Company

My nephew and his friends are on a road trip to California from Colorado, and tonight they stopped by for pizza. Now they're headed for Santa Barbara where I'm sure the weather is much nicer.

If I Was The Queen of the Dodgers...

• Juan Pierre would play more.
• Vin Scully would call every game on every station.

Native Son

Because this book is so thick, and our book club is going to discuss it in a few weeks, I thought I'd start Native Son by Richard Wright. Three days, and I finished it. I remember that Liesl read this book for high school, and she liked it. The style (though not the content) feels a little dated to me - Wright pretty much explains everything about the Bigger Thomas' character in the third section, like a hit to the head with a brick. The story, though, is compelling.

Flip Flop

Today at 4:25 here, it is 89 degrees in Claremont and 103 degrees in Eugene....

Today's Goal Accomplished

When Hal left for work this morning, I told him that I would plan out the second week of our upcoming road trip. As of tonight, I have made a broad sketch of that route. After meeting Liesl and Chris in Eugene and backpacking with them for a few days, and hanging out in Eugene and going to the ocean and taking Claire to Portland, Hal and I will meander home. Our path will zig and zag a little. Eugene to Crescent City, California (Redwood National Park), to McArthur-Burney Falls State Park, to Lee Vining and Tuolumne for a day or so via a peek at South Lake Tahoe, and then back to the desert where we live.

July Book Club

I love our book club. We have fabulous potlucks. We have engaging and heated discussions. Tonight we discussed Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Some loved it, some were completely frustrated by it. We all had opinions. And yet, in the end, we all respect each other's opinions.

A Day at the Getty Villa

Today was our first free Saturday all summer (between one trip to Colorado and Hal umpiring other weekends), so we made plans to see the renovated Getty Villa in Malibu. We hadn't been there since the girls were young. The renovations are excellent, and the bonus for us was seeing the Chimera of Arezzo, on loan from The National Archeological Museum in Florence. This Etruscan bronze was discovered in Arezzo, the city where Claire lived last semester.

After a lovely three-hour visit, we headed to Santa Monica for lunch at the Real Food Daily restaurant. This vegan restaurant is highly reviewed, and all of our meals were excellent. Very tasty and filling.

3 Months, 9 Days later....

Today, July 24, 2009, the cottage renovation is officially finished! We got our final bill, and the trash trailer is currently being loaded and removed! Hooray! Our new tenants move in next Friday. I am washing curtains to hang, and we need to remove a wasp's nest, but other than that, we have a quiet week ahead of us.

First Fruits

First ripe tomato of the summer from my garden! It took so long to ripen, I suspect, because the area gets little sun, and most of June was overcast this year. This tomato is an heirloom called Abe Lincoln.

Quiet Summer Days?

Those of us who are tied to the traditional school year calendar look forward to the quiet of summer days. However, summer is the time when the city, the colleges, and the schools have time to get work done. This morning on our hour-long walk through the colleges at 7 a.m., Hal and I heard: a jackhammer, a cement-mixer, a leaf blower, a weed whacker, trucks backing up, etc. Sigh.

Nancy Drew's Granddaughters

Sunday's NY Times ran this article about Nancy Drew in the news. “I’m amazed by how people can read the same book and have different perspectives,” said Jenn Fisher, 35, an Arizona-based former lawyer who runs Nancy Drew fan conventions." For me, I think, Nancy Drew represented a smart, resourceful girl who could pull anything out of her purse to solve a problem. She could also travel the world at a whim. Our public library did not carry these books, so I had to scrounge to find them. Fortunately, one of my best friends owned copies of the series, so I could borrow them from her (as well as her Archie comic books).

I am sure that if I tried to revisit these books, I would be disappointed, so I just keep Nancy, Bess, George, and Ned in my memory.

