December 31st: Revised Blog

 Somehow I lost two enjoyable pictures of Matt so I added them and posted this again for those of you that already read the first version.

It was Christmas and we were determined to have a great one. One could come up with a lot of reasons to skip the whole thing this year. But that would have been very sad. We truly needed Christmas and the hope it brings for the future.

Wendy had a great suggestion. She said, "Make a list 50 things you accomplished this year that you are proud of." I asked, "What if I can't come up with 50 things?" She said, "Then you should try harder!" It was a great suggestion. Over several days I made a list. It was easier than I thought. The list went well over 50. Then I decided to add, "Why am I proud of this?" Next I decided to attempt to rank them by order of importance. I have spent a great deal of time and emotion this year missing Linda and have come to recognize part of that is anxiety about what do I do now? As I look toward setting goals for the future, I believe this will help. I recommend the exercise, especially as you think about goals for 2021.

Typically I'd have pictures of our family enjoying Christmas dinner, opening presents, etc. This year we all decided to donate to food banks and skip the presents. I was very impressed to learn that the San Diego Food Bank can provide 5 meals for every One dollar donated. So picture opportunities were limited and I used last year's Christmas photo.

Linda, Steve, Wendy, Matt, Rebecca, Trevi and London

We did get a few pictures at Matt and Wendy's Christmas dinner. Here is a selfie of Matt, Wendy and me. The dinner was great. We Facetimed the new Superwoman movie together with Rebecca in Studio City and truly enjoyed the evening.

Christmas Dinner

Matt and Wendy's tree. The fish behind the tree is from 
Bobcaygeon, Ontario. Wendy claimed it when we moved to the trawler.

The Christmas Turkey

Great cookies

I also have some pictures friends shared, so we could at least enjoy Christmas decorations virtually.

Craig and Karen's nautical theme tree (of course), Boating friends we met in Canada and became great friends. Nice that they live in San  Juan Capistrano on the way to Studio City.


Craig, Karen and Linda on Rahn de Vous in Canada.

Randy and Cindy, Canadian boating friends. Cricket is on the chair and the polar bear has quite a story. I'll include it in another blog.

I'm still trying to get used to Christmas decorations without snow. It just doesn't seem right! 

Here's how it looks at the Drouhard farm at Christmas.

Drouhard family farm

However, walking around Encinitas in a sweatshirt, and enjoying the Christmas lights works for me. I included a few pictures just so you know that Californians decorate despite the lack of snow!

Matt waiting in line with the penguins

These fun pictures were from Matt. He waited patiently with the penguins for a taco.

And then there was the Yeti!

Matt and the Yeti

I really liked this decorated Airstream trailer. Linda's parents had Airstreams for many years and we had fun travelling with them.

Note Santa on the roof in an airplane!

Matt and Wendy's House

I felt like I needed a fun Christmas picture from the past. Of course I spent a lot of time going through old pictures. It truly is addictive. I found the perfect picture. As a child, our family would go to New York city to visit my Mom's family every Christmas. In particular we enjoyed staying with Aunt Alice and Uncle Frank's family. We would always make a trip to Jahn's Ice cream parlor. I will always remember the nickelodian that still worked. In addition to being a player piano, it had drums, horns cymbals, etc. They also had an unimaginable number of Sundae options. But the crown jewel was the Kitchen Sink. It was huge, with many flavors of ice cream, syrups, nuts whipped cream, etc.  It was so large that Jahn's said if one person could finish it, he/she could take one home for free! My 6 year older brother John and his friend were determined to finish one themselves. Never happened but a fun memory.

 So of course, I wanted to share the Jahn's experience with Linda, Wendy and Rebecca. Here we were at Jahn's, so we just had to order one. But even though the picture shows only five people, there were many more of us. By the time we got to the bottom, all the syrups chocolate and ice cream melted and mixed together. We were smart enough to leave some in the bowl. Here's a little history.

From left: Rebecca, Wendy, Aunt Alice, 
cousin Marialice, Grandma Franko

Yesterday's Dream

I had to include a Christmas picture of Yesterday's Dream. Linda and I spent many wonderful Christmas seasons on Yesterday's Dream. People warned me that the holidays would be tough without Linda. I continue to miss her. They were correct, as I suspected. But the memories, family and friends helped make it a Merry Christmas.


Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year! It surely will be better than 2020!

December 30th: Christmas

It was Christmas and we were determined to have a great one. One could come up with a lot of reasons to skip the whole thing this year. But that would have been very sad. We truly needed Christmas and the hope it brings for the future.

Wendy had a great suggestion. She said, "Make a list 50 things you accomplished this year that you are proud of." I asked, "What if I can't come up with 50 things?" She said, "Then you should try harder!" It was a great suggestion. Over several days I made a list. It was easier than I thought. The list went well over 50. Then I decided to add, "Why am I proud of this?" Next I decided to attempt to rank them by order of importance. I have spent a great deal of time and emotion this year missing Linda and have come to recognize part of that is anxiety about what do I do now? As I look toward setting goals for the future, I believe this will help. I recommend the exercise, especially as you think about goals for 2021.

