Top 10 things learned in 2006

In no particular order, I look back on experiences and lessons learned in 2006.

1. "You like sunshine and fresh air." This was actually a fortune written on a little slip of paper inside a cookie. Fortunately, we live in San Diego.

2. Organic Athlete is a great group to join to get out and get some sunshine and fresh air. Running, biking, and as I hear it, swimming for those motivated triathletes.

3. Straining your ankle hurts, immobilizes you, and takes at least three weeks to heal before you can get back to almost walking normally.

4. There will be other half-marathons.

5. Everything that grows has protein. All Vegan store has a lot of great cookbooks and reference books. Eating more raw foods (at least a salad a day) makes me feel good and is good for you.

6. The H3 machine at the San Diego blood bank allows me to feel great after donating. They separate components they need (Apheresis (ay-fur-ee-sis)) and replenish fluids at the end of the process. I just wish they had Newman-O's in the canteen.

7. Cockroaches can't get into plastic zipper bags.

8. Ball python snakes like to hibernate in fluffy Santa caps.

9. Professional Organizing gives me some interesting stories. Ethically, I keep these stories generic.

10. On the special occasions when they let you into the Spreckle's Organ Pavilion during a concert, such as the 92nd anniversary, standing next to the pipes is very loud.

Homework for 2007: Try not complaining at all, out loud or in your head, for seven straight days. Or on the positive side, gratitude.

Quote: "We say that life is like a marathon race, but the former can only be run once."

-- Marathon, A novel by W. William Winokur, (c) 2005, p. 442.

Boxing Day

Merry Christmas! As usual, the box is the best part of the gift. My aunt knitted and sent me a beautiful yellow afghan. She sent it in the perfect size box for the gift and for the cats. Wooster, Ccino, and Puffin each took their turn in the box. Larry's parents sent the boys each a catnip mouse, so that was exciting to have the mouse cornered in the box.

It's sunny and warmish in San Diego, but I'm wrapped up in my new blanky. I like how it came with some of Smudge and Suzie's fur on it. My aunt has two black-and-white kitties and you just can't hide black fur on a yellow background. Anytime I need a hug from the East, wrap it around and know that every stitch (single crochet debbie style btw) is a stitch of love.

Spreckles Organ on Christmas Eve

This is my church for the holidays: listen to the sweet pipes of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park, San Diego. Today, Carol Williams, San Diego Civic Organist for the past five years, performed an assortment of pieces demonstrating the range of the instrument. For the holidays, she played Greensleeves, Silent Night, and ended the program with a medley from the Sound of Music.

Sample of Greensleeves complete with plane flying overhead (thank you SD airport)

Purry Christmas!

Alix: Awwww, what a cute card. But shouldn't it be Percy's turn to be the star this year? Seems to me that Ccino gets all the publicity! Of course he does have star quality, but Percy is old faithful!

Maddie: Yes, yes, Capp is our show cat. I really try for the other guys, but they have to work with me too.

Alix: Poor Percy. You knew I'd say that. I mean, Ccino is the very last entrant to your family. So what if he's gorgeous? Doesn't Percynality count for something? I'm going to have to get tough with you. Percy deserves a POW and I want you to post one, even if he's just sleeping (See Smoothie Day).

Alix got tough with me and Larry's gonna get technical on you. You might infer that then Percy was the first cat into the family, but it was Wooster. Looking all snuggly, rolling over on his back and reaching out with a paw. Let me preface that this was in the Connecticut Humane Society's facility in Newington, CT. He was the first cat who chose us. Next, Larry found Puffin, both he and Wooster of the domestic long haired variety of feline. Thirdly, senior senor Percy was brought into the "interview room". The staff interviews the humans to make sure we understand the responsibilities of caring for a pet. More importantly, I wanted the cats to interview each other, to pass the butt-sniffing and nose-kissing tests. Since there wasn't Tazmanian Devil fur flying, we adopted all three cats that day. Percy and Wooster have this alpha cat posturing going on, but on the whole the boys get along just fine.