This Day in History

40 years ago, my family was traveling from Wichita, KS, back to our apartment in Chicago, after going to find a place to rent for the fall. We stopped in Galesburg, IL to visit our friends, Nancy and Bob. After going to sleep, my parents woke my sister and me up to see something amazing on tv - the first time that a man walked on the moon. It was nearly 10 p.m., apparently after my bedtime.

While I remember being told that this was important, I don't remember much about the coverage of the event, just that it was pretty special to be up so late.

Years later, in 1988, when the space shuttle, Discovery, was launched as the first mission since the Challenger disaster, Liesl watched it in nursery school, and she was immediately drawn to space flight, and anything related to outer space. This was an early indication of her love for science.

Summer Wedding Music

Here is the Pink/Purple String Trio performing for an outdoor wedding yesterday. We had the shadiest spot, but it was still hot!

Our Garden in July

Dracula book

Next Thursday our book club will discuss Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian. This nearly 700-page book is chock full of Dracula research and takes the main characters on adventures throughout Europe (Eastern and Western). Although I felt it dragged in the middle and had a bit too much information, the plot was exciting, and it could easily be made into a blockbuster movie.

Who'd have thought?

I used to think that I didn't like brussel sprouts. Not sure where I got that idea since I don't think I ate them as a kid. When I had children, I thought I'd be a good mom and not make my children eat them. So, of course, they both now love them.

With all the vegan eating we've been doing this summer, Claire has introduced me to brussel sprouts, and I love them! Last night I made this recipe with toasted walnuts, and Claire and I had no trouble finishing the whole lot. To accompany the sprouts, Claire made a vegan capresi salad with fresh garden tomatoes, fresh-picked basil and tofu.

Hurray!

Today we rented out our cottage. A new professor of philosophy at Pitzer College agreed to take it based solely on looking at pictures, talking to me on the phone and exchanging emails. He and his fiancee will be moving in on July 31.

All-Star Game

I like to think that maybe I have some control over the outcome of sporting events - for good or bad. Since I am not consistent, I'll just have to admit that I don't, really. I usually root for the AL in the All-Star Game since I like more AL teams (although I don't like the DH rule). This year I thought I'd cheer for the NL, but I guess it didn't help them . . .

Cousins and More

Here are 9 Sawatzky cousins in Colorado. L to R - Marla, Phil, Matt, Rachel, Ruth, Charlotte, Erika, Lisa, and Laurie. After spending the morning with cousins and their children, we played some intergenerational games after lunch. Some of these cousins I have not seen in many years, and it would be great if we didn't have to wait so long between reunions. However, we were also thinking about Pat, Janine, Jon, Julie, David and Joe (and all their families, too!).

Later on, Hal and the girls and I drove to Fort Collins to show the girls their grandparents' house, and then meet Liesl's boyfriend, Chris, who is driving from Texas to Oregon via Colorado. Liesl and Chris have a great itinerary lined up for their trip to Eugene, including Arches National Park, Great Salt Lake, the Dalles and scenic byways.

Today we had breakfast in Fort Collins, and then lunch in Claremont. I am still amazed by plane travel!

A Big Celebration

Yesterday we flew to Denver and met Liesl in the airport before driving up to Highlands Presbyterian Camp. The reason - to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary with a big shin-dig. About 70 people came from all over - Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Idaho, California, Oregon, Kansas, Texas, Canada (Ontario) and Taiwan! We had four generations represented, the youngest child is 22 months. We ate dinner overlooking the beautiful Colorado Rockies, and presented a program of music, remembrances, and a movie. It was a beautiful celebration.

Sushi Chef

Claire made sushi the other night. It was just a delicious as it looks!

The cottage is nearing completion, and I have new photos up on my picasa page. Unfortunately, the woman who said she wanted to rent it has decided to buy something instead, so we are back to looking for a tenant.

Food For Thought

It's good to get out of the house once in awhile and hear a lecture. This morning's Stauffer talk at HMC concerned connectedness to community in the lives of prison inmates and the implications thereof. The speaker was Deb Mashek, HMC prof of psychology. Yay, Deb!

