12-31-2020: Old Year's Night!
Things were very different this year due to many circumstances, of which the pandemic was one. At any rate, we didn't do the traditional
Japanese Osechi feast this year; instead both Ondine and John focused on making the German dishes. Here's bohnensuppe with bratwurst
(usually landjaeger), mashed potatoes (usually with weisswurst), rotkohl, and obst for dessert. There was also sauerkraut, herringsalat,
and barbeque potato chips and onion dip at midnight.
12-30-2020: A year-end hike!
Ondine and Roy and Shadow went up Cowles Mountain this morning.
12-25-2020: Merry Christmas!
Again, kind low-key around here with four adults. Still, we opened presents and had a great Christmas morning breakfast of waffles.
Here are some of our favorite ornaments. The first batch are among the oldest, and the first two are from the Cassidys, old, old family friends.
The little bell is a souvenir from Brienz, Switzerland, given to John's parents in 1953. The little wooden wagon is dated 1973, but that's when it
was given to John as a kid after he became utterly entranced by it. It actually dates from earlier. The little angel gift topper is one of John's mom's
collection, and dates from the early 1950s. Finally, there's an angel in a ring, which belonged to Ondine's grandmother; it could be pre-war.
Next is our newest ornament, a model USS Enterprise given to John from Roy, who printed it on his new 3-D printer. We saved some of the bvest for
last, kid-made ornaments from our own little offpsringen! The reindeer is actually a table top decoration, but we love it in the tree. The beaded icicles
and rings, and clay stars and snowmen are from other years.
12-24-2020: Christmas Eve.
A somewhat different-than-usual Christmas celebration because we're at home. So we got out the good china and had a feast of
our own, with Barbara. Here we all are! Afterwards, the kints played Connect Four using the chessboard and chess pieces,
and later played chess while we took a night walk.
12-06-2020: St. Nicholas' Day.
Some seasonal nuts and stockings for everyone, even the dog. How does he know this one is his?
11-26-2020: Thanksgiving at Our House
Roy brought home a duffel bag filled with Legos, so that became Leo's project. Meanwhile, Roy connected his laptop to
the TV for some big-screen gaming. Here's our usual Thanksgiving dinner, with individual Cornish game hens for all!
11-22-2020: All together now.
Here we are at Barbara's at kaffeetrinken: Roy, Shadow, Leo, John, Ondine.
11-20-2020: A midnight flight.
Roy's flight came in just before midnight, and the airport is a strangely abandoned place at that hour.
11-09-2020: Five year work anniversary.
Kaiser sent Ondine a nice plaque commemorating her fifth year working there!
10-16-2020: Treats for Roy.
We sent Roy a big bag o' treats for Halloween, and to keep him going through midterms. A BIIIIG bag o' treats. Here's the pic he sent us from UCCS!
10-10-2020 to 10-11-2020: A weekend getaway!
A lovely weekend to ourselves at the Coronado Beach Resort on Orange Avenue, right across from the Hotel Del, courtesy Barbara's timeshare. What a luxury
to wake up in a new place, take a shower in a bathroom you don't have to wipe down, and eat where you don't have to do the dishes! Ahhhh!
09-15-2020: Garage archaeology!
John dug into some long-buried boxes, revealing a treasure (?) trove of, well, stuff. Finds included books (including his Eagle Scout
project notebook), a beer sign (salvaged from the corner store's trash can some 45 years ago), a few car hubcaps (these are from a 1951-1953
Chevrolet, and they are the forgotten remnants of a childhood collection numbering some 300 hubcaps, most far more exotically designed than these),
model cars including one of John's favorites, the Rambler Marlin, and the shooting script (on original pink paper) for the pilot episode of the
original Battlestar Galactica (the one with Lorne Greene as Commander Adama). Meanwhile, the dog, having been given a bath, made himself
at home on the window bed.
09-13-2020: Final clear-out.
John went to L.A. to help his sister Elaine clear out their Mom's house so it can be rented out, prividing Mom with needed cash flow.
The entire house is now cleared out, and all the designated boxes of stuff are now either with their designees or in storage. Here are
a few shots of the place - empty but still filled with happy memories. John and Elaine paused their labors at Kotsu Ramen for lunch, yum!
John had a curry rice bowl with chasu pork, all the toppings, and tofu.
09-06-2020: The Valley Fire.
A fast-spreading wildfire in the Cleveland National Forest burned over 10,000 acres in its first couple days, sending a plume of
smoke into the sky and scattering sherds of ash all over the county, some of which were as big as two quarters side by side.
09-05-2020: A hot day.
The heat broke records all over California, including in San Diego, where record highs were set in several places including 114
degrees in El Cajon and 100 degrees at San Diego International Airport. Here under our patio, our uncalibrated thermometer
registered about 117 (and, on closer inspection, it looks like it couldn't go any higher).
08-23-2020: Roy leaves for UCCS, and we take an early morning breather.
Here's Roy at the San Diego airport, heading to Colorado Springs for his junior year. He's an old hand at this flying thing.
On the way home, we detoured to Mission Beach, where we waded in the warm water and watched the morning light emerge over
Belmont Park to illuminate the horizon. When we got home, this white 1964 Cadillac was parked near our house! It's either a Sedan
de Ville that lost its rear fender script, or it's a rarer entry-level Series 62.
08-22-2020: A new family portrait!
Here we all are in the back yard again.
08-03-2020: Roy straight chillin with a bowl of ice cream.
Ayup.
07-28-2020: Late-night baking with Ondine and Leo.
10 pm isn't too late to start baking a key lime pie, is it? Is it?
07-20-2020: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LEO!
Leo turned 18! We celebrated with Mexican take-out from Los Panchos and ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.
07-13-2020: one of three young hawklings.