Less than a year later, my Dad met Cappuccino in a pet store. He called me to say that this was just too beautiful a cat to be kept in their basement (where my Mom relegates pets.) With trepidation (4 boys?!), I brought home Ccino. Having come from an apartment with six or seven other Himalayans, this was nothing to him and everyone bonded nicely.

Smoothie day, smoothie day. Tra-la-la-la smoothie day!

It all started with Cappuccino or Wooster. Cappuccino needed special diet food to suppress his bladder stone formation. With his smushed-nose face, he has trouble eating food and is most efficient with blended food. Wooster needed what Ccino was having, so that's when we also introduced wet food to the other cats. Wooster, the brat that he is, is now on-again-off-again with wet food. Supreme snubber. Not Percy. Percy is a good little eater.


I need to back-track a little bit. Ccino's food is blended with an additional can of water added in a stainless steel, dedicated-to-cat-fud blender carafe. This makes several servings. So "Smoothie Day" is when the room-temperature smoothie is originally blended, not spooned out from the fridge a day or two later. With the blender already dirty, why not blend up the other cats' food too?

As I said, Percy loves smoothie day. And he loves his routines. After dinner, he saunters over to the banana leaf stool to groom himself. Sorry I didn't get a shot of the tongue in action, but imagine for youself that he's a very efficient groomer.

Family String-along

The cats (and us) have rediscovered the string game. It’s about the best exercise that an indoor cat can get. Usually we start playing with one cat and as if they can hear silent string, they all want to join in. Well, actually, they probably hear the cat chasing the string around if it happens to be Cappuccino (seen here on the table.)

Percy (on the futon) is more sedentary and gets mostly an upper body work-out. But he’s ferocious, snorting and gnashing at the string.

If it’s Puffin (you can’t miss Puffin), he’ll bogart the string, clamping down on it with his saber claws and not let go. He grabs hold to the point where you’re dancing his arms like a puppet. We’ve taken to tying a string to the top of the wooden kitchen chair so that he can come out and play string when the mood hits him.

Run for the Hungry

Michele and I ran together for the Run for the Hungry 10K on Thanksgiving morning. I met Michele when I joined the running group Organic Athlete. She’s a long-time runner, off and on. She was a good motivator (especially on the hills, well, over a bridge or two.) This being my first race, I opted to be chipped timed. Here is the official result: FINISH: 1:04:24 pace: 10:22



The race started at the Embarcadero Marina Park South directly behind the San Diego Convention Center. From the top of the convention center, you can see the start of the race banner and the seaport nearby. Our small fix of fall foliage is in the foreground. I don’t know the names of many trees here, but usually one is in bloom or in color some month of the year.

Spooky Hood-o-ween

Happy Halloween! In our neighborhood with sweet old craftsman houses, some people really take advantage of the small yard and all their creature-features. I didn’t get too close to that haunted tree. Riding by on my bicycle, it was the perfect setting-sun time of day where the light was the only thing caught in the spider web.

A William Tell Halloween

Our neighbor up the street has a rather large stone gargoyle by their front porch. For Halloween, they balanced a small pumpkin on top. Images of William Tell shooting an apple off the top of a head. Would an arrow split the pumpkin in half? Any risk of the gargoyle being damaged? Mmm, pumpkin seeds. The secret to roasting them is to not wash them. For a tactile treat, just squeeze them through your fingers, trying to remove most of the yummy squash goop. I just pop them in the toaster oven and toast them, two or three times and stirring them up each time.

Little Italy Chalka Festa

We went down for an infusion of art, San Diego style, to Corso degli Artisti (Street of the Artists): Little Italy’s Street Painting Festival. Per their website, the Little Italy Precious Festa “is known to be one of the largest single-day Italian American festivals West of the Mississippi.”

Professional artists and high school students display their talent at sponsored locations on Beech and Cedar streets. One artist had to contend with a strip of tire burn-out where chalk would not adhere. Thankfully the streets were closed to traffic and they didn’t have more to contend with.