A Not-So-Little Book

I can't remember if I heard about this book on NPR or read about it in the NY Times, but from the description of a time travel book that includes Fin de siècle Vienna, I decided I should read it. The Little Book is Selden Edwards' first novel, but it was over 30 years in the making. Now I feel as though I should reread Wittgenstein's Vienna which I read for college, but remember nothing about.

I will probably choose this book for my next book club selection in October.

Grand Memorial Service

This morning a sanctuary full of people came to celebrate the life of T. Willard Hunter, one of Claremont's treasures. You can read a more full obituary here. I feel at a loss to explain his many accomplishments and influences in a simple blog post.

I was surprised to see a casket at the front of the church since most of our memorial services don't have one. Throughout the service we were all treated to remembrances of Willard's life, and most people referred to the fact that he had scripted his funeral (NOT a memorial service) down to the detail, including the casket, so that people could have some closure.

I was one of the many people who received a letter in the mail from Willard. We had been discussing a book by Marcus Borg, and he sent me a typewritten letter of several pages espousing his thoughts on Borg's theology. I am also proud to have graduated from Willard's alma mater, even attending an alumni event in downtown LA with him.

A New Perspective

I have never seen a photo taken from the point of view of the parade participants. Here is one of all the adult-types sitting on the Meury's front porch enjoying the parade from the shady spot.

Tofu Kitchen

We just had to try out the new Koren restaurant - Tofu Kitchen - on Friday. It occupies the old KFC building on Foothill. The delicious meal on the left was Claire's, and mine was the Be Beem Bop on the right. Hal had very spicy soup. We will be returning. (Not all the dishes are tofu. Omnivores can have meat, too....)

4th of July Traditions

Every few years, H decides that we need some sort of project to keep us occupied for the morning of the 4th of July. One year we pulled networking wire through the house to set up an internet network (which we still use today). One year we helped him move his office at school down the hall to another office. That was fun.

This morning our project was to shop! We went to Lowe's, then IKEA, then Home Depot and back to Lowe's. Since the cottage is nearly finished, we needed to get light fixtures, ceiling fans, handles for the cabinets, curtain rods, towel bars, smoke detectors, etc.


The other tradition is the annual Claremont Parade. The usual groups marched along - high school band, cheerleaders, city council, school board, various churches, various retirement centers, etc. Each year we seem to have a new group - and this year one of those was a ukelele group. Behind the pickup truck was a large turkey with a sign which we couldn't read (too many words). Poor turkey took a spill right in front of us, and his head came off! They had to stop and put him back together before continuing. Before the turkey was an elderly gentleman on a "horse" who also took a tumble. I hope it wasn't us who brought the bad luck!

Reminiscing about Italy

Continuing in my desire to learn more about the places we visited in Italy, I just finished reading Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King. The building of the Florence Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) took more than 150 years, and Brunelleschi was the architect and master builder of the dome, including the lantern on top. The photo on the right was obviously taken from inside the church. Although it is magnificent from that view, I found the marble outside to be overwhelmingly majestic. It took my breath away. It's hard to get a good photo of the entirety of the building since it is surrounded closely by other buildings.

Too much time on my hands

When Lynn was here playing duets with me today, she told me about Web Site Story - an online video. Very cute. Here it is.






Check out this photo. It's the Ledge at the Sears Tower in Chicago, where you can step out and have an eagle's eye view of the city. Yikes!!! You couldn't pay me to go there!

Substitute Violist

My friends in the Lemonwood Quartet invited me to play viola with them tonight since their regular is on vacation. I played with them last summer when I was still working hard on learning alto (or viola) clef. Not only was it great fun to play quartets again, but I am pleased that my viola reading skills are getting much closer to fluent. Tonight I sight-read the music and got the vast majority of notes. Perhaps that whole year playing viola in orchestra was good for me!