Loving Life.
The Daily News
1 Great weekend!
2 Hope you had one too! Took a "whim" trip up to Tahoe Saturday with Linda, Randy, Beth, Brian, Caden, and Helene, all of this sans plans.
3 We had gone for an early hike, around three some-odd miles, got home, and received a text from my sister Linda. It said this:
"We are gonna have lunch at the Beacon. Interested?"
The Beacon Bar and Grill is located on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe, and a little over two hours away. Easy, AND the second time in a couple of weeks! So...YEAH!
4 We had stopped by a CVS on the hike, and I bought a bunch of small stuff that needed organizing: new reading glasses, new sun-readers, eye-glass cleaner, and no-tear eye drops.
5 The eye examiner dude I visited last week told me I had cataracts, and that, while my vision "isn't exactly 20/20," he could do nothing for a year to correct things.
6 I decided to spend money on better reading glasses, as well as on glasses that could block the sun AND work with my driving.
7 So I needed a pair that could correct reading concerns AND keep the sun out.That's what sun readers are.
8 So when I got home, I wanted to organize my new "eyes" so that I had something better than Dollar Store readers.
9 The trouble came with Linda's text. I had two options: organize the glasses, separate them into different cloth cases, and take the car around the block to get acclimated to the them, and then stay home, OR I could organize every-thing all at once, and drive up to Tahoe.
11 Within a half hour we were headed for Tahoe.
12 We had to Siri it the first few miles. This means no radio, nor any other noises for that matter.
13 Once we hit Highway 50, I popped a U2 CD into the player (I KNOW, I KNOW!!!), rolled down the windows, and blasted the iconic Beautiful Day through the mountains.
14 Every song on that CD was a hit, so it was fun working the vocal chords and trying to hit Bono notes while flying through the Sierra.
15 After a while, it became pure singing. The voice warmed up, and I wound up hitting lots of extremely high notes.
16 Others...I knew in advance I wouldn't and shouldn't even attempt them. Bono. I'm tellin' ya.
17 Once we shot past Strawberry and Twin Bridges, I switched it out to some good ol' Grateful Dead. I had recently stumbled upon some old CD wallet that had in it Steppin' Out With The Grateful Dead, England '72. I popped that into the player and moved toward Echo Summit. If you know the Dead, you know they got me safely to the Summit for a wonderful view for the second time in a month, and the rest was pure heaven. The snow, the view, all of it. Whew.
18 We once again met at 7-11, since you could park your car there and it won't get towed. We laughed, and then headed to the Lodge that has been our vacay spot for years. As we crept up, the mood changed.
19 It was a ghost town. I swooned, as it was the second time this month we saw that it had closed down. This time, every step became a memory; every glance a sincere sigh. On the surface we all joked and laughed, but inside, it was leaving yet another part of our past on a place that once had a green lawn, a pool, roses, barbecues, cocktails, bocce ball, laughs, games, guitar, singing, and all the rest. Eerie, sad, and filled with secret sighs, it was for all of us a bittersweet morning. Life climbs all over you sometimes. It happened several times as we walked around the place for what could only have been the very last time.
20 On the positive end, we got instantly excited about touring our new digs. When Brian, Beth, and Cody arrived, we took a brief tour of all the different cabins we will be headed to in July, and enjoyed the crunching pines, the snow-covered peaks of Mt. Tallac, and our very lovely and familiar Lake Tahoe.
21 Brian and Beth paid their respects at the old place, and then we caravanned to The Beacon Bar and Grill for the second time in a month. We put in for a table and went outside to look at the Lake.
22 Long wait, lots more laughs, and listening and looking out at Tahoe put it all in perspective. I'll leave the next few hours to more laughs, good food, and genuine smiles.
23 We stayed late, said our good-byes, and made it safely home.
24 When I arrived and sat in Le Luge, I tried working on this stuff, as I had promised some political news to be revealed this week.
25 To be honest, that idea depressed me. I decided to walk and get some late-night exercise, did a personal best, slept, and awakened to get ready for a River Cat's game. Life got better fast.
26 We planned this a few weeks ago, and got it together to go. Turned out that the Tahoe gang ALSO had tickets to the River Cats.
