It is fit and proper, nay mandatory, that a columnist commence the New Year with an attractive piece of prose, a fitting subject, along with a bit of scintillating dialogue, that will entertain as well as inform. Alas, the creative juices seem to be lacking on this, the first column of the year and it makes one wonder if this is an omen, a harbinger of things to come in the coming weeks.
One of the factors in this lack of motivation is the weather. One would think that this is somewhat silly. One look at the outside and he sees nothing but wall-to-wall sunshine.
To top this off there is only a very, slight breeze in the air; hardly enough to disturb the yellowing leaves from leaving the limbs in the deciduous trees, a fate that is going to occur at some time or other anyway.
Last week I wrote about those New Year’s resolutions that some folks should be making. One of these was an admonishment to the San Diego Charger management to spend money and improve the team. And then what do they do? Without spending a single extra buck the team goes out and wins a ball game and gets themselves right into the playoffs. Which goes to prove, what do I know? I, like much of the Charger faithful have seen the scenario of last Sunday’s game many times in the past. But the ones coming out on the losing end have been the team for which we were concerned and rooting for. Let’s just hope that the game next Sunday will be a repeat of last week’s gem.
Getting back to the weather, according to the news we are the sole portion in the nation that is having clement days.
The entire north and eastern portions of the country are engulfed in snow storms, rain storms, and wind storms that have resulted in power outages, and other such calamities slowing business and government agencies to a snail pace.
For those of us sitting in the comfort of this Southern California patented days it is hard to imagine what 25 degrees below zero would feel like. I spent quite a bit of time in the Aleutian Chain of islands in the winter time during the war years so I must have experienced something like that. Those memories have sort of faded over time which gives a positive impetus to the process of growing old.
I have taken to sitting at the entrance to my garage in the morning hours. It is not only comfortable but also a place to catch those fresh rays of sunshine. It also attracts neighbors who might be walking by and who are the folks from whom we learn what is what on the hill.
Susan Osborn was one of these the other day. She walks the hill while husband Gary rides his bike. The bicycle, it seems, is an excellent means of exercise. We have written of the Osborn’s a few times in the past most recently about Gary’s mother, who is approaching 101, year not the highway. She lives in the condos across from Von’s and regularly crosses Bonita Road for groceries and sundries. Our hats are off to the Ada’s of the community.
I actually had a good reason for sitting in my chair at the garage’s entrance. I was watching my son-in-law Gregg and daughter Margaret load up their car for the ride back to Sacramento. They had been here since a couple of days before Christmas and we enjoyed their presence very much. We experienced, first hand, the antics of Willow and Louie, two small, but very active dogs.
We welcome and enjoy these periodic visits from family and friends. This is particularly important, to me, during the Christmas Season. We are looking forward to many more such visits in the weeks to come. What the heck! Our BandB is free!
