The Old and the New

Today we drove to San Francisco crossing the Bay Bridge in the process. In case you did not know, there is a new bridge over the bay. After the 1989 earthquake, where a portion of the eastern side of the bridge fell, the city of Oakland decided their part of the bridge should be replaced. It took awhile for construction to start, but it did in 2002. 11 years and billions of dollars later, the new eastern side of the Bridge was opened in September of this year. As you can see, the old cantilever bridge is still standing, but it is being demolished. In the meantime, the two eastern spans are standing side by side. If you still want to see the old and the new, come out here now, as it will be gone soon!

         

To me, the huge central beam with cables looks like a sailboat. It's very graceful and very different from the old Oakland side of the bridge. However, once you go thru the tunnel, you see the familiar tower of the old San Francisco Bridge.

         

That's the scene I've seen all my life. It's familiar and beautiful. And in the distance, if I looked thru the haze, I could see shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge. The oldest of them all. 

 

BTW: the new eastern span is the widest bridge in the world. 

Merry Christmas

These could be  Santa's footprints as he was getting into his sleigh last night. 

I want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas!

Our Kissing Tree

                   

We have one cottonwood tree that grows mistletoe. We take the mistletoe out, and it comes right back. Since mistletoe is a parasite that actually grows into the tree it's no wonder it returns time and again. Anyway, since this is Christmas time and mistletoe is related to Christmas, I thought I'd find out more about this green wonder. This type of research is so much easier with internet resources readily available. I thought that if you kissed your love under the mistletoe and it would bring you luck. Now I know more. 

Mistletoe shows up in Greek, Roman and Norse mythology. Some think kissing under the mistletoe comes from Norse mythology. In those times, it was thought to be the "essence of romance." It was a rare plant that grew high on trees, was difficult to harvest and was green when nothing else was. Pliny the Elder wrote that the Celts used it in a ceremony to make sterile animals fertile. "Kissing under the mistletoe" finally makes an appearance in popular European culture in the 1500s as it was thought to bring good luck and it became a popular Christmas ritual. The first time the tradition is mentioned in the US is 1820, when Washington Irving wrote about it in "The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." 

When I started this quest, the last thing on my mind was fertility. I thought kissing under the mistletoe was a sign for good luck in the coming year. It appears that's not the complete story. Since mistletoe is green when most other plants are not, it was a powerful message about hope and the continuation of life. I wonder if those ancient folks realized that mistletoe was a parasite? 

Whatever...there's mistletoe in the cottonwood. It's green when everything is dried up. If you want to kiss under it, you may. 

Not Just Enjoyable--But Good for Me Too!

I try to walk about 2 miles every day. Some days I get in a but more...some a bit less. But I really try for that magic number 2. Today I just ready an article that had the following headline: "2,000 steps to a healthier heart: Walking that far every day for a year can reduce heart attack and stroke risk by 8%"

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2526750/2-000-steps-healthier-heart-Walking-far-day-year-reduce-heart-attack-stroke-risk-8.html#ixzz2o8coMCw3 

If you want to read the whole article, click on the link above. In the meantime, I'm going to continue my daily walks. BTW, 2 miles is about 3500 steps. 

The Reason for the Season

Political Correctness, Be D^%%#}--this is a rant FYI

It's Christmas! But it's the most unChristmas I've ever seen! The TV shows talk about Holiday Cards. We have "community" trees in town that are decorated in "holiday" style. What on earth does that mean? We have "winter break" instead of Christmas vacation. Gone is the Nativity scene which is the reason for the holiday. The Christmas card industry has bent over backwards to celebrate the season by offering "greetings" and "happy holidays." I'm surprised the post office issued a religious stamp this year. Did they not get the PC message? Kudos to the Post Office. 

In an effort to not offend, I'm offended. I am wishing people Merry Christmas. I'm complaining when someone asks me to sing the "12 Days of Winter.” I'm humming traditional Christmas carols to enjoy and also to irritate. It's CHRISTMAS time. That's what's I am celebrating this year not some perverted PC holiday that has been created by cowards who don't want to hurt feelings. My feelings are hurt! Get the message PC folks! 

Brownies

A friend of mine wanted a good brownie recipe. I recommended the following...buy a good brownie mix in a box (I like Betty Crocker) and mix as directed. Then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of real almond extract and a cup of bittersweet chocolate chips. Cook as directed on the box. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean. Immediately scrape the sides of the baking pan releasing the brownies from the sides. Cool 5 minutes then turn the pan over on a plate or board and hope they will fall out. Sometimes a little bit of the mixture will stick to the baking pan, but that's not a disaster. Just carefully scrape it off the pan and replace it on the brownies. Cut the brownies into 24 pieces and enjoy. 

