The Fight of the Century Imagine being on a motorcycle trip through Turkey during a Trump-inspired war (of a sort) between Turkey and neighboring Syria. Now imagine being a very left-leaning liberal who has been struggling for several years to comprehend how America got to such a low-point as to actually elect a dolt like Trump to the highest office in the land, nay, the world. You find yourself amidst a group of close friends…
Mendocino In 1969, a small, obscure rock/blues/country band called Sir Douglas Quintet came out with a song about their newfound state’s groovy northern coast. Mendocino was born in April that year and spent 27 weeks on the Billboard charts, topping out at 27th. That carried it through Woodstock, when the music world shifted. In fact, one could go so far as to say that a Texas-originated band like Sir Douglas Quartet, that clearly took on…
El Camino Real We have just finished our tour of fourteen of the California Missions, meaning that we have now visited all twenty-one full-fledged missions that were established by the Spaniards who pushed north from Mexico into Las Californias to explore and settle this wondrous land between 1683 and 1835. Las Californias consisted of three sections ranging from Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of what we call Baja California up to Sonoma, north…
Summering in Winter I know it’s not yet summer and that we are still two months away from calendar summer, but we have had enough 80-degree days so far this year and that causes me to call this functional summer. We are on our trip up to Mendocino for a few days, spending our first night on Moonstone Beach. Mark Twain is attributed with having said that the coldest winter he ever spent was a…
Making a Music Video Kim has always had and still has a passion for music. From singing and dancing in the girl’s room in Kindergarten to studying theater at Indiana University to doing the Broadway musical roadshow circuit to playing cabaret to being Board President of Singnasium, Kim is all about music. She is constantly taking classes at Singnasium. Here favorites have been jazz singing and scatting with Gabrielle Stravelli. She is currently taking a…
Back on Mission I am writing this in the few days before Kim and I leave our little hilltop to head north for a postponed trip to Mendocino with our friends Frank and Loretta. We initially planned this trip in the midst of my obsession about the Mission trail through California. We have already visited seven of the missions (San Diego Alcala, San Luis Rey, San Juan Capistrano, San Gabriel Arcangel, San Fernando Rey, San…
Planting Seeds I have set up this week to be a getaway week because I will be traveling next week. It is always more relaxing if I do not have too much hanging over my head when I am undertaking a road trip. That isn’t an unusual sense and many would share that preference, but being the high-focus person that I am, it is an especially important alignment for me. I am one of those…
Normal is as Normal Does Last night we had dinner at C-Level, which is a nicer restaurant on Harbor Island in North San Diego Bay. It is near the airport (SAN) and across the Bay from North Coronado Island, where the U.S. Navy haas a large base that constitutes its major West Coast presence. This restaurant is notable to us both because we like it for its setting and food and because it is the…
How Much is Too Much Now that I have done my “Year in Provence” year on this hilltop, I am faced with the ongoing issue of where to stop and enjoy versus keep improving. It is a very personal decision. Have you seen those quirky houses that someone invariable does a segment on. The sea shell house that has sea shells imbedded in concrete, stone walls and stucco walls is one I recall. The Who…
Taxes My youngest son just called me. He is doing his taxes on TurboTax and he had a question about some trust income and a K-1 that he had received that showed some foreign-source income. His question was whether he should include it or not in his return. I gave him my best answer to his questions to the best of my understanding as to how he should present his taxes to the IRS and…