Travels of THB: May at the Dunes, mostly pics

Department of Sacred Offerings: THB finished two books this month he greatly admired. THB will mail them to the first Shakespearean fanatic who requests them. Perfect for the person who is housebound and looking for entertainment that doesn't come up on a screen.

The Club, Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age, Leo Damrosch (paperback, illustrated): A scintillating revue of the era of Sam Johnson (a legendary intellectual, dictionary author and writer of the late 1700s and the foremost Shakespearean analyst of his time) and his awe-struck friend, James Boswell.

The Great Shakespeare Jubilee, Christian Deelman (pub’d 1964, used Clinton, Iowa, public library hardback): a terrific companion to The Club; a witty history of the 1769 Jubilee put on by the greatest actor of the day, David Garrick (a member of The Club) in Will’s birthplace, the sleepy village of Stratford.

Department of Cancellations:

Tokyo Olympics 2020: 100% of hotel fees recovered, still awaiting airline update on cancellation or credit. Not looking good on getting any money or much of a credit
Alaska in June: 2020 cruise and land travel cancelled, re-booked for June 2021
New York in September: theaters are now cancelling performances through early September; THB and DB's tix to see American Utopia (now an unbelievably ironic title) and Girl From the North Country are the last week of September
Colombia and Mexico City in November: trip postponed until May 2021, tour operator has refunded our deposit as has hotel in Mexico City, no update on airline refunds or credits; new date is too close to Alaska trip so THB and DB will not re-book.
Tokyo Olympics 2021: nothing to report, Japanese government says 2021 very unlikely without a vaccine

Pics by Category:

Things That Kill:

THB couldn't figure out if this fit in the Food and Dining category and decided it needed it's own category: Murders at the Colony, staring Gopher Snake

Meal for the next 2-3 weeks; don't touch my plate

A few days later, another gopher snake (maybe the same one) crosses the boardwalk in the same area

Things That Fly

Early in month it was unusual to see any plane in the sky

Now they are flying by more often

Another set of twins?

It's a blurry shot of a fast moving drone that sounded like a helicopter

in the Colony, not on the beach

On the beach

A real helicopter, not a drone, doing recon

A small plane flew over just before...

4 F15's circling S and N Cal

Plover (pronounce Plue-ver) pic by KAM bro-in-law

pic by KAM bro-in-law

Beach Scenes

Early in month

Later in month

dead

THB had never seen one of these on beach before; this month two!

Point Blue naturalist, full of good info

#1 type of trash by count on beach: balloons!

#1 by bulk: one of three flippers found near end of month

Sea lion down near the barge

Many people fishing, it has been a big year for striped bass

High point of MDC

The view from top of the mountain

The barge is rusting away and now looks just like Serra's Tilted Arc

MDC Events

New e-car charging going in

And now it is out again before a single charge

it's backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk....

Back again...functional? Yep, had one charge for $11

THB and DB's new I3 charger, the first one also had to be replaced after a few uses

MDC is now a trailer park. The trailer is actually being used as an artist's studio

THB does his own window washing, using DA passed-down tools

Twins need to be locked in twice

All the gates are now double locked...is it enough?

Another way to contain the twins at night

Garbage pick-up Thursdays

What did THB do this month? Help eradicated conicosia from MDC

many pounds of it...many!

Food and Dining

Great salmon and halibut fresh off the boat; Beticia is not a fishing boat, it is a retail fish store

The Trollery: once a week brisket and a tri-tip sandwiches to go

Ad Astra finds another small farmer's market in Carmel Valley

And their customers find them, quickly!

New feature at the markets: mask booths

Pezzini's for produce

Back in E-ville: Lococo's pizza

And salad

The loft fridge, the top shelf has a few items brought from MDC

Alta Bakery pizza and salad

Enjoyed pizza in Alta's shared outdoor dining area with well spaced chairs and tables

It's not u-pick berry season yet. Just in case it doesn't happen, THB stockpiled frozen ollallies

Breakfast, lunch and dinner on the deck numerous times

Alta Bakery treats

Flowers at MDC

Twins Visits

Jasmine

So precocious that at age 2.6 yrs old she is now able to read the tide chart booklet, possibly upside down

And then adds her own commentary about when it is safe to go down to beach

The Bustamonte penguin was purchased 38 years ago

The wheels on the bus go round and round

Bonding over toothbrushing and TV; the pony tails are a rare happening, the twins take them out shortly

Girls learning the essentials, such as how to keep your car lookin' good

It might be midnight in the Ukraine, it was before 6am and J and THB are sharing toast and butter

It is now 6:30 am and C decides we should order more toast

These girls don't like a stage to go to waste

They take turns playing to the crowd

Helmets come in handy even when not riding their trikes. It's a head on collision, grandma

Sissy made it under in a flash, how come it is so hard for me?

Garages of MDC

Easily the best appointed garage wall in MDC

How long has the remodel below us been going on?

Long enough that they have a port-a-potty which gets emptied every week...3 years? 4 years? The owners have two units (bought in 2015) and told the contractor to make the one below us look just like their unit next door to us, then whenever a question comes up they can't decide what to do.

Pavers for unit 212, right near us in 206

206 again

Unusual to see two cars in a garage; there was someone sitting in car on left

The paver stack is getting shorter

Sunsets, Sunrises, and Moonsets

Pic from NYT...same sunset, different location?

Sherwin Williams Project in E-ville

It's been close to 30 years that this project has been discussed. It officially started construction early May 2020

The main road into the site and eventually the main road into the finished set of 4 new buildings

Pic by GT in 114

This is actually another project going on next to S-W project, a bridge spanning the train tracks and connecting the Bay Street shopping district and...and...and... ? It's why we call it the Bridge to Nowhere. We are in MDC while the pile driving is going on, rattling the windows and scaring the locals who think the tremors are destabilizing the local buildings