Music Room Rug

Vista del Valle Elementary School is eyeing this rug in the 10X13' size for the music room. Ley Yeager, the principal, has opened an account for donations in order to purchase this. With shipping, it comes to $750. If you feel so moved, please make a tax-deductible donation in any amount. Make your check out to Vista del Valle Elementary School, and put Music Rug donation in the memo. Send the check to

Vista del Valle Elementary School

550 Vista Drive

Claremont, CA 91711

With this rug, students' note reading will take on a new dimension as they will be able to step on lines or in spaces to feel exactly where the notes go. They will learn about clefs, note durations, rests and other symbols, from Kindergarten through Sixth Grade. Kindergarteners will have a special space to sit. 3rd graders learning recorder and 4th-6th graders playing strings will play games to enhance their musical skills.

Not only that, but the dull, brown carpet will now be replaced by bright colors. With the budget cuts to education, something like this would never get purchased without help from many, many people. Vista is a Title One school which means that about 2/3 of our students receive free or reduced lunch and breakfast. Because our school is small - around 300 students, our PFA cannot raise the amount of funds that other schools in Claremont can.

Thank you for considering this great cause!

The Last Supper

It has been our tradition to go out to eat the night before either one of our daughters went off to a new semester in college. This is the first semester in 7 years where no one is an undergrad. However, Claire leaves tomorrow to move to Boston to seek her fortune, or at least enough to pay the rent and other bills, so we decided to go to dinner anyway.

We used to go to China Star, but the food got so bad that we started going to different places. Tonight's choice was our old Mexican food standby - Los Jarritos. I had a chile relleno burrito for the first time, and I'll have to say I really liked it!

You can read my music blog to learn about my viola audition today....

Baseball Trade?

So now that Manny Ramierez is leaving the Dodgers for the White Sox, my wish is to have Juan Pierre come back to the Dodgers from the Sox. But I don't think that is going to happen.

Pillars of the Earth

A few years ago, we read Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, nearly 1,000 pages of an epic saga concerning the building of a cathedral in medieval England. The story gripped me (although I had to skim through the violent passages which were pretty graphic). Now a miniseries on Starz, 7 of 8 episodes have not only aired on tv, but are available to stream on Netflix.

One good thing about being able to watch this series is to remember what happened throughout the story. As usual, the book has many more details, but it seems that the character of the story rings true to me in the miniseries. Next weekend we will watch the final episode and that will help me remember how it ended.

Summer Ending - Sort Of

We've had some pretty hot weather this week after a deliciously cool summer. When it gets this hot, we get clouds like this over the mountains. This shot was taken at El Roble Intermediate School just before the last day of summer string camp.

Here are my summer string camp students - 14 in all from 5th-8th grade. Yesterday we performed the 6 pieces we have been working on for the past two weeks. The students were great, as all my string students are - easy to work with and fun to be around. School starts next week!

Retreat Planning

Last Friday, before it got so dang hot (it was 86 already by 9 a.m. today), a group of five women from church went on a little fact-finding mission. We are planning a women's retreat for January at the Glen Ivy Center. We strolled the grounds, examined the lodging and meeting rooms, and ended up with a fabulous salad luncheon in the dining room. This place is so restful and comfortable that none of us wanted to leave. It is going to be a wonderful time.

Another Blog to Follow

Today I draw your attention to a new blog I have listed in my "Blogs I Follow" on the left-hand side of this blog. God, Christ, and Other Mythological Beings: A Guide for the Befuddled started August 15 by my father, a retired religion professor.

Since retirement, Dad has been writing comic novels (check out his other website), but lately he has been thinking about the profession that fed, housed, and clothed our family for many years. Hence the website and a new, nonfiction book. His blog has a tab with his bio, for more information.

Gold Level

So. I rather like Starbucks coffee. It's been easy to support the chain since our daughter has worked there for 2 years. So, when we found out that you get some benefits from registering your card with them (free syrups and soy, free drink on your birthday), I registered a card in 2008. Since each purchase counts as one transaction, Hal got his own card so we'd each get credit for our own drinks.

Well. Starbucks came out with this "Gold Card" and to get it, you only need to buy 30 drinks on your registered card. Then you can get a free drink after every 15 purchases. I started complaining a bit about how if you get a card at some local coffee shop, you get a free drink after every 10 purchases, and that the gold card doesn't even come with a free drink.

