Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
Another little diary, just enough to remember things from the last few days around home before we visit family in Monterey.
So, what's happening? It's Spring here in Fresno, so the yard takes up time. I don't mind the weeding and cleaning, and we don't do too much new planting, but we do need to get "irrigation" in order before all else. It's been a nice, wet winter, but that ends about now, so artificial water has to be ready to take over. Step #1 has been to spend a few thousand dollars replacing old sprinklers and remote valves. I paid too much, but the prospect of patching our seven valves, three dozen sprinklers, and two drip lines was finally too much, So we called in contractors to fix about half. More patching will do for the rest.
Otherwise, we are doing the usual: visits to neighbor Vern as he recovers from a fall; a bit of medical attention for Marianne as she recovers form Covid and starts a new cancer medicine; painting for her and too much screen-time for me. Spring also brings outdoor dining on the patio. This really is my favorite restaurant!
A big part of my excess screen-time has been watching the latest volcano eruption in Iceland. There has been one eruption per month since November and March 16th makes this the seventh in the last two years. American geologist Shawn Wilsey has become famous, in a small corner of the online world, by weaving in education with "news". Somehow, he manages to cover Iceland from his home in Twin Falls, Idaho. In my view, this is a good use of the modern internet social media world.
The other person I follow in Iceland is drone-pilot Isak Finnbogason whose videos are both informative and spectacular. He live-streams many days and the result is as close to being there as I can imagine. Except it's Isak who is out in the cold, wind, rain, and snow. Here are screenshots of his latest:
The initial string of eruptions
The lava flowed toward the town of Grindavik,
but was diverted by a berm recently constructed for the purpose.
The night shots are spectacular, especially those directly over the lava field and fountains.
(On his last flight, Isak went up in strong winds and was not able to fly his drone back to the launch site. He seemed confident he would be able to find it. I hope so!)
On March 20, we left home for some nearby travel. Our first stop was The Dunneville Market and Kitchen for a pair of the best tri-tip sandwiches we've ever had. Vern had recommended the place, saying he had stopped there dozens of times over the decades when he regularly drove between Fresno and Monterey.
We will spend the rest of the weekend with family in Monterey. That will be the next story.
Stay tuned,
John and Marianne