October Picture of the Month contest:
#1 J meditating over blueberry muffin in Oakland airport (submitted by KM)
#2 (submitted by KM): 53 years of wedded bliss, or DB pointing out the beauty of the moment to a blind THB
#3 Whoa, it's a bit early to be going all-in for Halloween
October 1 Floor almost done at the Loft
Kitchen not quite done yet
Closet not done yet
Jughead looks different with the light coming through from back, chin on down is clear glass
October 3 Lunch At Cafe Aquatica,: Spend the night with CQ and MQ at their cabin near Guerneville and have lunch on a gorgeous day overlooking the Russian River where it merges with the Pacific Ocean; sandwiches, salad and clam chowder, no marauding sea gulls
October 4 Spend night with twins and parental units. Girls seem very happy with their pre-kindergarten / day care at a local school. Neighbors are gearing up for the big month-end holiday
October 7 Are crazy drivers the new norm? A hangover from empty freeways in the early days of Covid? Today THB saw
1. While THB waited for the light to turn green, two pedestrians stepped off the curb to cross the street in the opposite crosswalk, perfectly normal. A car coming towards them, instead of waiting to make a left turn until the peds made it safely to other side, made a turn into the oncoming traffic lanes in front of the peds (fortunate that no cars were coming), and avoided hitting the peds, all in order to not wait a few seconds for the peds to finish crossing the street. Truism: If the rock hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the rock, it isn't good for the pitcher.
2. As THB was making a left turn a scooter rider going maybe 30 mph ran a stop sign about 30 yards ahead, making THB have to decide to stop in the way of the scooter or speed up to complete the left turn. Truism: If the rock hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the rock, it isn't good for the pitcher.
3. THB was in the left hand lane on a freeway, going at the rate of speed of the other cars. A driver pulled up right behind THB and then drove in the shoulder lane at around 80mph to bypass THB. The shoulder lane: the new passing lane, who knew! At the same time, another speeding driver was passing the traffic by going in the far right lane. Were they racing? The outcome was going thru a toll booth and ending up on a two lane bridge going 50-60mph and THB caught up to them in a minute or two.
October 8: The circus comes to the beach and Sandy wants to try out
October 9: The Emery scaffolding comes down on the last building under construction, opening around mid-2023...which means the park across the street should also be done by then. The shuttle from The Emery to West Oakland BART has begun running (will our E-ville HOA make the announcement to residents?)
October 12: Centerwell has purchased Humana By Mail drug fulfillment and here is THB's latest e-mail message:
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THB thinks Centerwell is not protecting his privacy the way the way they think they are.
October 13:
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October 14: THB et al are off to Tieton WA to apple pick. Along are DB, KM, EM, and the twins. Today is a travel date. Cool in E-ville, warm on the road from SeaTac to Yakima and very hazy from fires burning to the north
Yes, but which parking lot is the car in?
Twins have made different travel clothing decisions
Seatmates: J wanted the window so THB gets a middle seat (guess which one had to go to the potty first?)
Pirate Booty, what's that? Will THB like it? Try it, grandpa
Other than not finding the keys twice, a constant rattling when going over 60 mph, a twist dial gear shift, and a slight delay leaving SeaTac, we all fit
Our rest stop, Lake Easton State Park, is well worth the $10 entry fee
Thank goodness the twins don't want to go swimming
THB and DB, SC and CC and one more couple from LA have an awesome meal (every bit as good as it was 4-5 years ago) in the "new" backyard. DB order the S'mores for dessert, all the mains and small plates are exceptional, great that the entire table shared plates
Junior crew members
The flatbeds pulled by tractors heading out
THB giving advice to C&J on how to decorate boxes - Grandpa, we got this!
Boxes starting to fill up, everybody is picking steadily
SC - hostess - and SC of Italy fame sharing a moment
Girls lifting above their weight category
Girls also eating over their weight category
Perfect team for picking high and low
How are we doing? SC finds us two more empty boxes to go along with the 5+ we have filled
Tony bonds with C&J, peeling apples for tastes
Lunch in downtown Tieton after apples are picked
J gets a cupcake for dessert, "before" image
"after" image
Tour through town, lots of mosaics with apple theme
J&C still have energy to burn off at a local park
A local artist-in-residence is working on an installation in an abandoned apple distribution site...spooky!
A sample of CC and SC's cider enjoyed by THB
SC's mandala
J is a pathfinder and gets her own nickname: Trail Blazer Jasmine (TBJ)
SC and CC's house above the mandala
Dinner is take-out where even the tortillas are made to order: THB and DB dine in the hotel food area (breakfast and bar, two free drinks come each night at the hotel)
The Oxford dining room, good for take-out dining at night and open for a hot or cold breakfast
October 15: THB and crew spend a few hours in SeaTac awaiting an uneventful flight down to Oakland. Pick up Sandy and get back to the Loft; our housekeeper has done a miraculous job and the dust is gone, gone, gone. Tomorrow we'll finish putting everything away and be very thankful we survived the new floor process: floor looks great, nothing got broken, there was plenty of deaccessioning, and no more couch-surfing (special thanks to our friends who put us up and to those that offered as well!).
THB goes over the century mark
SeaTac art
Of course there's a story here: this is the train that takes passengers out to the "new" terminal and it is running very, very, very infrequently such that during the wait more passengers are waiting to get on than will fit. Maybe next time the airport signage will give an option of walking...maybe?
Twins are now learning card games. Do they realize that the four adults are playing to win? Two of the adults are playing with a twin in her lap - twins aren't quite old enough yet to hold a hand full of Uno cards.
A first for THB. He uses this restroom and sure enough there is a plastic cot, perfect for taking a short nap, in the restroom. Not too appealing.
No meditating in the airport over this muffin, down the hatch it goes
Sort of a Thomas Struth photo op...our flight is on-time and the twins get the window seats, moms get the middle seats and EM and THB get naps
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