Roger is glowing with pride!

On the last weekend of July, Hillcrest (our neighboring community) plans a weekend of events kicked off by the gay pride parade. It’s a lot of fun to dress up your dog and mingle with the crowds. Or hop on your motorcycle and ride with the dykes on bikes. Since I have neither, I walked with my neighbor who added a bracelet to her chihuahua’s harness, checked out the motorcycles before the parade started, and walked the parade route. You can actually register one hour before the parade starts to ride your bike. Perhaps next year, she says.

Roger has been working on his church’s float for the past month on the weekends. Here he is in his Elton John best in front of their finished project. So we saw the beginning of the parade, the motorcycles, at the beginning of the route at Normal street. We then walked the length of the parade route along University Ave and down 6th avenue to Balboa Park, almost two miles, and watched the remaining floats pass by. Rogers was one of the last and I almost didn’t recognize him because he wasn’t wearing his googly glasses. Whew, after walking all that and then back home, “I’m still standing.”

U.S. Open Sand Castle Competition

While Larry made it a homerun with a fourth day at Comic-Con, I drove down to Imperial Beach for the sandcastle competition. It was still hazy when I arrived at 9:00am and the builders were already an hour underway. Remember making your own sandcastle by packing sand into your pail and adding water? Well, these guys do it with trash cans and 4×4-foot wooden forms, much like a foundation for pouring cement. And along with that trade go the trowels, spades, and other thingies that dig and smooth and carve out these sculptures. Secret weapon? Keep that sculpture moist by misting it with water. Frequently. Preferably a pressurized wand and big water tank on your back. Three hours in the sun and the sand can dry out and collapse as did a wall for the classic sandcastle above.

The official website above has not posted the winners as of this writing, but I’m sure the lion and the rockscape will win a top spot. You can walk up and down the beach to see each team’s progress but it’s still amazing to see the finished piece and you still ask yourself how they did it?! One family has been sculpting in this event (its 25th anniversary) for 20 years! Other teams, “Masters” such as “Arch-i-sand”, are professional teams that can be hired out for birthdays and other special events. You don’t have to be an architect to build a sandcastle, but they happen to be.

Percy loves to be vacuumed

Larry discovered that Percy likes to be vacuumed. He was vacuuming the carpet and Percy came into the room. He had cat litter on his back (don’t ask). So Larry took the brush attachment, opened the little vent to reduce pressure, and began stroking Percy. He didn’t run away, not that he’s much of a sprinter, more of a saunter-er.

So when I was vacuuming, Percy was snoozing on the bed. He’s always snoozing, so he won’t mind being woken up. This time we turn the dial to adjust the amps on the vacuum. Percy liked the grooming so much that he said, Ohh, that’s the spot and started groom himself. You know how they try to lick their bib. Now if the long haired cats wouldn’t be hiding under the bed. Cappuccino was looking out from his box, making sure that Percy was okay, wondering what was going on. Num, num, num.

Learning to surf

Lulu, from our kundalini yoga teacher training class, generously offered to show us some safety tips, wave etiquette, and the basics of surfing. Basically, it's the most physically challenging thing that I've ever tried. I don't recommend it after detailing two cars the day before! You need your upper body strength. The water was very warm the day before, but then an off-shore breeze pulled off the warmer water and cold water rose to take it's place. Thank you, Lulu, for having wetsuits for all of us. Still, in a full body suit your feet and hands are exposed and it was cold!

Turn your board around and “paddle, paddle, paddle” shouts Lulu (on the red board) to keep up with the wave, let it take you in, and hopefully push yourself up and stay balanced! I could paddle, but my shoulders would not cooperate to “pop” me up onto the board. I did get up on my knees. It did remind me that body boarding is fun!

Miss Kitty gives a "butt-up" to grooming

Realizing that I really enjoy being with animals, I began volunteering at the National Cat Protection Society in Spring Valley. This shelter has wonderful cats available for adoption and a retirement community for those who have out-lived their person.

In one of the adoption rooms where several cats co-exist, Miss Kitty runs right up to me when I enter. On this visit, I discovered that she really loves to be brushed. It’s all about the cats and if they don’t come up to me, I won’t disturb them. There are plenty of felines asking for attention!

In the retirement center, there is a big black “bear” whom I haven’t been formally introduced to yet. She l-o-v-e-d to be groomed and I fondly thought of her person smiling down on me. Over in the special care center (older kitties with kidney disease), I simply sit down on a chair and place a blanket on my lap. The 21-year-old Sparkey jumps up on my lap for some quality time. Sometimes there are two or three kitties vying for lap space. With some shifting, there’s room for two. Quiet, blissful, meditative time together.

Monkey Trails and Forest Tails opens

Larry just thought he’d head down to the zoo for a nice walk. Lo’ and behold, their “most elaborate and ambitious” habitat, Monkey Trails and Forest Tails opened this week. We got to see the celebrites in their new homes. I say celebrites because we were sharing walkways with several TV cameras.

After that detour, we went to visit the polar bears and perhaps the most overlooked animals at the zoo: the great blue Turaco. This bird and others including brightly colored pheasants, “Blyth’s Tragopan”, are off behind the polar bears bordering the 163 freeway. These gregarious birds should be in a habitat with more “foot” traffic passing by.

Cherries

Puffin had fun batting a cherry around

Giant Cactus

We went geocaching in a canyon near the condo and found GIANT prickly pear cactus!

New Do

Ten-inches cut off and donated to Locks for Love

San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon

Team in Training volunteers:Brenna, Reba, Jenni, Neal, Maddie, Larry

Me, Neal, and Reba finishing the race with marathoner Jay (hidden).