Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
Christmas is best celebrated with family and little kids, especially little kids. We don't have any of those, so we will make do with teenagers and, because of the complexity of holiday travel, we will open our first presents ten days early. We'll take it.
On Saturday we planned the drive from Fresno to Los Gatos/Monte Sereno early, but delayed things because a heavy rainstorm was crossing the coast, bay, and valley. At 10:15 we drove on our now-preferred route, straight west across the Central Valley on Highway 180. It's just one lane each direction and a lot less traffic than Highways 99 and 152. The arrow-straight road passes though miles and miles of orchards and vineyards that only irrigation makes possible because, left to nature, West Fresno County is a desert.
Even heavy storm fronts generally run out of water before they get here so it was only as we headed north on Interstate 5 at the valley's western edge that we started seeing sign of weather. Still not much traffic and the sign was mostly a bright rainbow.
Highway 152 through Pacheco Pass was something else. Rains were still lingering and traffic was heavy enough to be uncomfortable. About halfway up the pass, the navigation system warned us of a pending problem and quickly the cars in front ground to a halt. When bad things happen on this highway, there is nothing to do but tough it out because there is no going around. After twenty minutes, we crawled past the crash scene and said a prayer for whoever had flipped their sedan. Their holiday season had suddenly turned bad.
On the rest of the drive, we drove cautiously. Of course. We took time out for charging and lunch at Casa de Fruta to let the remaining rain pass through. Then, the one-hour drive up to Monte Sereno went by as usual: tons of cars and a slowdown or three.
We arrived unscathed. Hugged family. And settled in. Lots of opportunity for pictures, but I missed them all! I promised to do better on Sunday.
December 15th, First Christmas. Signs of the times everywhere in the Rahimi home.
This was a quiet day, with chilling being the theme. Sam came back from a couple days at a friends "ranch", tired from driving motorcycles, dirt bikes and a jeep. Ava spent the day prepping for exams, sometimes in her room and sometimes at a friend's house. Mamal worked on office Christmas cards. Gabby watched true murder shows on the big screen. I read my novel about volcanoes. Marianne visited with all of us.
Things got a bit more active when Gigi started cooking her famous Paprika Chicken. She and Ava started with sous chef lessons on chopping onions and cutting up birds. I think Ava likes this study better than math exam prep, but she's a good student in any situation.
After filling the house with good smells for a couple of hours, the Hungarian meal turned out perfect, as we always expect. Gabby noted how Hungarian was a taste she still associates with home celebrations like at Christmas time.
Gift exchange followed dinner, just as it would on a regular Christmas. No one wanted to insist on waiting for the 25th! Most gifts fit, but not all. Sam had grown just a little more than his mom had told us. That happens. My warm blanket fit just fine.
Our day ended early with most folks on a work or school schedule the next day.
Monday was an even quieter day, at least for Gigi and me. Mamal left early for work, the kids, after breakfast, for school, and Gabby had a morning of errands and appointments.
The weather stayed gray and drippy, something we would like in Fresno but here, closer to the Coast, it just seemed dreary. (I checked our home weather and noted that, as much rain as the rest of Northern California was getting, Fresno County was stuck in desert mode with nothing more than passing clouds.)
Gabby, Gigi, and I went to lunch at sweetgreen in the Pruneyard shopping center, welcomed by a bunch of blue zoo animals. I suppose the food was good, but unremarkable, but I enjoy the ladies' company.
From then on, it was more quiet for Marianne and me and more normal life for the family: groceries, school pick up, delivery to tutoring (Ava), exercise session (Sam) and a car pick up. We all gathered again for Taco Tuesday at home and ended the day in our own bubbles: Monday Night Football for the boys, exam study for Ava, movie screens for the other two.
And that's the record of the day, all I expect from a diary.
Tuesday. Completely routine. Starbucks for diary. Back to Rahimi Resort for screen time and books. Since this was vacation time, I eschewed serious non-fiction and spent hours with a couple of page-turners, neither solid recommendations for more than using lots of time. I suppose I will go back to more serious reading when I return to Fresno.
I enjoyed a lunch with "the girls": Gabby, Marianne, and Zohreh, Mamal's mom. Gabby had chosen Chez Phillipe and the offerings were as authentically French as we have seen this side of the Atlantic. Really.
Afternoon was more books and enough screens to stay up with news: a school shooting, stocks dropping, an assassination in Moscow, DT upsetting the status quo, and winter weather. I know the message of most media is to "be very afraid (and stay tuned in)", but this is not in the Christmas spirit.
Home tomorrow.
Stay tuned,
John and Marianne