My card actually came a few weeks ago (Hal's came yesterday) and it comes with your name and "cardmember since" date printed on it. It looks nice. But I have to stop complaining since it does actually come with a free drink coupon underneath the card.

Of Mice and Men

After a hot day yesterday, it was cool enough to have our book club potluck and discussion outside on our patio. Hal chose the book, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, partly because he is a big Steinbeck fan, but also because he tried to outdo Bill by choosing the shortest book he could find. Bill likes his books short (not necessarily easy, though), and this one weighed in at 107 pages.

The discussion was thoughtful, and I think everyone liked the book, even if we had a variety of interpretations. One thing we noted was how much this novella sets up like a play. The action happens in four places, Steinbeck uses no inner dialogue with plenty of spoken dialogue.

Hal and I even watched the most recent movie after we finished reading it. I thought that this adaptation was very good. John Malkovich plays Lennie, Gary Sinise plays George and directs the film.

Millennium Triology - Part 2

A little light vacation indulgence. After reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I delved into the second book of Stieg Larsson's triology, The Girl Who Played with Fire during our east coast trip. Equally violent as the first book, as well as introducing quite a few characters that I couldn't keep straight, the plot is basically a good mystery whose two main characters I enjoy reading about. I've had friends enjoy this book more than the third one, and some who've liked the third one better. I'll just have to read the next one to see for myself.

Adventures in Public Transportation

Being at a Dodger Game - Fun. Driving to and from a Dodger Game - Not So Fun. Parking at Dodger Stadium - $15. Hence, this experiment. Ride to the Gold Line in Sierra Madre in friend Rich's car (1/2 hour). Gold Line to Union Station (1/2 hour - $1.50).* Free Dodger Shuttle to Dodger Stadium (1/2 hour).

Buy cheap seats in the upper deck. View is pretty good, even if the players are the size of mites. Final Score - Reds 3, Dodgers 1.
Reverse field. Free Dodger Shuttle to Union Station - (1 hour). Gold Line to Sierra Madre Villas - (1/2 hour). Drive home - 1/2 hour. Home by 12:15 a.m.

Not sure we'll do it again that way, but it WAS an adventure!

*Meet friends Joyce, Tom, and Allison on the Gold Line, quite serendipitously and enjoy a fun conversation until we leave the shuttle bus and disappear into the crowds - Priceless.

Photos on the Web

I finally put up photos on my picasa site from our recent east coast trip. Of the 300+ photos, I culled about 24 of the best. I think I take better photos of nature than of cities, in general, but I found a few here that I liked. My two favorites are of the reflection in the red car and the Guggenheim with cool clouds.

Famous Friends

Here are two of my Claremont friends who are now famous! Well, famous among those who read the Claremont Courier. Last week the front page article concerned some guerilla art that had popped up in downtown Claremont. Not wanting to leave readers in the dark too long, the guerilla artists were unveiled in yesterday's Courier in this article.

One exception in the article must be noted. Even though my daughters used to babysit Ben (years ago), he no longer needs a babysitter.

Summer Teaching

There's nothing like coming home from vacation and jumping right into teaching, even if it's only a few hours a day. Yesterday I started the summer string camp at El Roble which will run from Monday-Thursday, 1:00-3:00, this week and next. Today our little community of orchestra students was up to 15. 12 violins and 3 celli. Where are my viola students? No matter. I really enjoy teaching these kids who are calm, friendly, smart, helpful and all those other great qualities.

Home Improvement the Easy Way

I recommend this method of painting walls in your house. Give your painter a key to the front door and the colors you want. Go on vacation. Return and write a check. Presto!

Thoughts on New York City

Home again, home again after an uneventful, on-time Jet Blue flight from JFK to LAX. I have to say that I enjoy that airline from the comfortable seats to the snacks to the tvs. I certainly got my fill of HGTV for 5 1/2 hours!

I had almost forgotten what an exciting city it is. Such energy! Great architecture! Things to see and do for everyone! I would like to go back soon (and not wait 18 years) and see another show or two, go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, go to the south end of Manhattan and stroll Little Italy, Greenwich Village, SoHo, etc.

As exciting and fun as the Big Apple is, I would find it exhausting to live there, constantly vying for space on the sidewalks, people shoving and running into you because there is no other place to physically be.

