Friday, November 22, 2013

From 1969 to 2013

Today is a date that people look back on with dismay, horror and sadness.  This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of President John F Kennedy.

In our family, 
today's date marks an important day in the life of one our family's most important members, my father.  This year he would have been 95!  

A large coincidence has occured in my life lately.  I am living in an area that my father, my mother and I visited in 1969.  My father had his own small airplane and in the "Summer of 69" he decided he and I would make a cross-country trip from Toronto, Canada to Fullerton, California.  My mother, not a fan of the small plane, opted to go by train and met us there.


Fullerton? 
 The name of that town has always stuck in my head since that trip when I was 10 years old. It was to that town's airport that we landed after passing by the Grand Canyon, New Mexico, Las Vegas and Arizona after several days of flying.

Fullerton?
Well, it happens to be quite close to the "Happiest Place on Earth", the place I had dancing around in my head the entire trip. 
Disneyland!



The coincidence?  Well, our new home happens to be about 15 minutes away from Disneyland and Fullerton is just another 10 minutes up the road.  All these years I never really understood why we landed and stayed in Fullerton.  In fact it wasn't until yesterday that I realized that we landed at the Fullerton airport - or that they had one.



Mr. Tennis called me from the road and said, "when you and your dad flew here, did you land at Fullerton Airport?"  Well, it hadn't occurred to me, but of course we must have since we stayed in Fullerton during our California visit.



So, in between puppies today I drove to Fullerton to see for myself where we most likely landed 44 years ago.

My dad loved that plane and called it "Romeo"  after the first letter in it's call sign.
  RGE - Romeo Gulf Echo.



Seeing the small airport didn't stir any particular memories about that trip, but I admit to getting misty-eyed looking at the small planes on the tarmac.  Surely that's where we parked Romeo and tied him down.



Surely that windsock has been replaced overtime, but it's one of the things I always look for at a small airport as my dad was always consulting them for wind direction.



Surely my father was smiling today as he saw his daughter return to what must be where we left Romeo while we visited with Mickey and the gang, went swimming in the Pacific at Long Beach, drove up to Hollywood and toured Universal Studios.

I could only find these prices from 1967, but my haven't times changed?

I know I'm smiling as I remember being 10 years old and experiencing the magic of Disney for the first time with my late parents.



I need to return to Disneyland for the second time, now that we live here. When I go, I will try to hear my dad's laughter as he too enjoyed "The Happiest Place on Earth" for the first time with his daughter.
The daughter for whom he flew his little plane all the way across this massive country so she could see some magic.

 Now that's an E-ticket ride!


Happy Birthday to my father, Richard S. Hughes!




Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Blog Break Almost Over!

I've been taking an unannounced blogging break, but I plan to be up and running again later this week.  I've missed catching up with the latest news with all my friends out there in blogland, but like Stanley the greyhound below, I needed a break and some time to figure out my new schedule (as if there is one!) and how I can fit in all the things I like to do in a week.


As you can see Stan is enjoying his new, comfy bed at The Writer and Sammy's house.
I hope everyone is well and as Arnold liked to say:
I'll be back...

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Red Sky at Night....

...Sailor's Delight.




Caught this sunset off of Balboa Pier, which is about 25 minutes from Boston Manor.





Mr. Tennis and I walked along the pier and watched as the sun dipped low, then lit up the sky with some beautiful orange and red colors.
 (or Orange and Blue, as we Florida Gators like to think the sunsets are for us - so egocentric are we!)





And indeed, the weather has been delightful here.





Hope you are having wonderful weather and that the week ahead is a delight for all my friends and family out there!



A beautiful sunset always makes me think of my mother who always used to love to say 
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight"!
I miss her.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Hello! I'm as Healthy as a Horse! (well, kind of)

I'm still here!
I promise!
I've been spending a lot of time on the computer, just not looking at blogs or writing my own.
I miss it, but right now I have to use my computer time to teach my Japanese students.

I learn something new everyday from them.  Such dedicated students  learning English for various reasons. Some travel a lot for business and want to be able to speak easily with their international clients/customers/co-workers.  Others want to expand their English vocabularies so they may apply for better or more interesting jobs.  

One woman is a homemaker and she simply wants to learn English as a challenge for herself. And she always takes the business classes because she finds them more interesting and challenging. She is one of my best students!

This week we covered illness and injuries and how to describe your symptoms to a doctor, if necessary, overseas.  Imagine how difficult some of the words and terms were for these students.

I have lost my appetite.
I am running a fever.
Heartburn 
Opthalmologist (try explaining how to pronounce that one!)
Healthy as a horse (just how healthy are these horses?)
Osteoporosis
Cardiac Arrest
Caught a cold

Lots of idioms and phrases that we don't think twice about saying.
We had some fun with some of them, but sheesh, I'm glad this particular lesson is over, it was the hardest one I have taught yet.

Speaking of being Healthy as a Horse...

How about Healthy as a Dexter?
Sitting in the Plumeria tree in our side yard last week during his stay with us.  If I let him he would have stayed out there 24/7.


My new favorite picture of him:

.

The Maven is glad to be back home and have her kittehs with her again.
She arrived back safe and sound.
We had one of those, there-but-for-the-grace-of-God moments yesterday when the tragic news broke about the shooting at LAX.  Two days earlier she had been in Terminal 3, walking the same hallways that were in such chaos yesterday.

Appreciate each day, I say.
And have a great weekend!