Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
It's been a couple of weeks, so our record requires an entry, even though, other than our first story, not much has been happening. Here goes:
Our favorite band came to town and we HAD to go. Marianne's brother Tom plays in the Kathy Kallick Band and we have seen them play bluegrass "around the world" (Germany, France, Central Valley, Monterey). We are real KKB groupies. This show was as good as usual: musical, professional, fun, and worth traveling for.
Getting ready
Show time
My souvenirs.
Politics remains our major distraction, despite my best efforts to not read or watch too much news. It seems the pending administration has taken Ronald Regan's 1967 admonition for the Republican party to become a "big tent" party and make it a big CIRCUS tent, complete with dozens of clowns and an overweight ring leader. I do wonder if the party has any hope but, if jellyfish can make it, so can they.
As for the country overall, we are more than ever dependent on the stability of the bureaucracy, including the military, and that's scary. The Muskovites of the party, in the name of efficiency, are planning a frontal attack on all government employees. This is a purge reminiscent of the post-1932 actions of the German regime. All that remains is for a mysterious fire in the halls of Congress and an emergency declaration that political deliberation is too inefficient and thus unnecessary. (Or, some of us can join Canada.)
On a much lighter note, our flowers are making their last appearances. I know this is repetitive, but I enjoy the process of taking flower pictures, selecting the better ones, and putting pictures where we can all enjoy them.
Out in the street, fall colors are exceptional this year, decorating the old houses of our neighborhood. I expect most of this color to be washed away by the trio of "tropical rivers" that will start arriving soon. The forecast is for close to two inches of rain here in the valley and feet of snow up in the mountains. Of course we always say "we need it", but I will miss the colorful leaves and flowers. Next year.
Health? How are we? Good enough. No sign of Marianne's elephant in the room. Next month, we have travel planned to replace her pacemaker. We are uncomfortable with local options, so we will go up to Kaiser in Roseville, the near-Sacramento hospital where she had a broken arm set a couple months ago. It is supposed to be a no worry process, so we might even get in a bit of tourism!
My weight-control efforts are not doing well, so I add a note to the bottom of each of my daily to-do lists. Maybe that will help. Otherwise, it's just the rather discouraging prospect of aging, an inevitable process that has no better alternative.
I'll finish this note with my favorite eye-candy: shots of the volcano eruption in Iceland. My favorite Icelandic videographer, Isak Finnbogason, lost his drone when he spent too much time taking these particular shots and could not make it all the way back to his take-off pad. We'll see if he succeeds in recovering the little bird before the lava covers it.
And that's it. Next edition should cover a holiday trip to Monterey.
Stay tuned.
John and Marianne