3 We had gone for an early hike, around three some-odd miles, got home, and received a text from my sister Linda. It said this:
"We are gonna have lunch at the Beacon. Interested?"
The Beacon Bar and Grill is located on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe, and a little over two hours away. Easy, AND the second time in a couple of weeks! So...YEAH!
4 We had stopped by a CVS on the hike, and I bought a bunch of small stuff that needed organizing: new reading glasses, new sun-readers, eye-glass cleaner, and no-tear eye drops.
5 The eye examiner dude I visited last week told me I had cataracts, and that, while my vision "isn't exactly 20/20," he could do nothing for a year to correct things.
6 I decided to spend money on better reading glasses, as well as on glasses that could block the sun AND work with my driving.
7 So I needed a pair that could correct reading concerns AND keep the sun out.That's what sun readers are.
8 So when I got home, I wanted to organize my new "eyes" so that I had something better than Dollar Store readers.
9 The trouble came with Linda's text. I had two options: organize the glasses, separate them into different cloth cases, and take the car around the block to get acclimated to the them, and then stay home, OR I could organize every-thing all at once, and drive up to Tahoe.
11 Within a half hour we were headed for Tahoe.
12 We had to Siri it the first few miles. This means no radio, nor any other noises for that matter.
13 Once we hit Highway 50, I popped a U2 CD into the player (I KNOW, I KNOW!!!), rolled down the windows, and blasted the iconic Beautiful Day through the mountains.
14 Every song on that CD was a hit, so it was fun working the vocal chords and trying to hit Bono notes while flying through the Sierra.
15 After a while, it became pure singing. The voice warmed up, and I wound up hitting lots of extremely high notes.
16 Others...I knew in advance I wouldn't and shouldn't even attempt them. Bono. I'm tellin' ya.
18 We once again met at 7-11, since you could park your car there and it won't get towed. We laughed, and then headed to the Lodge that has been our vacay spot for years. As we crept up, the mood changed.
19 It was a ghost town. I swooned, as it was the second time this month we saw that it had closed down. This time, every step became a memory; every glance a sincere sigh. On the surface we all joked and laughed, but inside, it was leaving yet another part of our past on a place that once had a green lawn, a pool, roses, barbecues, cocktails, bocce ball, laughs, games, guitar, singing, and all the rest. Eerie, sad, and filled with secret sighs, it was for all of us a bittersweet morning. Life climbs all over you sometimes. It happened several times as we walked around the place for what could only have been the very last time.
21 Brian and Beth paid their respects at the old place, and then we caravanned to The Beacon Bar and Grill for the second time in a month. We put in for a table and went outside to look at the Lake.
22 Long wait, lots more laughs, and listening and looking out at Tahoe put it all in perspective. I'll leave the next few hours to more laughs, good food, and genuine smiles.
23 We stayed late, said our good-byes, and made it safely home.
24 When I arrived and sat in Le Luge, I tried working on this stuff, as I had promised some political news to be revealed this week.
25 To be honest, that idea depressed me. I decided to walk and get some late-night exercise, did a personal best, slept, and awakened to get ready for a River Cat's game. Life got better fast.
26 We planned this a few weeks ago, and got it together to go. Turned out that the Tahoe gang ALSO had tickets to the River Cats.
27 Loved it. Sunday we brought a huge crowd to Raley Field to watch the River Cats beat either Salt Lake City, or St. Louis, can't remember which.
28 Wait. No. they LOST to either Salt Lake City, or St. Louis, can't remember which.
29 We brought along McKenna, Maren, Isla, Josh, and Caitlin as well.
30 Maren and Isla went to their first ever baseball game, and loved it.
31 Unfortunately, the weather got TOO nice, and worry set in that the babies might not be comfortable, nor protected, as it was also Little League Day, and the thermometer was already approaching the low 90's.
32 There were thousands of Little Leaguers from all over what seemed the world, particularly in the lawn seating area.
33 So the babies, full of smiles, didn't stay at the game. Sad little departure, but I think Josh and Caitlin errored on the side of safety and comfort for those cuties. Sure was nice to see them there for a while. As always, they took my heart away with their smiles and giggles.