Typically I'd have pictures of our family enjoying Christmas dinner, opening presents, etc. This year we all decided to donate to food banks and skip the presents. I was very impressed to learn that the San Diego Food Bank can provide 5 meals for every One dollar donated. So picture opportunities were limited and I used last year's Christmas photo.

Linda, Steve, Wendy, Matt, Rebecca, Trevi and London

We did get a few pictures at Matt and Wendy's Christmas dinner. Here is a selfie of Matt, Wendy and me. The dinner was great. We Facetimed the new Superwoman movie together with Rebecca in Studio City and truly enjoyed the evening.

Christmas Dinner

Matt and Wendy's tree. The fish behind the tree is from
Bobcaygeon, Ontario. Wendy claimed it when we moved to the trawler.

The Christmas Turkey

Great cookies

I also have some pictures friends shared, so we could at least enjoy Christmas decorations virtually.

Craig and Karen's nautical theme tree (of course), Boating friends we met in Canada and became great friends. Nice that they live in San  Juan Capistrano on the way to Studio City.


Craig, Karen and Linda on Rahn de Vous in Canada.

Randy and Cindy, Canadian boating friends. Cricket is on the chair and the polar bear has quite a story. I'll include it in another blog.

I'm still trying to get used to Christmas decorations without snow. It just doesn't seem right! 

Here's how it looks at the Drouhard farm at Christmas.

Drouhard family farm

However, walking around Encinitas in a sweatshirt, and enjoying the Christmas lights works for me. I included a few pictures just so you know that Californians decorate despite the lack of snow!

Matt waiting in line with the penguins

These fun pictures were from Matt. He waited patiently with the penguins for a taco.

And then there was the Yeti!

Matt and the Yeti

I really liked this decorated Airstream trailer. Linda's parents had Airstreams for many years and we had fun travelling with them.

Note Santa on the roof in an airplane!

Matt and Wendy's House

I felt like I needed a fun Christmas picture from the past. Of course I spent a lot of time going through old pictures. It truly is addictive. I found the perfect picture. As a child, our family would go to New York city to visit my Mom's family every Christmas. In particular we enjoyed staying with Aunt Alice and Uncle Frank' family. We would always make a trip to Jahn's Ice cream parlor. I will always remember the nickelodian that still worked. In addition to being a player piano, it had drums, horns cymbals, etc. They also had an unimaginable number of Sundae options. But the crown jewel was the Kitchen Sink. It was huge, with many flavors of ice cream, syrups, nuts whipped cream, etc.  It was so large that Jahn's said if one person could finish it, he/she could take one home for free! My 6 year older brother John and his friend were determined to finish one themselves. Never happened but a fun memory.

 So of course, I wanted to share the Jahn's experience with Linda, Wendy and Rebecca. Here we were at Jahn's, so we just had to order one. But even though the picture shows only five people, there were many more of us. By the time we got to the bottom, all the syrups chocolate and ice cream melted and mixed together. We were smart enough to leave some in the bowl. Here's a little history.

From left: Rebecca, Wendy, Aunt Alice,
cousin Marialice, Grandma Franko

Yesterday's Dream

I had to include a Christmas picture of Yesterday's Dream. Linda and I spent many wonderful Christmas seasons on Yesterday's Dream. People warned me that the holidays would be tough without Linda. I continue to miss her. They were correct, as I suspected. But the memories, family and friends helped make it a Merry Christmas.


Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year! It surely will be better than 2020!

December 19th: Getting into the Christmas Spirit Christmas

 I meant to share a couple fun birthday cards on my last blog. Better late than never. Wendy did another creative job with her Cricut machine. The trouble is the cards are so nice I don't know what to do with them other than save them. 

Rebecca, not to be outdone, sent this very entertaining card! 

She said she tried very hard to resist buying it, but in the end just couldn't pass it up. I think it's great!

Solitary Sea Anemone 
Anthopleura Sola

I must have been tired when I posted the last blog. In reviewing my last blog, I also remembered I posted pictures of anemones but I didn't provide the information about them. I had found a good site that gives some more information. Interesting little critters! California Tidal Pool Sea Anemones

California Sea Slug - About10 inches long

I went to the tidal pools because it was a very low tide. A young boy spotted this sea slug. It is about 10 inches long. Never saw one in the tidal pools before.

I was debating about whether or not to get a Christmas tree. After all, it's just me, nobody is visiting and Matt and Wendy would have a tree. Matt chimed in with his advice. Something like, "Of course you need a tree. Go to Home Depot and get a nice small potted tree and we'll plant it in the yard after Christmas." Sounded good to me. Turned out I had to get a cut fir tree because all the potted trees were pine trees. I'm allergic to pine trees but not fir trees. 