                          

Secret Santa

I have not played Secret Santa in years, but I always loved the part. Go to http://www.faithit.com/airline-secret-santa-surprise-passengers-westjet/#.Uqfyfmd69Gg.facebook and see a heart warming video of an airline playing Secret Santa to some very surprised passengers. This is delightful. Thank you Mike for the heads-up.

Praying Mantis

I see interesting things when I take my morning walk. Today I saw a Praying Mantis. Since it's just about winter and there are few bugs out, I thought it was unusual. 

                   

It was sitting on a t-post contrasting against the faded red. My guess is it had been hiding in the weeds, which are about the same color as the mantis. These guys are good camouflage artists. Don't you love the shadow?

          

Back inside I tried to find if it is unusual to see mantids in winter, but with over 400 species, it's hard to tell what is usual unless you know the exact species. They get their name because it looks like they are praying however some folks spell it "preying" as they are predators. I did find out that some folks like to have mantids for pets. They have a 10-12 month life span in the wild, but in captivity they can live more than a decade. Some mantids fly. Females are larger than males and generally don't fly. Mantids are considered "naturals" with regard to insect control as they have a voracious appetite for other insects, including other mantids. Lastly, they are related to roaches and termites. That means they are probably impossible to eradicate. 

O Christmas Tree--Part 3

The angel is now on top of the tree. I bought "her" when we could still celebrate Christmas in a classroom. I had a Christmas tree in my first classroom. The kids made ornaments for the tree and we learned Christmas carols like "Away in the Manger" and "We Three Kings" as well as Christmas songs like "Rudolph" and "Jingle Bells." 

We had decorated the tree, but we were missing an angel for the top. I went to a craft store and asked for an "angel" kit. The clerk said he had the perfect angel head and showed me "my angel." At the time, it looked just like me! I made a dress for her and brought her to school the next day. My kids saw the resemblance right away. They said "our teacher is the angel on the tree!"  

                    

Since then, she has had many different dresses. She sits on the top of our trees with pride. I always think of my first class of kids when I see her. She's a special little angel.  

Sky-blue-peachy-gold

Sunsets come in many varieties. Some are drop dead gorgeous. Some have a quiet beauty. Others are ordinary. Last night we had a spectacular and unusual sunset. It did not have great streaks of color, it had pillows of color that radiated from the sun. 

Give credit to the Hesperides who paint the evening sky. 

O Christmas Tree, part 2

                         

The Christmas tree is decorated...mostly decorated. We still need to put the angel on the top. We will do that tomorrow. The angel has been on top of just about every Christmas tree we have had. She is part of our Christmas tradition. Most of the unique ornaments are part of our Christmas tradition too. They were given to us over the last 40+ years. When I take them out of their little boxes, I remember the people who gave us the ornament and wish them a Merry Christmas too. I wonder what they are doing? Where they are? How their kids are? Thank you all for making Christmas a special event in my life. 

O Christmas Tree

We bought our Christmas tree today. We had great plans to go to the tree farm and cut one down. But it snowed yesterday. Getting to the tree farm was a 4x4 adventure. Once inside we discovered the trails were icy and down right dangerous to walk upon. 

          

Lucky for us, they had some freshly cut trees. After slipping and sliding to look at the cut trees up close and personal, I chose one from afar (none of the close-up trees were perfect). The nice young attendant carried the tree to the truck and after paying for it, we were on our way. 

We bought a very pretty silver tip. It's standing in the garage right now drying off. It does not look like it's loaded with snow....

but it is. I hope it will be dry enough tomorrow so we can decorate it. I just went into the garage and it smells like a pine forest in there. Yummy!

Illusive Water

 We need water. We had some rain a few days ago and then the sun came out and it felt like spring. Last night we had some more rain and this time the temps were cold...so some folks had a deep frost. 

While not a winter wonderland, it is wet and has some much needed water content. This picture was taken in the northern CA Central Valley. 

A hundred miles to the east, in the foothills of the Sierras, there was real snow. We hope to get some more of this wonderful water. 

                      

Tis the season

It's December and that means Christmas parties. On Tuesday I went to Delta Kappa Gamma's party at a local restaurant. The 20 ladies of the group celebrated by giving a passel of books to a local charity and two $500 scholarships to outstanding student teachers. 

Today we are going to another party. This one with of group of folks I taught with 30 years ago! We are old friends. The group meets for lunch once a month and has the unlikely name of "Old Farts." I don't think we have any high minded purpose other than having a little but of fun.

Come join our table as we enjoy the season. 

The Great Wall

A friend sent me this picture. It's where the Great Wall meets the water at the Yellow Sea.  It's called Laolongtou or Great Dragon's Head. I've seen part of the Great Wall outside of Beijing but I've never seen this part of the massive wall. From this point (Shanhauguan) the wall stretches another 13,000 miles to Lop Lake in the east. The Wall was started in the 7th century BC. Thank you Cary...a place I'll try to visit some day.