Month: August 2018

I arrived in California Friday evening after escaping the worst of Hurricane Lane. I spent the day with my team on the ground in Cali and did a little site seeing while we got caught up. First stop was Santa Cruz for lunch on the wharf!

We also watched the sea lions hang out. It’s amazing how many just lay around. We also couldn’t believe how high they had to jump to get up on the beams under the wharf. For the big ones, that had to be quite a site. We hung around for a bit, but all we got to see were some lounging sea lions sun bathing and relaxing.

Next on our journey that day was a drive into the mountains to see the Big Redwoods! They are miraculous. The way they intertwine and split and fall and keep growing is amazing. The forest was beautiful and the mountains were surreal. Like a scene from a movie. We searched hard for Harry (aka Big Foot), but he was no where to be found. Guess he’ll still remain the hide and seek world champion! Below is me inside a tree and a view from the side of the road along the way.

For a 36 hour lay over, it was a busy and memorable stop on my trip home. Before I forget….I wanted to share this photo I took from the airplane on the approach to Los Angeles. It was really hazy that night, perhaps it was even smoky out. But getting to see a classic icon from an airplane window was just plain cool!

And my Delta SkyMiles continue to build as the journey really never ends. Looking forward to sharing more from my travels! But extremely thankful that tonight I can sleep in my own bed. At least try to sleep. My schedule is completely out of whack and my sleep cycle will take a few days to adjust. Until then, I’ll keep adding to that bucket list (aka future vacations) and reading more books until I fall asleep.

Here I sit at the gate, plane is here, signs show on time. Looks good so far! The storm has slowed down and weakened, so today isn’t horrible. Tomorrow and Sunday is questionable.

Beautiful site at the Honolulu Airport!

The wind was loud last night and the lights flickered, but being a hurricane veteran it was a relaxing night. Hope those on the other islands recover quickly from the flooding and the rest fair well. For those flying today, safe travels!

More to follow later with the better parts of this trip!

Aloha!

Edit: first class on this plane rocks!!!!

[the_ad_placement id=”after-content”]When we first moved into our house over 5 years ago, there was a single goose that visited our pond. Shortly after we settled in, Goosey found her true love. Geese mate for life, so we expected the two to return the next year. They did. It was refreshing to see commitment and long term love in a relationship, even if it was a pair of birds. It was exciting when they had their first babies. My kids enjoyed watching the little goslings grow into adults. We all anticipated their annual visit.

This year, our two geese returned and we watched all summer as their 5 little children grew to be as big as them over a few months time. They laid in our back yard, they swam in the pond, they visited our neighbors, and they gave us something beautiful and entertaining to watch out our back windows. While 7 geese was a bit overwhelming, we knew they would leave soon and the cycle would start all over again next year.

But then 5 more geese showed up one day this week. 5 more joined them the next day. For several days, we watched the 17 geese swim and hang out along the shore of the pond. I started to get a little nervous about the number. But I kept telling the kids they were all gathering up to head out soon. Sounded good to me. Apparently, my pond is a sweet spot for birds. I mean, we do see egrets and other water birds from time to time.

This morning a few more families showed up. I counted 33 geese! 33! It’s starting to look crowded out there. I think they agree. We watched a few fights this afternoon. Not sure who is who at this point, but I would chase others off too if I was one of the originals. At what point is the pond considered “full”? How do they know to come here? Are the new families some of Goosey’s original children? Things that run through my mind while I hope all 33 will leave soon.

Of course, I “googled” the migration patterns and schedules for Canadian Geese. It says they should be heading out mid-August.  That would mean some time next week.  At the rate the numbers are growing, I’m a little worried about the next few days and the possibility of more geese showing up.  For a small suburb in a rural community, 33 seems like too many already.   Seems appropriate that a group of geese is called a “gaggle.”  Is there a limit to the number of geese in a gaggle? At what point will they turn on the “no vacancy” sign and claim the pond is full?  Looking forward to watching their V-formation fly away until next year.

Back to school already?!   As we walked into the middle school for open house yesterday I felt like I had just been there a few days ago for the last day of school awards ceremony.   However, it had been 73 days.   And just like that—74 days of summer are done, and the kids went back to school today.  Yes, it is the first week of August.

What happened to going back to school after Labor Day?  I realize some schools up north still have weeks of summer left.   They also were still in school when we were already starting our many summer adventures.  However, I think we have this whole concept backwards.   August in the South is hot.   Very hot.  And humid.  Not just a little warm.  Africa hot with tropical moisture.  The afternoon thunderstorms are still arriving.  The grass in my yard is still growing.  The geese that arrived last spring are even still here!  Mother Nature says it is still summer!  Today would have been a great pool day with a high of 90 degrees and sunny to partly cloudy skies.  Sounds like summer to me!

I can complain all day about the early start date, but it isn’t going to change the fact that my kids went back to school today.  74 days of summer went by in the blink of an eye.  So quickly that we were still cleaning out backpacks from last school year at 8:00 last night.  To their credit, at least they agreed to recycle the backpacks this year instead of insisting on a new one.   After purchasing 7 binders, all the discounted notebook paper I could find (2 packs at a time—I didn’t want the cashiers to know I’m really hoarding school supplies), 48 #2 wooden pre-sharpened pencils, several boxes of colored pencils, glue sticks, numerous other items, plus a calculator that would have made high school math so much easier back in my day—we were ready for the last two school-age kids to get their learning on!  Off they went to school this morning carrying a load of school supplies that looked like they were about to hike the Appalachian Trail instead of riding a school bus.

Summer was busy but went by like a blur. The first day of school started smoothly, even with someone forgetting their glasses they need to see the board.  Easy fix!  They were ready 20 minutes early.  No one cried.  Everyone ate some breakfast.  No one changed their outfit a million times.  No one was late for school.  Sounds like a success story to me.  Now….how many days until next summer?