Joey and Spot cuddling together.

This is one Lucky Ducky!

Television: Yesterday and Today (Rev.)

From the size and shape to sound and color, television has changed significantly since its origins. The first televisions offered were large, heavy sets with small screens. Television sets today have smaller inner workings and much bigger screens but they can still be large and heavy. The addition of a high definition picture and stereo sound increased viewing pleasure. However, nothing added more pleasure than the change from black and white film to color. Watching black and white television allowed your brain to apply color to what your eyes were seeing, so color programs weren’t necessary for the enjoyment of television watching. That is, until you saw your first color program. A color set provided more visually appealing and realistic programming. No longer used by the television industry, black and white still lives on today through slang. A “black and whiter” refers to a person who grew up watching black and white television. Although televisions have come a long way in the past sixty years, the enjoyment people (and some animals) derived from watching it is still the same.

Desert Paradise

Travel 120 miles south of the Mexican border, between the Sea of Cortez and the Sierra San Pedro Martir mountain range to the State of Sonora and you will find the usually quiet fishing town of San Felipe, Baja, birthplace of the fish taco. Situated on the northeastern coast of the Baja Peninsula, nestled around a horseshoe shaped bay, San Felipe is not only a Spring Break destination but also a stop for many in the Baja race circuit. The area’s varied geography supports a diverse array of outdoor activities, most of which involve a motor vehicle of some kind: motorcycle, 4-wheel drive, or Baja buggy. Since San Felipe is in the desert walking and hiking activities are fairly limited, although golf is very popular. Besides swimming, scuba diving is the primary water sport and the warm shallow Sea of Cortez is filled with stunning marine life.

My family has a small cabin down in San Felipe to which I travel every year to enjoy the gorgeous scenery as well as the diverse animal and plant life that can be found in the region. Most prevalent in our neighborhood is the tall, graceful ocotillo cactus, although there are over a hundred varieties of cactus found in the Gran Desierto. One of the most well-known is the Cardon cactus and the worlds largest was found in this area. It made me sad when I found out this glorious monster cactus was uprooted and shipped to Spain, sold off by the local government to the highest bidder. Most of the cacti remain brown throughout the summer season, sometimes all year round. But if the winter rainfalls are adequate, the vivid red, purple, and yellow flowering cacti create a spectacular scene.

Get up early and watch the brilliant orange, rose and yellow sunrise creep leisurely over the rugged rock and spill over the sandy beach. The waves roll slowly over the shallow shoreline and produce a peaceful sound to match the beautiful setting. That beach is one of the only places I will go barefoot. The sand is soft and smooth, unlike other warm water beaches which are often covered by crushed seashells and rocks, and comes from the low cliffs surrounding the horseshoe bay. Strong Santa Ana winds blow down the mountain range from California and across the desert to the sea. These annual winds and the occasional hurricane blast the sand loose from the cliffs and scatter it across the beach. One year an artist carved a full skull right into the cliff face with a stylized sun carved to the left of the skull and a saguaro cactus to the right. If you were able to climb the cliff, you could easily sit two people in the skull’s lower jaw. It was spectacular the year it was carved, but five years later there is no trace left.

I recall one holiday meal when we turned the dinner table to face the ocean. While we ate we watched flocks of pelicans gliding above the waves. From this direction, you can also see a large rock extending proudly above the horizon. About eighty miles from shore, the rock stands at almost the halfway point to the Mexican mainland. It is a popular landmark for the local fishermen. San Felipe is primarily a fishing town, and at almost any hour of the day or night, fishing boats can be seen bobbing offshore; at night their running lights twinkle through the waves. The catch is mainly shrimp and white fish which is lovely grilled and served by the local restaurants in the fish tacos that sell two for a dollar.

California or Bust

I drove to the San Francisco Bay area this weekend to attend a friend's wedding. It was quite a long road trip, but lots of fun.

I was one of ten friends and family of the groom who made the trip from Washington to attend. He was married in a beautiful little church in the center of Benicia, located just north of San Francisco. The reception was held at the Benicia Historical Museum, also called the Camel Barns. In the 1850's, the U.S. Army used camels as pack animals; this was the building where the camels were previously housed. The museum is located upstairs in the “barn”. Good friends, good food, and good music-it was a great wedding.

Congratulations and best wishes to Kerry and Angela!

Do you want to go out with me?

On your first date be prepared for any event or activity, exhibit positive and supportive behaviors, and be excited when he shares his interests with you.

Don’t have expectations with regard to the evening’s adventure. Have a willingness to try new things. Get out of his warm car in a driving rain. Change his flat tire. Re-enter with a smile on your face and get on with the evening. It won’t be one you’ll soon forget.

It’s not uncommon for your date to answer his cell phone during dinner. You should smile. Try not to eavesdrop. Be patient with him while he talks. And be very understanding when he sincerely apologizes for his wife’s continuous interruptions. This works every time.

After dinner, you should be open to going back to his place to watch Sports Center. Pay attention to his riveting sports-related conversation. Nod every now and then, as if interested. Tell him you went to a game - once. Don’t fall asleep on his couch. Finally, thank him for the wonderful evening and tell him you’d like to see him again.

If you want to be sure to be asked out a second time be spontaneous, be agreeable, and be genuinely interested in his passions. Following these easy steps can pay off in a big way!


Run!

Superbowl XLIII Commercial

Very realistic-looking ladybugs, grasshoppers, butterflies, and other bugs I cannot identify, conspire together to steal an unopened Coke bottle from a man sleeping on the grass in a park. Awesome computer-generated graphics and humor made this one of my favorite Superbowl XLIII commercials.

