Halloween '09

This is the first time I've spent Halloween with my parents since 1977, and it was unlike any other. Since today is Saturday, we've had college football on the telly, waiting for the big Oregon/USC game playing during the trick-or-treat time. After watching the first quarter, we decided to watch more of the game on the tvs at Pizza 'n Such.

The Oregon Ducks did not disappoint us! They are playing amazingly well this year.

Numb3rs

My folks have arrived for a visit, and tonight for entertainment we took them to a math lecture at Harvey Mudd. The speaker was Gary Lorden, a retired Cal Tech math professor who has been a consultant on the tv show Numb3rs. Although some of the math was above our heads, we got some of the broad strokes and ideas. Of course, we enjoyed the cookies and conversations afterwards.

Almost made it to November

My rule of thumb for when to turn on the furnace - Nov. 1. When the house was 63 degrees this morning, I thought maybe I ought to warm it up a bit for bookclub, so I turned on the furnace for a few hours this afternoon. October 28 is pretty close to Nov, right?

Playing with Eggshells

This is the third week of string instruction in the Claremont schools. We have a record high enrollment this year, and the excitement is always high at the beginning of the year. The beginning strings are working on holding the bow correctly, and to work on the bow holds in a non-boring way, I put plastic Easter Egg halves on the tips of the bows. They get to pass the eggshells around in a circle, and this game is always a crowd pleaser.

Say what you will about Facebook. . .

Today I got in contact with a college roommate through Facebook. I had followed her a bit through the Alumni publications and knew that she had moved to France, but that's all I knew about her. She has been in France for nearly half her life now, and she and her husband run a champagne vineyard. Now I have a link to her blog about running the enterprise!

Suburban Wildlife

Last night while walking to my concert (we played Finlandia, Mathis der Maler by Hindemith, and Haydn's Harmonie Mass), I heard a great horned owl in one of the eucalyptus trees along College Ave. Then I heard another one answer back. We used to hear owls around here, but I hadn't heard any in quite a while, so it was good to hear them again.

BC Cafe?

On a concert weekend, we usually go out to dinner, or lunch. Tonight as we drove to Sanamluang for some tasty Thai food, I looked at the building where BC Cafe stands, and the name on the top was Kick Back Jack's. When did that happen?

Falling Leaves

It's the time of year when the ash trees on our street start losing their leaves. Lots and lots of little leaves turned yellow. Yesterday morning I raked and filled our green waste dumpster nearly full. Of course, today it hardly looks as though I did anything yesterday. There are enough leaves in the street that when cars drive by, it sounds as though it's raining.

I will be raking leaves now for at least another month, maybe 6 weeks.

When Liesl was 11, we sat on the front porch and watched these leaves falling on a sunny day, and she wrote this poem:

Journey

I am a leaf.

I am falling.

Twisting and turning,

As I drift downward.

I seek

A nice spot,

A spot to land.

Right here.

Safe and sound.

In a child's hand.

A Night on the Town (with some Gown)

We took advantage of the CMC Atheneum tonight and heard Steve Levitt, author of Freakonomics, speak. We weren't actually in the same room since there was an overflow crowd, but we saw the live feed in the next building. Levitt is an entertaining speaker with some interesting and some odd ideas. Maybe I should read the book.

After the talk, we rode our bikes to Village West to try out Yogurtland - yet another tart yogurt sold by the ounce. I recommend the pomegranate raspberry tart flavor. The addition of mini m 'n ms and raspberries is also recommended.

Moving On

If LA is sad over the Dodgers losing the pennant, we can put our hopes and dreams into the newest LA phenom. Tonight I am watching the Gustavo Dudamel inaugural concert with the LA Philharmonic on PBS. We didn't make the actual concert, but are very happy to be watching it in HD. This guy is GOOD.

MLB on the Web

Last month I was bemoaning the fact that some Dodger games were not on network tv, and since we don't have cable, I couldn't watch, and therefore be a good luck charm for them. Now while the ALCS is on Fox, the NLCS is on TBS (cable). We decided to take the big splurge of $10 for postseason, and buy internet coverage. We've watched four games on my laptop (bringing the price down all the way to $2.50/game!), but this last game was a heartbreaker anyway.

Facts about watching baseball this way:

1) you get to choose up to four camera angles at once (we choose two)

2) no commercials (cameras stay on during breaks, but there is no sound)

3) no scoreboard keeping track of innings, strikes/balls, score, runners

If it's a Yankees/Phillies World Series, I probably won't watch it.

Book Club

Last night was book club, and we discussed Kim's brother's book, Primitive. It's an ecological thriller that takes place at the border of Canada and the US.

One thing I'm enjoying more and more in book club is the quality of the food at the potluck. Kim made a fabulous pot roast and apple pie, and some of the salads were absolutely delicious! Oh, yeah, and the discussions are pretty lively, too.

Sunday Afternoon Gig

Today the Trio Camerata (Edris on violin, me on viola, Pat on cello), played for a tea put on by the Cooper Museum in Upland. The event was held at the Whitney Estate, corner of 16th and San Antonio, and we played underneath this lovely arbor.

