“Meet Me in St. Louis” is one of my favorite all time movies, especially at Christmas. Enjoy the beautiful voice of Judy Garland in “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
I remember my Aunt Linda visiting us in Palm Springs when my son was around four years old. He asked her to watch a movie with him. She was so surprised that it was “Meet Me in St. Louis” and thrilled it wasn’t Barney!
Merry Christmas!
It’s time to turn in my final project for photography class. I’ve been taking photos of sea glass that I’ve shared along the way HERE and HERE.
Sea glass has both Meaning and Memory for me (FYI, that’s the theme of this semester’s final project.) My memories are from summers at the beach which were my favorite days of being a mom. As for meaning, one is that change always happens. For example, the purpose and original form of bottles change through time. Bottles turn into beautiful glass pieces tumbled in the sea. We also change — but it doesn’t mean that we no longer have purpose or beauty.
I took photos for the past few months of sea glass. Outside by the pool at different times of day. On glass tables by the pool, inside in jars, glasses and on glass with light coming from different directions.
For this project, I looked through photo albums and found pictures from our summers at the beach. Every year, I took photos of our kids and used them for Christmas cards. I scanned old photos and improved them using Adobe Camera Raw. The quality of the old photos taken with film are fuzzy compared to the new photos using a DSLR. But they have memory and meaning as well.
Here are the photos for my final project:
The Palm Springs gang on a beach day.
In the original photo, the hand looked like it was boiled bright red. A little Adobe Camera Raw and it’s more natural looking.
One of my favorite sea glass photos.
All that’s needed for entertainment is sand, the ocean and big stick.
Two more sea glass photos I took by our pool in the morning light.
I never heard the end of making my kids sit on this rocky outcropping. They asked me, “Why did you make us sit on an ashtray?” I didn’t know that this was a favorite place to smoke for locals. It was covered with cigarette butts!
Our daughter with a fist full of sea glass.
College age kids.
The final sea glass photo taken on a glass table with a light underneath.
I hope you enjoyed my final project.
Which photos do you like and why?
I watched this squirrel who is much larger than my little Harris’ Antelope Squirrel of the Sonoran Desert. I watched this guy scramble up the chain link fence and dance around the tennis players.
Our trip to help our son post surgery plus spend time with our daughter and DIL, has come to a close. We’ll see them in a few weeks at Christmas, which seems unbelievable! Time flies when you’re having fun.
Here are a few sights I saw on my way to the French bakery near the hotel:
Morning Glories!
This was a Bonzai in front of a house.
A very happy house, indeed!
I think this is some sort of a maple, but I’ve never seen one shaped like this.
At the bakery waiting in line. My son said this is the best bakery in the East Bay.
When a place is good and has a reputation there is a line. I waited in line for 30 minutes for sandwiches. They sold out within an hour Saturday, so Sunday I went right at 11 a.m. when they start selling them. Once inside, I read the sign that said: “Sandwiches Tuesday through Saturday.”
Oh well. I found a few other things to try.
Whew! Back at the hotel with a box of goodies. Ready to visit the kids for one last time before we head home.
Once home, it’s unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping and feeling grounded again.
What on the agenda for your week?
I wish I had my camera, but on Veterans Day I spent some time taking pictures with my iphone around the Claremont Resort and Club, the historic hotel where we’re staying. I had to get photos while I could — because an atmospheric river and torrential rain was in the forecast for the rest of our trip.
Two days later it is pouring! I’m at my son’s apartment now and I couldn’t leap over the river that was rushing down the curb by his sidewalk. Now I’ve got soaking wet shoes and socks!
Flag at half mast for Veterans Day.
The hallway to our room. The blue light doesn’t show to the naked eye. I think it’s an effect of blue panels along the wall and the light reflecting on them.
Views of San Francisco from the resort.
Views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The lobby.
Looking from a balcony on the Lobby level towards the tennis courts.
Another city view.
A view of the hotel.
The Club — gym, swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room — can be found at the building in the background. The Club has memberships for local residents for tennis, swimming and the gym. It even has a youth swim team who practices there.