Flamin' Cats

At midnight, we woke to the sound of “click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-” (continue with this sound until I drop out of bed to investigate.) What has that cat done now? Wooster took his usual route from the stove to the top of the refrigerator, but this time he ignited the burner. click-click-click-! As he jumped up, he must have turned the knob and simultaneously pressed it in. Pressing it in with a slight turn engages the flinty-clicky-lighter built into the stove. I got up and saw Wooster decending from the stove and the burner on high, flaming bright. click-click-click-OFF



Which would you prefer? (A) The burner on high, burning bright, with a sound to alert you, (B) The burner on high, silently pumping gas into the kitchen, (C) A cat-proof stove. Actually, I’d like to know your second choice. Larry came up with the clever solution of shoving refrigerator magnets behind the knobs so that you would have to slide the magnets away to use the stove burners. We talked about finding something official in the child-proofing department. Then it dawned on me to just remove the knobs. So now we’re Wooster-the-cat-proof, child-proof, and stove-less if we manage to lose all four interchangeable knobs.

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara is so clean, but it turns out that this sculpture was installed on September 1st, just a week before our visit.

. . .

The "W" represents the plights of the European farmers. I photographed it, subconsciously at the time, as an "E" for equality for all, animals and humans.

Out with the old, in with the new (chair)

It always amazes me what can fit in my new beetle. I mentioned this morning that it would be nice to get an accent chair that can form a conversation nook with the futon. Larry agreed! and thought it would be nice to have it portable enough to place in front of the TV. Good-bye butterfly chairs!

We checked out Consignment Classics in the Mission Hills/Middletown area. It’s a huge space with some nice quality furniture. Many larger sofas where as we were looking for a smaller chair. We broke up our search with lunch at Cafe India. It was a wonderful vegetarian (mostly vegan) buffet which reminded me why we don’t go to buffets (if the food’s too good, you eat toooo much!)


We then went to Karen’s Consignment Gallery in Point Loma which my friend Norm! recommended as better. It had a nice eclectic selection at our Ikea budget price. We chose an ultra-suede piece that holds up nice against anything the cats may send it’s way (claw marks don’t show). The gentlemen at the store carried it out and set it perfectly into the new beetle hatchback. In the condo, Percy and Wooster give it a big paw’s up!

Nikon CoolPix S6

Larry wanted a small camera to take with him and it was time to upgrade our 3-year-old (ancient in the digital camera world) Canon PowerShot S200 with 2.0 MP. Larry graciously let me make the final decision on the new one since it would primarily be my camera. We went to our local experts at George’s Camera to compare the features of cameras and get a feel for their ergonomics. I checked out the Canon models. Besides the larger display screens, it was basically the same camera, same features, same old interface. It just didn’t feel like a new camera, but it was weird switching to Nikon. It’s not like I’m a registered Canon user and am switching parties like I’m changing my fundamental beliefs; it’s just a camera.

I chose the Nikon CoolPix S6 primarily because it has no external lens! It feels more responsive when just a little shutter flies open versus a lens having to extend (the most vulnerable component, most likely to need repair). There’s virtually no sound when the camera zooms in and out.

At first I was gobsmacked when I saw the clunky docking station and cables to upload pictures and recharge the camera. Gadzooks, all the cables versus a small wall plug-in to charge the battery. But then, I realized that this is another feature to reduce wear and tear as I do not need to open the camera to remove the battery for recharging. I could buy a third-party product to charge the battery externally and a USB card reader. More clutter! I’ll just build a sweet docking area to hide all the cables for our mobile world (cell phones, cameras). It’s the camera that one uses all the time whose functionality should be most important. After a month, I’m still very happy with my purchase. Here’s my last picture with the old Canon. Notice this quality of the pictures on this site from this point forward!

Trip back East: Peeps

We had a wonderful visit with Larry’s parents in New Hampshire. We visited in the complex. We went out for lunch at two or three, no two, of the vegan-friendly establishments in the area. Thank goodness for the new franchise, Panera Bread, with their salads and veggie sandwiches. Heart patients take note: their French Onion soup and Chicken Caesar salad is very high in sodium.