Here's something about this lovely property: "The AB Whitney family moved here in 1916. At that time, the only building on the property was an old barn. The current house was designed by Myron Hunt, who also designed the Huntington Mansion and Library in San Marino, Los Angeles County, California.

Over 300 visitors toured this Mediterranean-style villa that features the architecture of Myron Hunt. They also enjoyed the gardens, fountains, patios. It even has a tree-house!"

Alum Gathering

My newest volunteer duty is to be in charge of planning events for Carleton alumni in the Inland Empire. Tonight was our first event - a potluck. 9 of us enjoyed good food and great conversation. I even met an alum who went on the same program to Graz, Austria that I did, so we had some stories to share.

A Birthday Today

Happy Birthday to my little sister!

Kindergarten Pumpkins

At the end of last school year, the kindergarteners planted pumpkins. Here is what the sprawl looks like today.

Storm Watch 2009

Our first rainfall of the season made national news. The burn areas are most in danger of mudslides, but I think most areas were spared today. I saw on the news where Claremont got less than .2 inches, but some areas got 3 inches. There is some mention that it could possibly be an El Nino year, but it's hard to tell this early. We do need the rain, despite the dangers in certain areas.

Start of Fall

Here is evidence of the first sign of fall on our street. You can see that some of the leaves are turning. So, from now until December, we'll have leaves to rake each week, or day.

We have also been waking up to a cool house - 66 degrees, and the promise of our first rainstorm is in the air!

An Afternoon of Beethoven

Yesterday afternoon at the Claremont Library, we played for an event of Claremont On the Same Page. The Friends of the Claremont Library have sponsored a city-wide book read for the past three years, and this year we've been reading The Soloist by Steve Lopez. Last Sunday's event was the author talk which I mentioned in this blog.

Today's event was titled "Strings and Things." Michael Lamkin talked about music, mostly Beethoven, and how there are some ties between Beethoven, his music, and the life of Nathaniel Ayers, the musician featured in the book. We played three movements from some Beethoven trios interspersed between Dr. Lamkin's remarks. We had a lovely turnout for this Sunday afternoon event.

Quick Getaway

On Friday we hooked up the tent trailer to the car and headed to the beach - San Onofre near San Clemente. We spent Saturday taking a two-hour hike in the hills, doing a little shopping, and then closed the day with a sunset walk along the beach. We took along our old technology, a little AM/FM transistor radio and listened to the Dodger game. The Dodgers swept the Cardinals to win their NLDS!

There are a few more beach pictures at my Picasa Web Albums site.

Poltergeist Thwarted?

Our poltergeist problem has continued, even when the light switch was replaced. The light would come on at will, the fan would come on at other odd times. The good thing about the new switch is that there is a small switch at the very bottom which turns everything off, and so far, when it's off at night, the light nor fan have come on.

Homecoming

This is a video of the El Roble Band in the Homecoming Parade this afternoon.

Pacific Standard Time Zone

As I watch the start to MLB postseason, I once again realize how fortunate it is to be on the west coast. Soon the Angels/Red Sox game will start, just in time for Californians to watch during dinner, but it will be close to my bedtime on the east coast.

And by watch, I mean follow along online since I don't have cable (as noted in an earlier post about MLB!).

William Butler Yeats

Several years ago I came across Yeats' poem, The Lake Isle of Innesfree. I was captivated by it, and taught it to students as a model for their poems that would start "I will arise and go now."

This weekend while at the Orff workshop, I heard this Yeats poem, and immediately fell in love with it. I think I shall memorize it.

The Song of Wandering Aengus

I WENT out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,	5
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,	10
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran	15
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;	20
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

Planning Ahead

Today I heard from both daughters, independently, about their plans to be home for Christmas. It will be great to have everyone here again, and I'm sure that the time will zip by until December.

Yard Art

I finally found a pot I liked (with a price I was willing to pay) for the wood sticks we bought at IKEA this summer.

Claremont: On the Same Page 2009

Although this blog is titled "Life in Claremont" it is usually about my life in Claremont. Today I shared with many Claremonters the first event of the Friends of the Claremont Library's city-wide read. Steve Lopez, columnist for the LA Times spoke about his book, The Soloist which tells the story of Nathaniel Ayers, former Julliard student who ended up on LA's skid row after he was afflicted with schizophrenia. The story is compelling and has no end, yet. Steve Lopez is a good storyteller, not only on paper, but as a speaker, as well. Little Bridges was packed downstairs, and it was good the event was there, because there wouldn't have been room at the Claremont Library.

More Orffing!

Another Saturday, another Orff workshop. This time we drove to Hermosa Beach to see the amazing and wonderful Doug Goodkin. The magical thing, to me, about Orff is taking a small nugget of music or verse and playing with it and expanding it and creating something much larger and complete. One of the chants we used today was the simple "Criss Cross Applesauce." My kinders are going to have fun with that one on Wednesday!

The Dodgers

I am noticing a trend. The Dodgers seem to play much better when they are on local network tv and I can watch them, rather than following them on mlb.com. I am not going to get cable just to help the Dodgers out. Someone call Joe Torre (although he probably has nothing to do with the telecasts).

October - Fall Colors

Last year our persimmon tree yielded about 6-7 fruits. This year we look to have at least 30, and they have just started turning their red-orange.