A view towards the Club from the Lobby.
Where are some of your favorite places to visit and favorite hotels?
A photo I took of Red on his flamingo buddy the day before we left.
Travel day turned out to be uneventful, thankfully. There wasn’t a single delay or cancelled flight on the boards when we arrived. We got through TSA in a snap. Waffles was a trooper and besides finding the one stray M&M under a seat in the airport, he was well behaved.
After asking my husband repeatedly if he had packed his swimming trunks, when I unpacked at the hotel, I realized that I had forgotten my swim suit. The hotel has an amazing spa with a steam room, jacuzzi and pool. I was looking forward to daily lap swimming and enjoying the luxury of soaking in their various tubs and using the steam room and sauna.
Where I sat outside with Waffles waiting for a friend of my daughter’s to pick him up for a week. This was outside the hotel with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. My daughter needs one more week to heal from her shoulder surgery before she can take care of Waffles the pug.
Sunrise view from our bedroom at home before we left for the airport.
Ginger snaps and chocolate chunk cookies my son baked for us the day before his surgery.
I lost a lot of sleep over travel worries and worry about my son. Although he’s in a lot of pain post surgery, the doctor said it went well.
One of the sea glass photos I took yesterday in the morning light. Two more photos are below.
I was on the phone Friday with a neighbor, talking about a funeral for another neighbor when my son called and called. I got off the phone, called my son back and was hit with the news that his surgery had been moved up. He asked if I could change my flights and hotel and come up to help him.
The level of panic and stress I immediately felt was due to the chaos at our Phoenix airport. We’re number three in the country for delays. Plus I’ve read that they may need to cancel 20% of flights.
I talked it over with my husband who decided to go with me. I called Southwest and they quickly changed our flights and it was at no additional cost. I also made sure they had Waffles the Pug on their guest list. Arranging new dates for the hotel was a little more difficult because of a poor connection and the person helping me had an accent that I struggled with.
I was relieved to get everything all arranged. But we are scheduled to leave in a day rather than two weeks. So, I’m feeling overwhelmed.
At our neighbor’s funeral on Saturday, we turned off the ringers on our phones. (It was an amazing service and it was an honor to be included for a celebration of life for such a unique, kind, intelligent man. I’m glad we got to know him during the past few years.)
We forgot to turn the ringers back on. My friend from Santa Barbara was stranded at the Phoenix airport and wanted to spend the night, but we missed her call and her husband’s. She was traveling back from the East Coast after visiting her mom. Her Phoenix to Santa Barbara connection was cancelled.
This doesn’t bode well for our upcoming flight to Oakland. But hopefully, we’ll make it in time to be helpful post our son’s surgery. The reason why they moved up his procedure? The nurses are going on strike the week he was previously scheduled. Oh my! What could go wrong on this trip?
The sun reflecting in the pool behind my mountain of sea glass.
Do you have any flights to be concerned about in the next few weeks?
Which sea glass photo do you like and why?
It’s that time of the month to post my son and DIL’s reading syllabus for the next month! My DIL teaches English at a private school for students who may struggle with school for various reasons, but are very intelligent. I’m posting the current reading assignments in case you’d like to follow along — or are looking for something good to read.
I will admit, I didn’t keep up with October’s reading list. I wondered how the month went by so quickly! I did read — plus listen to “Revolutionary Road” by Richard Yates. I read Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” on the flight to and from Oakland. I’m currently reading “The Stranger” by Camus.
I’m behind, but the syllabus is expanding my reading to include poetry, novellas, plays and fiction that I normally wouldn’t read. I see that as a good thing, even though I’m not sticking to the schedule.
My son had his pre-op appointment for his surgery and wouldn’t you know it? It’s the day after my bunion surgery. I postponed my surgery until next year. I’m going up to take care of my son in November for his surgery, just like I did in October for my daughter. We are enjoying taking care of our grand-dog Waffles in between surgeries. We are on a pretty good schedule and I look forward to our walks together almost as much as Waffles does!
What a smile our snaggle-tooth Waffles has!
Have a great weekend! Happy Halloween!
What exciting plans do you have for the weekend?
