Watching the Fish

One day before I broke my leg, I finally finished my pond "remodel". (I'll link to photos of the process when I get a chance.) There are still plants and rocks that need to be put back and more plants to add, but until my leg is healed, I'll just have to wait. Tom moved a few things for me (especially the fish!) and feeds them every night. During the recent heat wave, we've really enjoyed sitting on the back porch with our evening drinks, watching the fish eat. Here's a video I put together as the fish learned it was safe to come out and eat while we are still in the area.

Amazing How One Second Can Change Your Life

That's what I heard several times this past weekend after stepping off the deck without planning to! I had finally finished my pond remodeling project the night before and was spacing out and admiring the results before I was truly awake . . .
Thank goodness Tom hadn't left yet, so we were able to spend time in the ER, get x-rays, and surgery before the sun set. Two nights and a morning at Community Memorial later, Tom was helping me back into the house.

I have a metal plate with six pins and two screws holding together the break and the fracture of my tibia and fibula (right ones) and I'm able to slowly move on crutches. My main responsibility (and goal) is to sit with my foot elevated for as long as possible until Tuesday morning when I will see the surgeon again. Now that I've stopped taking the pain pills, I feel better but it will be more work to sit still!I will have to concentrate on sitting still!

A Wedding and Three Concerts

Last week came and went but left me with lots of great memories, images, and melodies in my head. We spent the first half of the Memorial Day weekend in San Luis Obispo and celebrated love, marriage, family, and friends at Holly & Chris's wedding. Sam and Jenn came down from Tahoe and the four of us stayed in a suite together.

We all (Doug included) drove back to Ventura for a night at home. Tom helped me finish the pond by doing the more detailed digging and we put the liner down the next morning. (More about that in another posting.) We spent Monday at the UCLA Reggae Festival and had a great time with the all the sounds and sights of the day.

Two dress rehearsals later, we joined the Cal State University Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra (CHICO) and the CSUCI choir for two performances of Ralph Vaughn Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem. We performed at the Camarillo Community Church on Friday night and at our First United Methodist Church in Ventura on Sunday afternoon. We got to enjoy Mariam and CHICO perform Rhapsody in Blue twice!


More photos are coming!

A Dolphin Day

You know the expression, bluebird, to describe one of those totally gorgeous, blue-sky, sunny days - especially after a snow storm that leaves the slopes oh-so gorgeous? I had the day off on Wednesday and had what can only be described as a dolphin day. I left home early and drove down the coast for my appointment with Kathy and as is my habit after a great haircut and visit with her, I drove to Torrance Beach (which is actually in Redondo) to enjoy the sight, sound, and aroma of the beach where I grew up. (As beautiful and calming as the ocean in Ventura and Santa Barbara is, we have a natural seepage that leaves tar and the smell of tar at the beach - the smell in Redondo and the rest of the South Bay has a sweet ocean scent and the sand is wide and lighter in color.) So the day was just starting to warm up to the first day of a mild heat wave - a high of 76 degrees was predicted - and the surfers, joggers, and strollers were out as usual. There were even a couple of guys out in a kayak and a row boat. I sat and ate breakfast and read my morning devotions on a bench above the beach - what a gorgeous South Bay morning!
Then I noticed the dolphins. It's not unusual to see dolphins in the water, but there were more than usual that day.Actually, the reason I went back to the car to get my camera was the fact some of the dolphins were doing those cool out-of-the-water leaps they do so well. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture any of those leaps on camera so I'll just have to rely on memory to replay those images.So back to what makes dolphin days. All the years I commuted up the coast to work at UCSB, I knew my day was extra good whenever I saw dolphins along the drive. Last Wednesday, I had the day free to do whatever I wanted, so I made a point to pull over and walk on the beach or along the road and saw dolphins in Redondo, Malibu, and just south of Mugu Rock. The weather was perfect, I had the time, and dolphins were fishing and playing where I could see them clearly. A truly dolphin day!

Looking Back: April 1st Flowers

This has been a great year for spring bulbs. Even though I didn't buy as many new bulbs this year, the ones I did buy were hardy and bloomed a long time. We also had a few returnees from past years. Had it not been for our heat wave and Santa Ana winds last week, these may have still been blooming today.