Having gone out to eat at nearly every meal with Larry’s parents, we were willing to pay my parents NOT to go out to eat. We had wonderful salads and fruits on the porch, supplemented by artisan breads. We were able to keep some semblance of a routine with walks to the public boat launch and back (about 2 miles, or is it one mile round trip?) One day, my Mom brought the family slides over for me to sort and take back with me to scan. That was sweet to see family and holidays celebrated. Gotta love the 60’s and 70’s!

Trip back East: Scenery

Larry’s parents live in a small apartment in a retirement community, so we stayed at a nearby hotel. Our room overlooked a small seating area and a view of the Connecticut river in New Hampshire. The trees were lush and green from all the rains they’ve had this spring and early summer. Ironically and/or fortunately, there was absolutely no rain during the week of our visit.

There was plenty of room to stay at my parent’s cottage. Birch Lodge as it is called has been in my Dad’s family for over 100 years. His grandfather bought it in the 1880’s. I haven’t done the research to learn when it was actually built. The cedar clapboard siding and roofing was done in the 1990’s. It can get very hot upstairs since it is very rustic and not finished or insulated. Again for the week we were visiting, humidity was low and the evenings cooled off nicely.

Trip back East: Getting Ready

We had been talking about it in the spring time. Then around June we decided it was time to take a trip back to the east coast to visit family. I found what I thought was a reasonable air fare for the high gasoline prices we are experiencing. We checked with family to see if the first and second week in July was good for them too. All that was left was to pull down the suitcases and access what we had to pack. Always curious about new surroundings, Wooster and Cappuccino took their turns sleeping in my suitcase.

Puffin goes cherry picking

It must be cherry season because Henry’s has them on sale for $1.77/pound. Larry lives on the freshest fruit in season, so this week he’s turning into a cherry. Puffin showed an interest last year, so he gave him one this year. Puffin focused on the stem, swatting it, picking it up in his mouth, swinging it and dropping it. Kept himself (and us) entertained for about 5 minutes.

Akiko's 50th Anniversary

Many students from our Ikebana flower arranging class were invited to celebrate our Sensei’s 50th wedding anniversary and their 77th birthdays. Akiko and her husband Walt Bourland both celebrate their 77th birthdays this year as well as being married for 50 years. It was held at the Bahia Resort Hotel in the Mission Bay area. It was a very nice traditional american anniversary celebration with many friends and family present. Akiko wanted to arrange the centerpieces, but her daughters objected to that and assembled these clever floral displays with their youthful pictures at the center.

It was nice to see many students from our class at the celebration. In total, we sat at more than two tables. Pictured here are Trudi, Margie, Gail, and Kim. It was wonderful to see each one of us dressed up and we got to know each other a little better. Trudi also celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary this year!

Ccino gets an up-do

Let me start out by saying that Cappuccino loves to be groomed. He demands to be groomed. He hops up on the futon and starts howling. That’s our cue to pick up a brush and get started. Larry uses a plastic comb, the type that used to cost a nickle in the 5-and-dime store. He holds it at a slight angle and it gently pulls out the loose fur. He loves to be groomed, but he squirms a little bit. Okay, a lot. So Ccino is getting an up-do in this picture. Grooming session must be almost over.

Rainbow Canyon

We headed out to the desert with the intention of visiting the Salton Sea, but halfway into the trip we decided that the inner desert was quite hot and chose to find a hike in the Anza Borrego area. We had stumbled on Box canyon last time and decided to take more time exploring Rainbow canyon. This picture shows how the canyon got its name with the swirled sediments, pegmatite and granite veins.

Many cactus are flowering in early May after the modest winter rain showers. Shown here in the foreground is a flowering nipple cactus. Additionally, many barrel cactus were shining their halo of yellow bloom. Hedgehog cactus with its lower profile was making itself obvious with its bright magenta flowers.

I’m not sure where aspargus is grown in California, but it’s not in this desert. This is the beginning of the agave’s flower stalk. Already, this flower’s stalk was twelve feet tall. On this day, we saw stalks with white flowers and for the first time, yellow flowers.

