Remembering (episode one)

I mentioned in a comment over here I would try to remember and pot various and sundry visits to the ER.
That goes back a few years.

My first trip I was still a toddler.
It was a Friday night.
My mother and I were going to dinner with her mother.
Grampa was out of town . . .   not home, anyway.
I was so excited to see grandma, when we arrived, that I ran toward the brick steps.
Then I tripped and took a face plant on the stairway.
(that was probably also my first head injury, definitely not the last . . .   which probably explains a lot of other things)
There was a nice wound in my right eyebrow [that would be the relatively normal one] that was bleeding like gangbusters.
It was determined that I would need stitches.
Back in those days San Francisco had emergency hospitals at various locations in the city where they also parked ambulances.
One such hospital was on Stanyan Street next to Kezar Pavilion.

I don't remember much, other than I had three or four stitches and the Dr. was someone my mom and grandmother knew.
We then continued on to dinner at Fisherman's wharf and afterward I got one of those little green turtles that live in pie plates until they succumb to too much handling.

let's milk this

Huh?

Maybe you noticed an absence   . . . a lack of attendance  . . . of the proprietor of this blog over the last weekend.
MB and I went north to see another grandchild participate in a gymnastics competition.
No, not Ducky.
We're able to see her compete on a semi-regular basis.
This was in Washington, near Seattle.

We'd made arrangements and flight reservations weeks ago.
Fly out on Friday afternoon when MB got off work.
Return Sunday evening.

There was a slight hitch.
Granddaughter's group was to compete at 6:00pm on Friday.
Adjustments to the schedule were necessary.
We would fly out earlier on Friday and MB would have to leave work early.
Southwest cooperated and scheduling adjustments were made.

I hadn't flown north from Sac before so I took the window seat.
I was hoping to see Mt Shasta.
I had the wrong window.
However, I did see the Northern Sierra Nevadas and the Intermountain region.

Lake Almanor

Mt Lassen

I looked at that mountain almost daily from ground level for 35 years.
It's quite a different perspective.

Before long there were clouds and nothing else to view.
We landed at Sea-Tac Airport and observed crews de-icing other planes and there were snowflakes in the air, though they were not yet sticking.

There was ample time to make our way through Seattle, even during the rush hour, in time to stop for something to eat.
Happily, there was a Mexican restaurant nearby where we were able to build our own burritos.
It was almost like my favorite place in Anderson, though it lacked the joie de vivre.

Our competitor performed well, bringing home a medal.
She would probably argue that she could've done better.
I would argue that a sprain can hinder performance.
The weather continued to be iffy.

Saturday we all went to a movie, Peter Rabbit [good movie].
We did more than go to a movie, but that was the highlight of the day.
Snow was still threatening.

Sunday morning was church, in Bellevue.
Some of us went out for coffee while others were at Sunday school.
Then we went for lunch . . .  Chinese.

It was very good.
That is until there were no fortune cookies and one member, the youngest, was really looking forward to them.
The day was saved because we remembered an Asian market near where we'd had coffee.
We had enough fortune cookies to carry over until next year.

We kicked back all afternoon.
Beauty and the Beast on Netflix projected onto the wall is almost like a theater.
While watching the movie I glanced out of the window.

Yeah, it finally decided to snow for real.
Then it got serious.

It was time to think about leaving for the airport . . .   before other folks really messed up the roads.
We made it without incident and found that it had yet to snow there.
Thanks goodness.
Our flight was again delayed.

We finally arrived home some time around midnight.
MB is not yet retired and had to get up to go to  work.
She let me sleep.

Monday was a good day.

File under 'Florida'

because it was there

Musing

Yeah, there's a blank screen in front of me.
Sarge posted about blogging only it turned into something else.
I had an English teacher, I hesitate to call him a professor because he was still student teaching at the time, he was younger than I was, and I was in my early twenties, but he is still teaching and, now, is a professor.
Periodically, he would have us take a single sheet of paper and just write, without lifting the pen, for two or three minutes, no punctuation, forget about spelling [though folks seemed to spell better back then].
It was an interesting exercise.
He would read some the these pieces to the class without commentary.
Some would have been interesting blog posts.

if only memory served

No, it's not an emergency

MB and I are away for the weekend.
There is probably snow involved.
No, that wasn't part of the plan.
There may be pictures.

don't hold your breath

Friday cat

. . . and now it's Thursday

The last full day in Hawaii.
We're still at the Polynesian Cultural Center [could be called the Pacific Cultural Center] being entertained and educated by students from various regions of the South Pacific.

they bake it in a pit

There was another demonstration involving coconuts, but neither of us took any photos.

It seemed like everyone showed up at once for the floating entertainment.

We wandered around a little more, returned to our car, and drove the rest of the way around the island returning to the condo.

There was one more stop . . .

Behind MB is Chinaman's Hat.

aloha

Monday on a Tuesday

Something like that, anyway.
I had every intention of posting the last of the vacation photos yesterday.
There were even a couple of days I could have found time to write the post.
Instead, MB and I attended a Lions District meeting on Saturday, celebrated a special occasion on Sunday, and sorted through a ton of $#|+ from the garage on Monday, culminating in the disassembling of storage boxes and sorting of hundreds of 35mm slides going back to 1957.

Now I can attempt to finish up the vacation.
It was our last full day.
We visited the Polynesian Cultural Center, which meant traveling across the island, where we could see the ocean from some distance.

approaching the North Shore

Then we traveled east some distance to the center.

Add caption

. . . and here it is Wednesday.
Maybe we'll get inside tomorrow.

spinning wheels

We rested

The main advantage, besides privacy, of staying at a condo is being able to prepare ur own meals.
Earlier posts show some of the more elaborate meals.
Breakfast was also an option.

ham and egg with pepperjack cheese on a croissant

We took a day to do pretty much nothing but kick back.
late in the afternoon we sought another nearby beach to view the sunset.

Hawaiian Electric Beach

What's an electric beach?

We wanted another sunset photo op.
We got surfers, too.

The surf looks tame.
I will vouch that it was anything but [the laughs were worth it, though].

wet and sandy, too

To MB

Everyone does it

What's that?
They go to the beach when they're in Hawaii.
Sometimes the beaches aren't sand so you just go for the sunset.

Then you walk back home . . .

Is there a law about mutilating palm trees?

 . . . where you enjoy dinner

Yes  . . . barbecued shrimp

Friday cat

In memorium

Sylvie cat crossed the rainbow bridge this week.
She lived with my sister and brother in law.

In my sister's words . . .

Sylvie joined us as a tiny kitten in 1999 and left us this week after a very sudden illness. She was the best kitty, a grande dame living the human equivalent of 100 years. She was opinionated and vocal. She was beautiful and she knew it. She slept with me every night. She jumped into my lap whenever I sat down, and insisted on grooming my hair (which explains my hair). She read the paper with me in the morning. Greg says she recognized the sound of my car when it was about a block away and would run to the door to wait for me. We miss her so much.

Sometimes we are fortunate enough to have an animal come into our lives, who makes a difference.

Move along . . . there's plenty to see

Outside and in the next hangar there were more aircraft.

source: MB's iPhone

I liked this shot better than mine.

Then we walked around the corner . . .

. . . and into the second hangar

There were planes, too.

This one's for Sarge [and Juvat, too]

same aircraft, but this is the part that makes everything else work

source: MB's iPhone

This one's not gonna work

. . . and once more for fun

back to the beach