Claremont feels calm and friendly and a good place to land and try to catch up on some sleep!

Three Events - One City Day

If one is in NYC for just 2 days, one packs in as much fun as possible. First stop, Saturday morning in Central Park. The radio-controlled sailboat reminded me of Stuart Little, and now I think I need to reread that great book. Watching the road fill with bikers, we decided to join them and rent bikes for an hour. We made it around most of the 6-mile perimeter and riding there is a bit more harrowing than driving in Boston. But, it was great fun to see more of the park that way.

One reason to stay in midtown is the proximity to the Theater District. Upon the recommendations of several friends, we chose to see Billy Elliot at the Imperial Theatre. Wow. What a great show! We loved the troop of kid dancers as well as the little star of the show. Hal said that he wouldn't have picked this show but was really glad that I did. He said I could choose the next show, but it will have to be in LA.
Saturdays from 5:45-7:45 is "pay what you want" at the Guggenheim, so we topped off our day visiting this Frank Lloyd Wright-designed museum. The last time we were in NYC (1992 and 3) the Guggenheim was closed for renovation, so this was a first visit for us. We especially enjoyed the Kandinsky exhibit.

One Day - Three States

Woke up this morning in Rhode Island, took the train through Connecticut and ended up in NYC by 1:50. I have not been to this city since 1993, unless you count flying into JFK and driving immediately to Massachusetts. We think that the natives have fled and the throngs and throngs of tourists have taken over! Everywhere we turn we hear all kinds of languages and have people push and shove all over the place.

After walking to our hotel in midtown, we freshened up and continued wandering north through Rockefeller Center and eventually to MoMA where we walked around the block to stand in line for free tickets. The line moved pretty quickly, and we made it in in about 15 minutes or so. It's great to be able to take photos of the art (as well as people looking at the art), and I couldn't resist this detail of one of my favorite paintings. Recognize it?

The fifth floor is full of many favorite and famous works including Starry Night, Water Lilies, Matisse's Dance of Life, a Klimt, a Chagall, some Braques, more Picassos, and on and on.

We also got to see the Matisse exhibit on the top floor (no photographs there, please). The last time I went to MoMA in 1992, we saw a HUGE Matisse retrospective, so I guess it was time to return.

I was proud of myself for not needing to be reprimanded by the security guards as a number of people were!

Indian food and a stroll through Times Square as the sun was starting to set capped off our evening. Early bedtime tonight!

A Little Adventure

We have tried, in vain, to rent bikes for an afternoon excursion, so some friends offered the use of their bikes this afternoon while they went to the beach. So, Hal started off on the woman's bike, and I took the 10-year-old's bike and discovered that while downhill wasn't too bad, uphill was pretty tough (not that the uphills here are very big, but on the wrong-sized bike, it really doesn't work well). Hal graciously changed bikes with me about a third of the way into our jaunt, and he looked pretty out of proportion on the little bike.

(I really don't know why only photo at a time is enlarged when you click on it. Blogger, what's up with this?)

Downtown Newport

On this hot and steamy afternoon, we chose to walk to the historic downtown of Newport. We tried to rent bikes from the University, but the rental place was inexplicably closed. That meant that we got our 3 miles of walking in.

Besides the plethora of shopping available, a tourist can take a gander through the IYRS - the International Yacht Restoration School. If you want to learn about restoring old boats, this is where you can devote two years of your life to learning the craft. Beside models of all sizes and a lovely air-conditioned yacht library, you can see the big sheds where the work is ongoing, although it is slow, probably because of summer. The large boat on the right is the Schooner Yacht - the Coronet, originally built in 1885. It looks as though she'll be completely new by the time they finish her (but not in time for Christmas).

The Tree

Behind the library at Salve Regina is an amazing tree. It's really like a house. I don't know what kind of tree it is, but it reminds me of the banyan trees on Maui where the branches reach to the ground, take root and grow up again.

Although I have finished another book, I don't think it deserves a whole entry to itself. I grabbed Louise Erdrich's newest book, Shadow Tag, from the browsing shelf at Honnold before we left, but I should have read the reviews before I checked it out. You know, if you want to write about your completely dysfunctional marriage as a catharsis, you don't actually have to publish it for all to read.

Cliff Walk - Newport, RI

Newport is known for its historic mansions and the Cliff Walk along the Atlantic Ocean. While we didn't walk the whole 3.5 miles, we went about as far as we could, given the humidity of the afternoon. At least there was a breeze which helped greatly. Here are a few shots.

