Hi all,

We had the tree-trimming party last night. John and Kathy drove down mid-day from the cabin at Inverness, where they spent the night. Madelyn had originally volunteered to bring dinner for the party, but stayed home to care for Ben's wife Melissa, and their very new baby. Rebecca stepped in, bringing (in addition to her two little boys) a whole lot of delicious food. Sandy contributed one of his delicious salads. Mariah brought her friend Nick, they had just returned from an adventure-travel trip in the Phillipines. Greg and Alex and Joe arrived a little later. It was a really fun evening.

Nancy and Wendell and their kids and grandkids were attending holiday gathering at one of the kids' houses. They will come down to join us all on Christmas Day. 

Smile, Joe...

Love, Lennie

Written December 23rd, 2015

I'm at Campus Dr., enjoying a completely lazy morning. Still in my pajamas at almost noon! The only family here so far are Mom, Sandy, and I.

Huge news, Mom has a new great-grandchild! Joe's son Ben and his wife Melissa have recently had their first child!

Madelyn and Joseph will stay home tonight, of course, to help care for the baby and new mother. Rebecca has volunteered to bring the food which Madelyn had planned to bring for the annual tree-trimming tonight. Greg brought the Christmas tree, on his way to meet friends last night.

I don't really blame myself for my laziness, because it's been quite a hectic week! This year has been so busy that I have really let the dust, dirt and clutter accumulate in my house. I spent at least 30 hours cleaning,  this past week,before I felt I could put up the tree, a 3/4 size fir which I bought at Home Depot. There were presents to buy for our own grandkids, and of course wrapping and Christmas card writing and posting. And all of the plants on both lots, except the well-established trees, had to be watered, a couple of hours doing that.

The van was coming for me at 3AM yesterday morning. so I had very little sleep the night before. For warmth while I waited outside for the van, I wrapped the Christmas present I'd bought for my mom around me: a holiday-themed shawl.

I got to Oakland International Airport at 7:00 or so California time
foggy, darkish and damp.

This photo is from the BART-Airport SkyTrain:

On the wind-blown Coliseum BART station, I was glad to have my rain jacket and hood.

I got to Oscar's at 10:00 AM, as arranged, and we played some music. I was charmed by this photo of him as a child with the mandolin orchestra at the Brooklyn Cooperative where he was raised (in the 1930's), his parents were communist by persuasion, Jewish by heritage, but, as communists, decidedly secular. Oscar is on the far right.

(Almost every time I come to Berkeley, I have lunch with Oscar and Paulette at their charming little home in El Cerrito, only fifteen minutes walk from the BART station.)

The next thing I had to do was write and mail a bunch of bills.
I stopped at the "Paris Bistro"
 

which is a Vietnamese-owned coffee/pastry place right next to the BART station. It's very clean and they have a spotless restroom, so I often stop there.

The homeless are very prevalent right around that BART station.  The "Paris Bistro" is zealously protective of its restroom key!

 I called Sandy and he said he'd not been able to leave Campus Dr. to go shopping for two days. Marisa had already been on vacation that long. I headed up the hill on the bus, as soon as my bills were mailed, so he could leave to go to the grocery store.

After dinner, Mom and I watched an episode of Hamish Macbeth.
We started a second one but my head kept jerking backward with fatigue!
 
Love, Lennie

Hi all,

Here are a few photos from Mom and Sandy's monthly "tea" held last night because the end of the month conflicts with the usual "tea" date.

Mom sends you all warm wishes for the holidays! We are sitting in the kitchen, and she is reading the newspapers. 

1) Sandy with Mom as she practices walking with the walker 2) Betsey Tabraham 3) Danielle with the Chinese exchange student who is staying with her this year 3) Marcia, who was with Mom in the Library School at UC Berkeley 4) Paulette and Anna Jarnagin at the buffet table.

I always forget to take photos of some who attended, and last night was no exception. Benter's husband was there with his brother-in-law Alfred, both of their wives are down with the flu. (But Benter still cooked something to send along.) Danielle is very excited that for her last year of teaching French, her daughter will be sharing her office!

 I mostly conversed with Benter's husband, Kaluoch, and his brother-in-law Alfred who were asking me if Donald Trump had any chance of winning. 

I was so pleased that Kaluoch's sister and her husband  have both moved on to better jobs than they had at Brennan's restaurant and bar. They are here fairly recently from Kenya, just since May.
    

Hi family,

Thanks for all of your Thanksgiving wishes!

My son Lawson and his wife Marie cooked most of the dinner, when we went to his parents' home for Thanksgiving. Her mom Marie has been under treatment for cancer all year, but is now in remission. Photos in order: Lawson cooking, Marie cooking,
Marie's mom, Diana, and Marie, Dale Sr. and Lawson. 