All three young hawks still hang around this tree, where they were hatched, and seem to jointly go out on hunts.
07-02-2020: John on assignment at Katsu Cafe.
A class assignment for Cultural Anthro was to go to a restaurant and observe, so John risked a trip to Katsu Cafe, probably the day
before indoor dining was shut down again throughout California.
06-20-2020: Leo in a graduation gown.
Since there was no graduation ceremony, Ondine got Leo a cap and gown so he could dress up, at least, for
kaffeetrinken.
06-14-2020: Cooper's Hawk.
The pair of Cooper's Hawks in the huge tree behind our yard have a nest with three or four chicks in it! We can see them
through a small gap in the foliage, from just one spot under our pomegranate tree. Both parents are very active, hunting
the embankment and the yards in the neighborhood. We've seen them tearing into squirrels mostly, but they'd also eat snakes,
birds, rats, and small pets. Shadow is just a tad too big to be worth a fight, but they do occasionally make warning swoops
over him.
06-13-2020: Leo's graduation lunch.
We got take-out from Tsuki Sushi (mostly ramen) and got together next door at Barbara's. Here Barbara, Ondine, and Leo look at the
Point Blank music school. And, a shot of our Class of 2020 graduate!
05-20-2020: Never too old for Legos, Part 2.
Roy bought a box of used Legos from eBay. It made us think of the days of Daddy's Lego Salvage Company, when abandoned Legos would be picked up
by John while cleaning then periodically sold back to the kints. It filled an entire banker's box. Those were the days of sweet, sweet bargains
compared to modern ecommerce: Roy says this small box cost him about $30 plus shipping!
05-19-2020: Another humminghen, and a mallow.
More from the back yard. The humminghen set up atop a shell mobile hanging from the patio rafter. The flower is a native mallow.
05-17-2020: Class of 2020 Part II!
Leo reluctantly decided to display the yard sign in the yard!
05-16-2020: Class of 2020!
Leo might not get a graduation ceremony, but he did get this cool yard sign!
05-12-2020: New rowing machine.
The rowing machine Ondine ordered arrived on Monday, and John assembled it Tuesday morning. It's super smooth and quiet, perfect
for a workout while watching TV!
05-10-2020: Mother's Day and a new family portrait.
People were under orders to "be silly," but John and the dog are funny-looking enough that they didn't dress up.
04-16-2020: Boidss.
Half of a pair of hawks roosting in the tree behind our yard, and half of a pair of hummingbirds nesting in the cherimoya tree. Pretty
sure that's the male hawk and the female hummingbird, but we don't want to get all gender-identication-y on them.
04-06-2020: Doggo in the clover.
In this time of COVID-19 and social distancing, here's a picture of the dog, who is thrilled, thrilled
to have the whole pack nested in at home.
03-16-2020: Never too old for Legos.
Roy brought home two sets from college, an International Space Station and a ship in a bottle. Leo is building the ship
in a bottle model. This was a surprisingly difficult build!
03-15-2020: A nice Sunday walk.
This is a lovely walk down to the bottom of the hill overlooking the trail, then wending through the neighborhood to
the trailhead, then following a fire road into Santee, then turning back and coming home via Cowles Mountain and the
meadow section. The water was running, always a treat, and John even found some treasure!
03-14-2020: It's amazing how many flowers basically look like the coronavirus.
Truth.
02-07-2020: Fiddler on the Roof at PHAME.
John and Leo went to see Fiddler at Patrick Henry high school. It was excellent, so good, in fact, that they returned two days later
with Ondine. It was theatre teacher Mrs. Carr's final show before retirement, and it was incredibly good.
02-02-2020: Super Bowl LIV.
We went to Anita and Ren's house to watch the Super Bowl. The San Francisco 49ers were ahead when we left, but the Kansas City Chiefs
made 21 points to win, 31-20. Here we all are!
02-01-2020: Love Scenes at the Stagehouse Theatre.
We walked to Grossmont College to see a show called Inside the Actor's Process: Love Scenes. A quick, pleasant walk
and a wonderful show! We arrived very early, so we walked around the campus a bit soaking up the collegiate atmosphere of arts and academics.
01-26-2020: Leo and Ondine at the beach.
Leo and Ondine went to Mission Beach where they walked a bit along the water and enjoyed a Luigi's pizza near the boardwalk!
01-25-2020: Jitney at The Old Globe.
We caught the matinee performance of August Wilson's Jitney, the eighth play in Wilson's "Century Cycle" of African American
working class life. It was a powerful piece of art, with a stunning set and amazing performances.
01-24-2020: John cuts his hair.
John usually cuts his own hair with electric clippers, but this is the first time he's given himself a haircut with scissors. Here's
the before and after pics. It's not necessarily an improvement on that mug, but not bad for a DIY haircut! Later he took Leo and Leo's
friend to lunch at Mountain Mike's for the pizza buffet. While they sat and talked, John sat in back and had some quiet reading/eating time.
01-20-2020: Roy flying out, and owls flying in.
Here's Roy at SAN on his way to Colorado Springs via Phoenix. And, that night, look whooo we saw! (Yes, that should be whooom.) An owl couple
perched on a branch high above the community garden! Plus, a closer look the next day. Ha!
01-19-2020: Monopoly in the garden and a new family portrait!
Before Roy left, we got a new family portrait. Then we turned to a wheeling and dealing Monopoly game on the patio.
01-17-2020 :God of Carnage at Lamplighters!
Our first play of the year was God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, at Lamplighters Community Theatre in La Mesa. It was both hilarious and
a sad reflection of life today, with infantilized adults and invisible children.
01-01-2020: Happy New Year Oshogatsu/Osechi!
Our usual Japanese New Year's Day feast, prepared by Frances, John, Roy, and Leo. Plus, a shot of John with his Mom.
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