There are several tunnels along the walk, and this one afforded the best view for picture-taking.
Here is the famous house, The Breakers, right along the walk next to Salve Regina University. I'm not sure I want to pay $19 to tour the inside....but it sure is beautiful on the outside.

Rhode Island

Today we said good-bye to our dear friends and hopped a charter bus to Newport, Rhode Island and Salve Regina University. We have seen the outsides of many lovely homes, walked in the humidity, and had dinner in the college dining hall. Here is our dorm, an old house with little twists and turns everywhere. Our room is on the second floor - a corner room with great cross-ventilation. Meetings start tonight for the scientists while guests get to relax and enjoy the cool evening.

28th Anniversary on the Freedom Trail

We chose the most beautiful weather for our walk along the red brick Freedom Trail to celebrate our anniversary today. Deciding, first of all, to skip the Bunker Hill monument, we started at the USS Constitution and wound our way through historic Boston to end up at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square - 2.6 miles of happy wandering (including a cannoli).

This evening we went to The Fireplace Restaurant in Brookline where we sat outside on Beacon Street and enjoyed the fine cuisine and even better conversation with our dear friends.

Cambridge and Boston!

Hooray! We made it to Logan Airport by 7:20 this morning. After trying to recuperate a bit from the red-eye, Emily took us to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the Fens. Hal had never been, but I had taken the girls there in January of 1993. Not much has changed! My favorite room was the last one we went to - the Gothic Room - which happened to have a Giotto which made me think of Claire.

Then Hal and I wandered Harvard and Harvard Square finding things we remembered from our sabbatical year, including the Christ Church (where George and Martha Washington worshipped one New Year's Eve) ...
and the Garden Nursery School behind the church where Claire spent many happy hours.
I think it will be an early bedtime tonight!

Preparation

New experiment in August travel this year. Usually we pack up early in the morning and head off to Yosemite. While today is the first day of vacation, we are still home, packing, cleaning, enjoying leisurely preparations for an airplane, bed-camping trip. While a red-eye isn't always fun, the trip should be. A few days in Boston, 5 days in Newport, RI where Hal will attend a Gordon Research Conference, and ending up for a few days in the Big Apple where we hope to see a show, some art museums, and sights.

One of the good things about this particular trip is that Claire will be able to take care of the house - that means still picking peaches, tomatoes, and squash, throwing out the junk mail before we even see it, and cooling the house down every night, among other things.

Another great thing is that we are having 3 rooms painted while we are gone. Not only will we enjoy the new colors upon our return, it has given me a great reason to clear out the clutter in preparation for painting.

East Coast, here we come!

A Take on Virgil

Reading this book puts another piece in the puzzle that I am putting together in my mind about Rome and Italy. Of course, Lavinia by Ursula LeGuin is based on Virgil's Aeneid, mythology of early, early Rome and not "true" history. Lavinia is a minor, fleeting character in Virgil's epic poem, and LeGuin breathes life into her and places her into the Romulus/Remus story, as well. As I read the book, I was drawn to learning more of the story of the Trojans, the Etruscans and Latins who helped create Rome.

Tomatoes to Gazpacho

Take fresh heirloom tomatoes, a pepper and onion from your garden (and some other ingredients), find this recipe on the internet and voila! gazpacho! Perfect for a summer evening.

Wolf Hall

After working on this 532-page book for most of the summer, I have come to the end of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. This book came highly recommended to me by two of my friends, and the subject matter is some of my favorite - the court of Henry VIII. Mantel's tale centers on Thomas Cromwell and his rise to become the king's number one.

I have to say that I must not be the most sophisticated reader because this novel was not an easy read. On the one hand, I appreciate and enjoy Mantel's prose which is beautiful. On the other hand, it is not always clear who is talking or what is happening.

Farewell Iona and Phil

Today our congregation said goodbye to our associate pastor, Iona, and her husband Phil. Iona will be taking on an associate pastorship in New York about 30 minutes from her parents who will now be able to spend more time with their granddaughter, Eliza. Such transitions are always bittersweet. Iona has been at our church for 10 years, present as our daughters navigated their teen years and moved through college.

In typical church tradition, we had to celebrate with an all-church potluck after the service.

All the best to you, Iona and Phil!