Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
Diaries. What to write when not much is happening? In times like this, I still want a record of time passing and I try to have cameras with at least some recorded moments. The story may not be worth others' reading time, but it's all voluntary.
Around home, there's always flowers and bugs in the garden, and broken sprinklers that need fixing. I think the lawn guys hit this one and I trust they will fix it. Some day.
Indoors, I have plenty of YouTube (SpaceX Starship 5 launch!), books (Life of Jack London), and puzzles (I gave up on the last one, too tedious-hard.) Not picture worthy.
Meanwhile, Marianne is on and off busy with painting, but I again failed to get that on film. Remind me to do it before the next diary! (Or I will grab some shots from her phone and backfit here.)
We have had a few near-home events too. I joined in the kick-off of another study of how to improve Blackstone, our local main street. Before Covid we were part of the "Better Blackstone" effort to define how the long and ugly thoroughfare could be re-imagined. Came up with a plan. Got it endorsed by the city. Real change, however, didn't happen and now some local agitators have convinced architecture schools in Fresno and San Louis Obispo to create new concepts. It was fun to hear noble intentions and we will see if something happens in the next months (and years!).
Our next group event was the kick-off session of Fresno's annual Town Hall speaker series. This was another activity that is being resurrected after a Covid hiatus and we were glad to restart our interest. The speaker was Scott Pelley, a journalist who enthralled us with insights about the meaning of life, or so was his intention. He blended stories from his 60 Minutes and CBS News career and from his current book: Truth Worth Telling: A Reporter's Search for Meaning in the Stories of Our Times. Despite his intention to be politically balanced, his disdain for for the ex-president was clear, up through the recent break in a 50 year 60-Minutes tradition of telecast interviews of presidential candidates. At the last minute, Trump chickened out.
We finished the week's cultural activities by "Toasting the Arts", the annual fund raiser for Fresno City College's art and music program, again a post-Covid restart. We managed to avoid "winning" anything at the silent auction,so our contribution was limited. The food was OK (enough), the dance display was ... interesting. Music was student-ish, with a pair of singing acts that were more abstract than might be our taste. Or they were just weird.
Otherwise, my cameras simply held the results from a Sunday-morning walk through the neighborhood. The signs of the times included Halloween-decorated yards and political statements. Only a few more weeks of this.
Finally, there were flowers. This is Fresno' second flower season, after the overbearing summer heat, but before too much seasonal cooling. (It's hard to call what happens here as "winter".) I know I show too many pictures like this, but it's what ends up on my cameras.
And that was a regular week or two.
Stay tuned for something more interesting. I hope.
John and Marianne