Category: Uncategorized

May 3, 2017

More about Pino Lella and “Beneath a Scarlet Sky:” Pino is currently living in Italy and his eldest son, Mike, is my neighbor.  I went over to Mike’s house and knocked.  Mike was on the phone but answered the door.  He was talking to his Dad and then gave me the phone after I said I’d just finished the book.  So, I got to speak directly to Pino!  What a treat!!!

My cough is causing more trouble for my voice than the swollen throat did.  I sound raspy.  At rehearsal yesterday, I was sort of ok.  Could not reach the high, high notes.  Will be glad when all is healed.  Special rehearsal tomorrow…we’ll see how I do then.  I think I’m going to try no more speaking for today and hot water with honey.

Had a fun lunch with several of my friends from our now defunct Weight Watchers group today. Ate on the outside deck at Priest Station Café. Great weather, great friends…what more could you want!?!

After my trip to the Bay Area, I went home only to meet Jess, Jenn, and Sam the next day at Knights Ferry for a short bike ride together. It was a fun ride with the wind at our back…well, until we turned around.

Time always seems too short when with those you love.

Two days later and this crew plus Dan met in Hayward for a breakfast before we flew Jenn away with us for a few days.   Several games of Farkle (which I did NOT win) had us laughing and enjoying the evening.

The next day, we met our friend Ron. I rode on the back of his Harley while Jenn rode on the back of Dan’s BMW. We took a ride through the countryside to Twain Harte where we had breakfast at The Sportsman.  Ron is a good rider. I felt very comfortable with him. So now there may be a little competition on who is the smoothest driver – Ron or Dan.  No comment from me.

The day we flew Jenn back to the bay area, we intended to go to Half Moon Bay for lunch and enjoy the cooler weather on the coast.  Well, it was cooler and foggy just over the airport!  So we couldn’t land and flew to Petaluma instead.  Had a nice lunch there and then went back to HMB to see if we could get in and we could and did.  It was nice and cool as we wandered around looking at the fishing boats and checking out what they had for sale.  As we were doing this, we were all trying to figure out what happened to Jenn’s iPhone. Oh, didn’t I mention that?

When we landed in HMB, Jenn got out of the plane and realized her phone wasn’t in her pocket.  She and Dan both searched the cabin area very thoroughly.  She kept insisting the phone was small enough it could have fallen into the hole needed for the Johnson Bar. Dan was on the ground looking up into the plane (as well as he could).  We went and asked some folks who were working in a hangar for some tools.  High and low, we could not find the phone so now this little worry in the back of all our minds – would the phone block the mechanism that raises and lowers the gear (wheels) on the plane?

We went into one of the eateries for something to drink.  As we were sitting there, Dan said, “It could have fallen out of the plane when Jenn opened the door before we came to a stop.”  Bingo!  We were now on a mission to go back and retrace where we had taxied and hunt for the phone.  And we found it!  So relieved on several levels – no hidden phone in the belly of the plane, found the phone, phone still worked although it was a little scratched up.

After all that, we flew to Hayward to deliver Jenn to her friend Tammy.  Then Dan and I went on home with no further excitement for the day.

 

 

 

Friday evening Susie suggested we go to the Sonora Christmas Festival. So Saturday morning she picked up Dan and me and off we went. 

Susie knows many street performers and jugglers so we went to see her friends Scotty & Katrine and also Captain Jack Spareribs.  We also dropped in to hear the Joe Craven Trio and Golden Bough. I enjoyed all the shows.

We wandered around the fairgrounds and into the various buildings to see all the wares. I ended up buying a book “Tennessee Tears” by George John Curtis.  I’ve already finished it.  Dan bought a belt.  He can attach his own buckle so he’s happy.  I forgot to bring the camera so no pictures but we had a good time.  Its been a long time since we’ve done anything like that. 

As we were having the Pine Cone Performers board meeting, the rain started falling. It changed quickly from rain to snow.  The singers came in for rehearsal at 3. Just as everyone was warming up voices, someone said we need to cancel the rehearsal and get home!  It was a good call.  The director and at least one other person had to drive back to Sonora.   The rest of us hustled out to our cars and started home.  Since we mostly live in the same area, it was a long line of vehicles moving slowly on the road.

We were almost to the high school when the vehicles in front of me came to a full stop.  I stopped a couple car lengths behind the car in front of me.  I looked down for a moment, looked up in my mirror and saw a SUV coming at me.  Before I could take my foot off the brake to move forward, it hit me – hard!  I was surprised at how much my body was thrown forward and back.

We eventually got to a place where we could pull off the road.  It was one of my fellow singers.  She was very apologetic.  She was in her lowest gear but when she went to brake, she just slid.  I was the only one who got out of a car.  Because of the snow build up on both vehicles, I really couldn’t see if there was any vehicular damage.  Since I knew her, I just said I’d call her later and we could check out the machines when the snow was gone.  I also told her I got a pretty good jolt.  She ended up calling me as soon as she arrived home.  We’ll have to let the insurance people deal with all this later.

Our yard. The branches had been bare before the snow Looks like about three inches at this point

The faithful, old pickup truck:

When I arrived at the house, I was pleased to see my fire had not competely gone out. I was able to revive it fairly easily and its kept me comfy all evening.

Dan called to report he was at Julia’s.  I gave him the weather report for here.  He’ll probably leave later in the day tomorrow to allow the roads to clear before he rides his motorcycle back home.  My hope: they are clear for him.

Brand new to creating a site, a story and adding photos. So, here goes. Yesterday Bob was visiting us from the Bay Area. He and Dan wanted to go for a motorcycle ride so I tagged along.

It was a great day to get out and play. The sun was shining, the temps were reasonable, the roads were clear.

No specific plan other than heading to Rainbow Pool to start our ride. We were the only ones there although there was a truck in the parking lot.  So pretty to see and so relaxing to hear the Tuolumne River running through.

After determining it might be too cool to continue heading east, we backtracked a bit and then took Smith Station Rd to Coulterville. Had to stop at The Jeffrey so the guys could have a Kilt Lifter. Met another couple from Sonora who were also out riding their Kawasaki.

The next part of the ride was on Hwy 49 to Mariposa. This is a motorcyclists dream road: smooth pavement, lots of curves and beauty all around. We stopped after passing by Bagby Recreation Area.  This is looking back toward the bridge.

We met several other bikers at the Fremont’s Fort monument. Dan, with a new audience, was telling tales…  (that’s him on his imaginary bike)

After riding through Mariposa and Hornitos, we stopped alongside the road just to enjoy the day.  Here’s Bob with his baby.

Here’s one of the views:

We stopped for lunch at The LumberYard. They are known for their burgers but we were a day late. A big party the night before had left them beef-less. So we had chicken tacos which were pretty darn good.

With full tummies, we headed back home.  What a great day of riding with two of my best buds.