The Christmas tree was smaller, the guests were fewer, the time  together outside was shorter, the presents were fewer, and the dinner choices were selective, but this didn't stop us from having a wonderful Christmas this year.  The lame-duck wacky president, and the corona virus tried to rob us of our holiday joy, but we found a way to share our love for one another, and enjoy our smaller, fewer, shorter, selective holiday season.

 

Christmas in Costa Rica!

The weather was great, and it was a treat to have everyone around, including the college students.  Even the unfortunate event of having the McKenna Family arrive a day late due to American Airlines problems, could not dampen our spirits.

The people in Costa Rica are so warm and friendly, and they wanted to make our stay in their country memorable.  They accomplished their goal.  We saw colorful birds, animals, frogs,  iguanas, bats and caymans.  Just to name a few living things.

The family took hikes and boat rides in the rain forest to see the wonders of nature.  Some went scuba diving while others went snorkeling or surfing.  A stop along the way for a zip-line ride was a fun adventure, and horse back riding on the beach at sunset was picture perfect.

The time went all too fast, but everyone got pictures to help them recall the Christmas we spent in Costa Rica in 2013.

The blue jeans frog, the winking owl, and the large toucan are just a few of the wonderful photographic memories.

It's Friday the 13 and time to start counting all they things that go wrong today -- or is it.  Lucky is what lucky does, as my dad used to say.  He was born on May 13 and my Aunt was born on September 13, and invariably one of their birthdays seemed to fall on a Friday. They both said it was their lucky day. As a truck driver, my father picked truck number 13 as his, even though there was no competition for it.
I am someone who admits to being superstitious, what else can explain the 49ers loss in the Superbowl last year.  If I had just made that last toss in the waste can they would have won.  I have to overcome these feelings to make this Friday the 13 a good day.  Then I recalled it rained on my wedding day over 52 years ago, and my dad said, "rain always brings me luck."  And it did bring me "luck." So, for my dad I will celebrate Friday the 13 and decide on my own what brings me luck -- it can even rain tomorrow.

JAMES TAYLOR AND CAROLE KING, WHAT A GREAT SHOW!

Over 16,000 of us went to the HP Pavilion in San Jose to hear James Taylor and Carole King in concert. From the moment they entered the stage until 2 1/2 hours later the audience was with them in the present while remembering all the songs of the past. Their back-up musicians and singers had been with the for awhile so it seemed to move smoothly and joyfully. I didn't realize the audience was singing along to all the songs until I recorded "You've Got a Friend" on my iphone and could hear the background support.

I always considered Carole King more of the rocker and James Taylor more of the folk musician, and they displayed these styles and more. Carol showed her rocking style with "Smackwater Jack," "I Feel the Earth Move," and "Natural Woman." James displayed his quieter side with "Fire and Rain," "Walking Man," and "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight."

James Taylor then rocked it a bit with "Mexico" and "Shower The People." Carole King slowed it down with "It's Too Late" and "Will You Still Love Me tomorrow." The show was a perfect balance of songs and tempos.

The audience brought them back for three encores, and I could have listened to them for another hour, but we were happy just to see and hear these artists for the time we had.

Stevens Creek Trail, Mountain View, CA

Hats off, or bicycle helmets off, to the The City of Mountain View!  The City Council and staff  should be congratulated for their work on making the Stevens Creek Trail a reality.  Three of us rode our bikes from our home to the trail head at El Camino Real then onto Shoreline Park at San Francisco Bay.  We stopped for lunch and then headed back home.  The trail provides users multiple experiences through woodlands, tidal marshes and neighborhood parks. 

Stevens Creek is named after Captain Elisha Stephens one of the early settlers of Cupertino.

My favorite story about Stephens is that he moved West to get away from the growing population in the Mid-West.  However, soon others had the same idea.  When a neighbor moved to within 8 miles of Stephens ranch, he said the place was getting too crowded.  So he headed north into an unpopulated area of California.  

The creek that was named after Stevens begins on the flanks of Black Mountain in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and flows through Stevens Canyon and the cities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Sunnyvale and Mountain View on its way to the San Francisco Bay.  The total length of Stevens Creek is more than 20 miles.

The Friends of Stevens Creek Trail is a local community group whose goal is to raise community awareness and support for the completion of a trail in the Stevens Creek Corridor. You can visit their website to get more information on the trail:  www.stevenscreek trail.org   Thanks to the City of Mountain View and the Friends of the trail for providing such a benefit to the larger community.

Trail Spotting

On the trail this morning, I spotted a 4 foot long California King Snake, pictured on the left.  My jogging partner carries a small camera in his backpack, so we can capture such "kodak moments."

The Kingsnake derives its name form the its habit of eating other snakes, and it is immune to viper venom.  Although, it is a gentle snake, it did hiss and vibrate it tail when we approached. 

He really was a beauty, black with cream stripes!

Family Stories

In listening to Doris Kerns Goodwin remarks the other day, she noted that, "History at its best is about telling stories, stories about people who lived before, about events in the past that create the contours of the present." 

This comment reminded me of one our family's favorite stories about our father.  As an eyewitness to the story, I can retell it like it happened yesterday, when in reality it occurred over 50 years ago.

My father, his brother, and two friends played golf every Saturday morning at the local public golf course.  The tee time was determined on a "first come first serve basis."   To be one of the first foursomes to tee off each Saturday, one golfer would line up 4 golf bags in front of the clubhouse early in the morning.  With each person taking a turn, this would mean you would have to get up early only once a month to put the golf bags in line.  Since our house was closest to the gold course, each player would bring or leave his clubs in our garage for pick up and delivery to the golf course.   Then early Saturday morning the assigned golfer would come to our house, lift up the garage door, pick up the bags, and take them to the golf course to be put in line.  

This early morning Saturday ritual went on for well over a decade when one weekend morning our local Township Police noticed someone opening our garage door and removing four sets of golf clubs, putting them into the back of his car and driving off.  They decide to follow the culprit for several miles and also call for backup.   They finally stop the burglar and demand to know what he was up to.  He explains that he is, Bernie Waters, a friend of my father's and is on his way to put the golf bags in line to get an early tee time.  A likely story!  So they send the backup policeman to our home to check out Bernie's alibi.

The door bell rings at our house at 4:30 am, scaring and awakening our family.  My father makes it to the front door first.   I hear my dad responding, "Yeah, I know a Bernie Waters."  Then realizing that Bernie is being detained by the police, my father asks somewhat impatiently, "You mean you have kept him from putting the golf bags in line."  The policeman who was much larger than my father and carrying a gun, begins to explain that they had to follow up on what appeared to be a residential burglary.  My father wasn't hearing a word of this explanation.  In no uncertain terms, my father lets the policeman know that if they didn't let Bernie go right now, they would miss their tee time and he was none to happy about that!  Fortunately for Bernie and the Saturday golf game, he was immediately released from police custody.

I wonder how the police wrote up that report!