Mirror, mirror

Mirror, mirror on the floor, who’s the cat we all adore? So all the pictures are down off the wall. The scuff marks have been painted. Where shall I hang the mirror again? I’ve been reading about Feng Shui and mirror placement is really scary. Don’t want to magnify a negative. In the meantime, the mirror is propped against the wall on the floor. The cats are happy to have access to the mirror. Cappuccino is happy to have his little friend back. He sits in front of the mirror, never quite looking directly at his reflection. He sings or howls or yowls his greetings or musings. That’s a positive I like doubling.

Roses on the streets of Little Italy

The 22nd Annual ArtWalk in Little Italy was this weekend. Recently, I had removed all the pictures from our walls. They were from travels on the East coast and we felt it was time to add some new West coast influence. While there were some beautiful works by artists, there was nothing that really resonated with us. The local Blick art store probably did a nice business with people who were more inspired by the display of creativity.
On India street, this man was weaving roses from a palm frond. It was amazing to watch him split the large frond and rapidly fold and spin the material into a beautiful rose.

Easter Finest

Happy Easter! It’s spring and time to put on your Easter finest. This male peacock (females are called peahens) was displaying his finest in front of the lower flamingo pool. He put on a show for more than 15 minutes, arching his feathers and shaking his auburn tail feathers.

Several peacocks roam the grounds (it’s ironic that a group of them are called a “pride”) and are rather tame around people. It’s not appropriate to reach out and touch its feathers, but you can walk within 6 feet of the bird without it getting upset.

Earth Day WorldFest

It was a chilly and inspiring day at the Los Angeles WorldFest on Saturday.

I learned from the bio-beetle guy that no modifications were made to his VW diesel beetle. Bio-diesel is a solvent which will break up sediment. After the second tankful, I would need to change the fuel filter to clear out the deposits. Just about 3 more years on my warranty, then I can switch to bio-diesel (VW does not honor it; invalidates the warranty).
Short-haired dogs sitting still were compelled to purchase T-shirts from the All Vegan booth to cut the chill.

Heidi from San Diego kept warm by generating some of her own natural power.

Palm Sunday

This orangutan at the San Diego Zoo is hiding behind a palm frond. Can you see her? She doesn’t think you can. She’s being very coy. It was so amusing to see her climb up and hold the palm frond in front of her like a fan. She was posing, trying different angles.

Flowering horsechestnuts

Whew! This one almost got away! I noticed last week that the horse chestnut tree in our neighborhood was flowering.

I made it a point to get out today to photograph it and some of the flowers were turning brown. The perfume of the flowers was tipping a little to the point of over-ripe perfumey, like a sweet old great aunt who’s kept the windows closed all winter. You love to visit and the smell is pleasant enough, one of those that will probably imprint on your memory.

I brake for . . .

My diesel VW New Beetle is running just fine. There’s probably a funny bumper sticker out there for the contemporary model. “New and improved clown capacity!” For my green beetle and vegan lifestyle: “Give peas a chance!”

This was a pretty nice looking old beetle in our neighborhood. Still, the bumper sticker is a knee-slapper. “I brake for . . . Oh shit, no brakes!”

Hooray for Hollywood and Hospice

On Saturday night, San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care held their annual Staff and Volunteer Appreciation Night at the Marriot in Mission Valley in the grand ballroom. The theme was “hooray for hollywood” with a big band, classic movies on big screens, and tables named for various films and stars. This is my second year attending and also the second year that they combined the staff and volunteer events. The evening began with cocktails by the pool side. I chatted with “Patti” and her husband, also a volunteer, and they shared their experiences over the six years that they have been volunteering with Home visits and with the Foundation Art program. That sounds like something I’d like to pursue. You can visit San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care’s website and under the section for Volunteers, download a list of Organizational Volunteer Opportunities.

It is astounding how this organization has grown in thirty years. I estimate that there were over 500 staff, volunteers, and guests in attendance. They honored the milestones of 3-, 5-, 10-, 15-, and 20-year volunteerers and staff. I was really humbled by the presenation and stories shared by Dr. Doris Howell, a 30-year honoree. She was approached by Joan Kroc and together, to over-simplify her efforts and commitment, they started the county’s first hospice program. She is the embodiment of their mission: To prevent and relieve suffering and promote quality of life, at every stage of life, through patient and family care, education, research and advocacy.