Dinker

His given name was Richard, but with two Richards it became too confusing when speaking to or about them. I asked him for a nickname and from then on he was Dinker. It’s a funny name; I had to ask him about it. He told me it was the name of one of his boats which in turn was named after one of his Weimaraners, Dink.

Born in 1923, he was the younger brother of Mary and Charles. Growing up, all three children spent time split between their mother’s boarding house in Bremerton and granny’s farm in Port Orchard, aptly named the Homestead. Homesteaded by Dinker’s grandparents in 1889, this was the true home of his heart. With over 200 acres of wooded forests and wildflower-covered hills, a swamp, pond and an orchard in which they played, the children spent many happy hours at the Homestead. A typical rural farm life included activities that most young boys enjoyed: fishing in the local streams and lakes, and hunting for deer, geese, squirrels, and other small critters. Boys being boys, there were some small discipline problems along the way.

Given only a couple of choices at the time, he enlisted in the Navy at the tender age of seventeen. It was September 1941- just enough time to graduate boot camp before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Dinker shared many horrific and humorous tales of that time. Through his stories I could tell how much he loved the Navy and his comrades, and he made lifetime friends there.

During this time, Dinker married, had a daughter, and divorced. It was a bitter divorce brought about by his long absences at sea. He didn’t meet his daughter again until she was thirty-five years old. But life goes on and so did he. He married again, had a son, Bill, and divorced again. Bill lived between his mother’s house and with his father, wherever he was stationed in the world at that time. After retiring in 1964, Bill and Dinker lived full-time at the Homestead where he was employed as the Chief of Police at the Bremerton Naval shipyard. When he retired from that position, his fishing life began. I think that was the happiest time of his life because he was free to pursue his passions: fishing, everyday if he wanted, and traveling. He enjoyed his life to its fullest.

Dinker had been diabetic for nine years and had severe neuropathy in his feet and legs, when a serious stroke had his family thinking about his long-term care. He was seventy-nine when I first met him and he resented me: he wanted to maintain his independence. But soon we developed an extremely close relationship, he treated me like a daughter and we shared many confidences and good times together for the four years I was his caregiver.

After he moved to the veteran’s home, I moved into his house at the Homestead. There are still items around here of his: the WWII CPO license plate screwed to the house; on the garden fence in front is the sign that reads “Dad’s Garden”; the canoe-shaped picture frame holding photos of him on his boat; the fishing gear that still takes up half the garage, and; a very large yellow lab, Big Dog, are just some.

Whenever I feel the desire to talk to him or be close to him, it’s only a ten minute walk across the Homestead, to the family graveyard where we interred him a year ago. After spending two years at Retsil, I’m glad he was able to come back to his home again.

Three Strikes and You’re Out!

Many things can happen on a first date, but three things you don’t want that could lead to refusing a second date are: learning about his unhealthy dining practices or his questionable hobbies and meeting his family.

Civilized eating habits are invaluable when it comes to successful first impressions. Learning about your date’s eating habits by meeting his tapeworm could lead to an aborted evening. Learning its name should not make you feel more at ease with the situation.

Sharing some form of entertainment on a first date is a normal activity. However, when opting to see a movie staying in to watch his “amateur” videos on YouTube can be awkward. Sometimes taking charge of the night’s entertainment is beneficial.

The prospect of meeting his family can add undue pressure to a first date. Visiting the family pig farm to help look for Uncle Fester’s missing glass eye may not encourage a second date. Care should be taken to behave as if all behaviors are normal until a safe distance from the scene can be ensured.

Meeting your date’s family and learning about his hobbies and dining practices may be customary on a first date but it can be detrimental to a second date. Therefore, it is important to be aware of any glaring peculiarities that your date may display during the evening.

My Birthday Party

This weekend I had a birthday party. I won’t mention how many this makes because at a certain point, you just quit keeping track.

My sister with her friends came from Seattle and all but one of my closest friends were there. The theme of the party was fondue. Everyone brought something to dip in cheese, chocolate, or oil.

There were several types of hard crusted bread along with fresh, raw vegetables and pasta for dipping in three different cheese fondues: blue cheese, Guyere with Fontina, and Swiss. Dried fruit, sponge cake, angel food cake, and plain and cocoa dusted marshmallows were for dipping in dark chocolate Amaretto or milk chocolate with chilies. Chicken, shrimp, and beef quick-cooked in garlic flavored oil rounded out the food selection, and our bellies.

We ate, played pool and laughed a lot. It was the perfect birthday party, all topped off with some snow. Yum.

Arrgh!

The noise from the excited, screaming crowd watching is so loud I can barely hear the deafening cannon blast behind me, but the sight of all the people that come to the annual Torchlight Parade is always exhilarating. Through my distressed costume I can feel the chilly breeze. The pirate in me doesn’t care because the slight air movement carries toxic-smelling smoke to unsuspecting parade participants. There is a smoke bomb in a small can tied at my hip, the acrid sulfur smell wafts around me, assaulting my senses and of those around me. The enveloping, yellow cloud of smoke is almost blinding and I nearly gag from the sickening taste. As the hot smoke burns my nose and eyes, realization hits that the heat I feel coming from the small can at my hip is also burning my costume. The smoke bomb is on fire! Running into the local fire station, I yell for help. After staring at me for a second, the firemen burst out laughing. Apparently they don't know it’s not just another joke by one of the crazy Pirates. Complaining about “useless firemen”, I seek help elsewhere. Relief comes at the landing craft as a brother pirate pours ice water into my burning can and all over me. It is a bone chilling ice bath, but that's okay, because at least I’m not on fire anymore.