrictions and that Lake Okeechobee is too low is even more annoying.
What a whiner I am, eh? If I were some obnoxious zillionaire, I might even wonder something stupid like, "who do I have to pay to control the weather? Heh Heh Heh."
Anyway, we lit candles on several banana bread cupcakes and sang the happy birthday song. There were several children at the party and they jumped off the swings and slide to sing along. A beautiful Southern California sunset bathed our scene. I wanted it to last, not slip away. Like ice cream that you want to savor but have to act fast upon or it will melt away.
We concluded the night on the family couch after all the guests had departed. We just chatted with our hosts about our lives while young Vanessa danced and played with her karaoke machine (hilarious). Skylar the cat lazed on the floor, her pregnancy sparked more conversation (she would have six kittens 2 days after we returned home). We spoke of how we'd love to live in CA. Someday, we hope.
We awoke before dawn Sunday morning to drive back to L.A. and our 10:15 A.M. flight home. We took the 5 with only one traffic snag; the trip took about the expected 2 hours. More great scenery. Hard to leave it. We'll be back.
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