As I was growing up my twin brother and I had allergies which prevented our family from getting a live tree. We had no idea a fir tree would work. Also, I don't know if they were available back then. I will say, it was kind of fun to have one of the first aluminum Christmas trees and my Dad made the color wheel lighting/reflecting device.

Linda is 5 foot 4 inches tall. She said she
was staying away when I cut the twine.

I first discovered I could get a fir tree in 2001 at Sagamore Hills, Ohio when a friend told me my allergies would be fine. Finally, I could get a real tree. Our new home had a peaked ceiling. Perfect for a giant tree. I went all out. Linda seemed to think I was getting carried away, but she humored me. And, I know she thought it was great once it was up and decorated.

Turned out decorating the top of the tree was a challenge. I had a six foot step ladder but the tree was quite wide. I don't remember it being as precarious as it looks in this picture. I think it's just the angle?

Sagamore Hills tree

These pictures bring back a lot of fun memories. Of course I need my own tree this year. Matt was right. Can't let the coronavirus stop me from making new fun memories. 

So I found a very nice little 4 ft. fir tree. Perfect for my living room. I wasn't concerned about cutting the twine!

I was able to order some miniature retro glass ornaments from Pottery Barn and pick them up curbside. Plus, I had found a unique, old, glass snowman garland at a thrift shop with Wendy. I've never seen anything like it. Very fun!

Glass snowman garland

Matt and Wendy had some extra lights so I was all set. I'm enjoying my cute little tree. Maybe Linda was right, perhaps I was getting carried away with my giant trees? Nah, I don't think so!

Belleview Ave Christmas Tree 2020

The surfers have been loving this late Fall weather. Last Saturday the conditions were great for surfing at Swami's, the premier surfing spot around san Diego. It was fun watching the surfers. On a great day

like that the really good surfers come out in droves. The best surf is just off the point so it is not a huge area. There are so many surfers in the water, it's amazing they can surf without banging into each other. There is "Surfing etiquette" for who gets to stay on a wave if several try to catch the same wave. Newbies are not welcome in this crowded area. Not a place for beginners!

Termite tenting

As I keep saying, I never know what I'll see when walking. The other day I walked down the street toward the ocean where there are very nice homes overlooking the ocean. One was completely covered with colorful canvas. This house is much larger than the photo can show because of the hill. 

Back of the house and garage

The front appears to have three stories and the back is one story. This tenting is used to fumigate and remove termite infestations. Just hauling in that much canvas has to be very costly! The house next door to this house was torn down, (See Sept 8th blog) Although a very nice home at one time, it was in a serious state of neglected upkeep. I suspect the termites were in that house and then needed a place to go. Only guessing but I'd be nervous if I owned the house on the other side!

I'm still riding my bike to the San Elijo Lagoon and walking the trails. After some significant conservation efforts, all the trails are now open. The County has done a very nice job with the park. In an earlier blog I posted a picture with hundreds of little colored flags marking the types of native plants that were planted after some major regrading along the river. 

San Elijo Lagoon
Restoration August 2020

The picture on the left was taken the beginning of October. The plants
are doing very well even though there has been no rain. The picture on the right was taken a week ago, so the plants have done well over the last two months. Very nice to see.

San Elijo Currently

Great white heron

Merganser Ducks

There is an increasing number of birds in the lagoon. Today I saw a Great White Heron, some Snowy egrets, some Merganser ducks, a Coot, an Osprey, seagulls, some yellow finches and even a Canadian Goose. 

Snowy Egrets

The lagoon encompasses a very large area and the trails leave plenty of open space for the birds. Nice for the birds, but hard to get good pictures without a really good camera.

Yucca 4 months ago

Yucca plant starting to blossom

For the last 4 months I've been watching a yucca plant with a very tall blossom stalk. It is finally starting to open. I'll continue to take pictures as it evolves. The stalk is well over 10 feet tall. You can see a spot at the top where it is starting to open.

As I was walking, I saw this subtle California style political statement on the window of an old Volkswagon Van. I guess I'm easily entertained!

First round penguin choices

Wendy and I are still making shirts. It's fun and something to do. I decided I needed a penguin shirt. First I checked out all the penguin options. The design part is critical. I selected some of these from which to choose. Then I found the ones I wanted! 

The shirt turned out great. A surprise was when I was wearing the t-shirt and walked into my bathroom at night. I hadn't turned the light on yet and when I looked in the mirror two sets of eyes were staring at me. I didn't realize the eyes and bellies of the penguins were glow in the dark. Pretty fun!

Looking forward to Christmas. We decided to make turkey again brined in buttermilk. It was so good at Thanksgiving we decided to do it again. We'll Facetime again with Rebecca. Have a great Christmas everyone!