Love to all,
Lennie

Nice Walk by the Sea

Hi all,

The midwife is here, nice strong baby heartbeat broadcast over the room.The baby is still within normal range of lateness. Lyssa's midwife, who is from Holland, has recommended some gentle methods to encourage labor if things haven't happened by Friday. (At 42 weeks, the baby will be delivered in the hospital, probably by the midwife and the obstetrician working together.)

All signs are encouraging that things will happen on their own before then.

Yesterday Lyssa and I had lunch at a place over the water in Sechelt.

This man and dog were sitting out on the bench outside, just across the sidewalk from our table by the window. People kept walking their dogs back and forth.

Then we had a really great walk by the sea. The area along the walk was a city park, and there were many benches such the one above.

Love, Lennie

Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner with Lyssa's In-Laws

Hi Family,

Cold windy day in Sechelt. We had a nice morning hanging out with Dale Jr.

Mike had to work a half-day in the morning, as he does every Sunday. I walked to the grocery store to get some milk.Got this photo of a man fishing in the creek.

  I was almost back at the house when Dale Jr. waved from his rental car, going to find a pub where he could watch the Cardinal's game.


 

Mike's parents had asked us to come by around four. Dale Jr. arrived a little later after the Cardinal's game was over. 

It was so much fun, they really made us feel at home!

Tammy, Mike's ex-wife, is still part of the family; here she is mashing potatoes.

 
I like this photo of Mike's folks:

 
Here's a few more photos from the evening:

  

 We had a nice relaxed morning again, Mike does not have to work Mondays so we were all drinking coffee together.  Mike and Dale Jr. were trading "back stage" stories (being taken into a side room and questioned, going through customs). 

 Due to extra holiday traffic (Canadian Thanksgiving) Dale Jr. ended up missing the first ferry he aimed for. He had allowed an hour and a half to get to the terminal, when it's usually a 20 minute drive). And he was the very last car allowed on the next ferry after that, two hours of waiting in the long car line after that! (He is only going back to Vancouver).
 
Love, Lennie

Dale Jr. visiting here in Sechelt

Hello Family,

Lyssa remembers that when she was working with the midwives in LA, that there were spikes in the number of births they got called to, twice a month, for both the full moon and the new moon. The new moon is Tuesday...

Dale Jr.'s company wanted him to stay in the Vancouver area through Monday in case they had to call him back (they finished up all the calculations on the Edmonton light-rail bid yesterday but I think higher-ups are giving it a looking over before it gets turned in.) So he came out to Lyssa's for a visit, what a nice surprise. 

Dale Jr. and I went on a little outing, with the idea of giving Mike and Lyssa a little time to themselves.  Mike had suggested Gibson's Landing, near Sechelt, and on the same peninsula. We liked the sound of it because it has a museum of the history of this area, and nice places to have lunch. Here is Dale Jr. on the steps of Gramma's Pub, which we chose from the several Mike described. This pub is right over the water and  has been there more than half a century.

Standing by the window over-looking the water, I had to get between the raindrops for the camera to focus on this boat down on the bay.

We found out later, at the museum, that this boat was used in Canada's longest running TV series, "The Beachcombers" which was filmed in Gibson's Landing. 

 


Both sides of the main street (the southernmost part of the Sunshine Coast Highway) were lined with little shops and restaurants. We walked down to the little museum, which was excellent.

At the time of the poster below, there were "summer camps" along the Sunshine Coast (I'm guessing from the poster that they were not summer camps for kids, but camping resorts similar to the one in New York State where your parents met, Mom...with people staying in tents but coming into the central dining room for meals.

 The museum was packed with interesting things to look at, these photos are only a small sample.

I think the model below is of one of the small whaling boats.

When we walked back, it had stopped raining.and it was easier to take photos of the boats in the marina.

Dale and I drove back to Mike's and Lyssa's, but then walked down by the sea wall. The tide was high and it was very dramatic. 

One of the photos I took was so dramatic that Lyssa suggested I wait and put a copyright on it before I post it anywhere; "Otherwise it will end up all over Facebook with a trite religious saying written across it."

So I guess I'll have to wait until later to show that photo off!

Back at Lyssa and Mike's house, we had a nice evening. 

Mike cooked dinner, Dale Jr. played guitar and sang, and then they watched a Clint Eastwood movie while I worked on the second plaid flannel receiving blanket.

I'm writing this on Sunday, and believe it or not we are having Thanksgiving Dinner this evening with Mike's parents. Of course their harvest is much earlier because of the cold. The Canadian Thanksgiving is actually this Monday, a holiday here, but most people have the dinner the previous evening.

Love, Lennie