34 Pre-game at an event like that can be harrowing. I had trouble catching my balance on the small hillock overlooking Raley Field. Little Leaguers came in and out from all angles, baseball gloves in one hand, hot dogs, peanuts, chips, and all other brand of kidstuffs in the other, pretty harmless in kid world.
35 They had much fun running about, and being kids.
36 The babies were a bit vulnerable to nearly any mini-catastrophe. At first I thought it was perfectly safe laying them on blankets under a huge golf umbrella that provided lots of shade. Unfortunately the umbrella didn't work on grass the way it works on sand. It was much shakier. Add to this my own experiences at the beach, which dictates that umbrellas can blow to Aruba given one swift blast of wind. I was sure that once things settled, we could handle all that. Wisely, Josh and Caitlin made safety the priority, so a few fond good-byes, and off they went. I get it. Precious cargo. Beyond precious.
37 Too bad, because it all eventually settled down, and the ball game calmed it all to a dandy day.
38 Er...for everyone except the River Cats.
39 Great game. I managed to purchase and down a Dinger, which is this enormous hot dog, approximately 15 inches long, placed strategically between a mini-sourdough loaf, with choice of peppers, sauerkraut, onions, peppers, and nearly anything else you would like to put on it. It is something anyone who is anyone simply does in Sac Town.
40 Somewhere around the fifth inning, baseball worked its magic. I had been on every pitch, but the real magic was the stadium, the field, the kids laughing, the game, and this simple thought: it is officially Spring.
41 Everywhere I looked I saw families laughing, kids scooting around, and tons of kids in baseball uniforms and T- shirts.
42 I didn't worry too much about having anything to write about today, because it wrote itself.
43 I had a bunch more written, but why?
44 It's its own poetry.
45 Things are calm once more.
46 Enjoy your Monday.
47 Make it a good one.
48 See you again.
49 Peace.
29 We brought along McKenna, Maren, Isla, Josh, and Caitlin as well.
30 Maren and Isla went to their first ever baseball game, and loved it.
31 Unfortunately, the weather got TOO nice, and worry set in that the babies might not be comfortable, nor protected, as it was also Little League Day, and the thermometer was already approaching the low 90's.
32 There were thousands of Little Leaguers from all over what seemed the world, particularly in the lawn seating area.
33 So the babies, full of smiles, didn't stay at the game. Sad little departure, but I think Josh and Caitlin errored on the side of safety and comfort for those cuties. Sure was nice to see them there for a while. As always, they took my heart away with their smiles and giggles.
34 Pre-game at an event like that can be harrowing. I had trouble catching my balance on the small hillock overlooking Raley Field. Little Leaguers came in and out from all angles, baseball gloves in one hand, hot dogs, peanuts, chips, and all other brand of kidstuffs in the other, pretty harmless in kid world.
35 They had much fun running about, and being kids.
36 The babies were a bit vulnerable to nearly any mini-catastrophe. At first I thought it was perfectly safe laying them on blankets under a huge golf umbrella that provided lots of shade. Unfortunately the umbrella didn't work on grass the way it works on sand. It was much shakier. Add to this my own experiences at the beach, which dictates that umbrellas can blow to Aruba given one swift blast of wind. I was sure that once things settled, we could handle all that. Wisely, Josh and Caitlin made safety the priority, so a few fond good-byes, and off they went. I get it. Precious cargo. Beyond precious.
37 Too bad, because it all eventually settled down, and the ball game calmed it all to a dandy day.
38 Er...for everyone except the River Cats.
39 Great game. I managed to purchase and down a Dinger, which is this enormous hot dog, approximately 15 inches long, placed strategically between a mini-sourdough loaf, with choice of peppers, sauerkraut, onions, peppers, and nearly anything else you would like to put on it. It is something anyone who is anyone simply does in Sac Town.
41 Everywhere I looked I saw families laughing, kids scooting around, and tons of kids in baseball uniforms and T- shirts.
42 I didn't worry too much about having anything to write about today, because it wrote itself.
43 I had a bunch more written, but why?
44 It's its own poetry.
45 Things are calm once more.
46 Enjoy your Monday.
47 Make it a good one.
48 See you again.
49 Peace.
~H~
fin.
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