I visited my hospice patient and family this past Tuesday. I always come away feeling so relaxed and peaceful. It must be my meditation to be able to sit quietly with a person and just be. I’m glad that SDHPC is there for the community.

In the birthday zone

On Monday morning, I woke up picturing the Ramona landscape and wanting to take a hike in the area. Using the San Diego Reader website, I was intrigued by their picture of Cobbleback Peak, better known as Mount Woodson. You can read Jerry Schad’s description of the area in the San Diego Reader column, Roam-O-Rama. The lower half of this steep 1.5-mile hike was more picturesque. The landscape was more interesting from that vantage point, not just because the top was home to many communication towers. An old co-worker lived in this area. I can’t wait to learn of his favorite hikes.

On Wednesday, Joy, the owner of All Vegan store, surprised me with a trip to Stephanie’s Bakery for lunch. She has added pizza to the menu and it is outstanding! We each ordered a pizza to try both the red sauce and the pesto topping. For the red sauce, Joy chose veggie sausage and artichoke hearts. For the pesto, I chose sundried tomatoes and mushrooms.

The real surprise came when the pizzas arrived. There was melted vegan cheese on top! I make pizza at home and drizzle it with olive oil. The Follow-your-heart vegan cheese was melted (the secret is a hot oven) and so flavorful. Both pizzas were delicious; with twelve or so toppings to choose from, I have so many combinations to try in the future.

No, the real surprise came when Maria walked out with an inscribed chocolate birthday cake. They even lit a candle and had me make a wish. The chocolate cake was so moist and rich. Combine that with a nice raspberry sauce between layers and any wish will come true.

We’re having a Santa Ana winter which means many warm, dry days. Near the ocean, it was 10 degrees cooler, a very pleasant 75 degrees. So today we chose to eat in the back patio area. Snuggled in a corner was a sweet little neighborhood cat. He was very friendly and welcomed us, but then did what all cats do best, found a nice sun spot for a cat nap.

VW BOP! Bird Of Paradise in the bud vase

It’s good energy, good chi, just a good feeling to have something in your Volkswagon New Beetle bud vase. Doubly so if you create it yourself. No store bought artificial flowers for me. Today, I got the inspiration to sculpt my rendition of the bird of paradise flower out of fimo modeling clay. Earlier, we took a walk around the neighborhoods. Just one block away, on our way home, I had to stop and remark at some perfect blooms. That inspired me to sculpt this unusual plant for my bud vase. I made seven birds, but three look sweet here.

Bon Voyage, Eric

We sadly say good-bye to Eric with a party in the courtyard. Whoo-hoo, Eric’s leaving, let’s have a party! It’s only fitting as Eric is such a social and gregarious person. Here he is getting all social with Reba. She cozied up his coctail with fluffy cocktail coasters that slip over the base of the glass. We wish Eric all the best as he relocates to Las Vegas. Yeah, baby!

Resolutions and intentions

Happy New Year! I like the tradition of making a new year’s resolution, but it seldom resolves itself past the first month. This year I’ve spent more time thinking about what is lacking in my life. One word has profound reach: CONNECT. Connect with the earth when walking. Feel grounded, supported, and in touch with the moment. Connect with the breath. This is another way to bring yourself back to the moment. Feeling your breath expand the ribcage and fill the belly is very relaxing and calming. Connect with people. Make eye contact. Ask for help. Share experiences. Connect the dots, la la lala.

Snow in San Diego

It was chilly last week in San Diego. We turned on the three lava lamps to heat up the back room. That, four cats, and fleece blankets got us through the worst. Of course it wasn’t as bad as it could be. I didn’t see anyone having to scrape their car windshield with a credit card. We just had the illusion of snow.

In December, the jade plant decorates itself with small white star-shaped flowers. The jade plant is originally from South Africa, from an area with a climate very similar to that of Southern California. There, it can also flower in the spring or summer. Here, it just blankets itself in December.