Labor Day 2018, cousin Steve’s 60th birthday (and Grammy Carol’s 77th), and the traditional end of summer. Our big event was our East Coast Road Trip, but a lot of other fun stuff happened as well. We had wonderful visit from the Crockett’s, good times at the CLHG pool, and some other adventures. Summer also ends with the Pescadero Art & Fun Festival (this time without the guiding light, Meredith Reynolds), but it also sorta begins with the La Honda Fair, so let’s start there. In addition to a couple pix of the fair, here are a couple of Charlie as a lifeguard at the pool, his first gig…
One of most delightful events of the summer was the Crockett’s visit. Josh & Adrienne, Sophie & Isaac came down from Oregon to hang out, camp in our yard, and revisit spots & friends hereabouts. Isaac is on the move, Sophie is more precocious, and their parents awesome as usual. One day we went down to Santa Cruz to visit our mutual friends – and fellow educators – Ben & Rhonda (see pano). Super fun to see our kids playing with their kids…
One day, I went down to visit Hoover Middle School (where the semi-famous Hoover Theater is) because I’d been told painting classes for adults happen there during the school day (and they’re a role model for schools that serve multiple purposes, possibly like La Honda Elementary School). Across the street from the school is the Rosicrucian Museum, a fascinating place and the go-to field trip for 6th grade Social Studies. Not only does it reveal aspects of ancient Egyptian history, but it has an interesting history itself. I also got to check out the Planetarium show (one of the same as the Smithsonian in DC)…
That same day (in search of cheap frames for my art projects) I found an agglomeration of funky antique shops in the vicinity of San Jose. I can’t resist piles of stuff, displays of tchotchkies, or collections of random yet compelling junk. Ok, I can resist them after taking a quick pic. In addition to a painting and a print, here are some sordid assortments of an unsorted sort…
Another fun day, was driving the long and winding road up to Boman & Ruby’s place for some ultra-delicious Indian cuisine. Yuvraj, Ruby’s bro (and a Sikh holyman) was there along with Boman’s son Justin (whom I’d not yet met) and Ruby’s son Aiden (my former 7th grade scholar of excellence). The views were almost a spectacular as the food and the compelling conversation…
What summer is complete without a trip to a theme park. In the past, we’d gone to Raging Waters on a hot day, this time we took Charlie’s friend Roman and Veronica’s friend Jaycee to Great America. Awesome as usual, but five rides on Flight Deck (along with every other roller coaster in the park), left me with whiplash for a week…
As mentioned, the Pescadero Art & Fun Festival is one of the marquee events of the season (Ben & Rhonda came up from Santa Cruz). This year, I had seven pieces in the show (two drawings, two photographs, three assemblage/montage/collage (junk & glues & a few screws). In addition to those (but not the photos – tho’ I sold one! 3hunny!), please check out the collections of 6th grade Art from my spring semester class at Pescadero Middle School (and some from Chelsea & Zephyr). Please note the pink pig pic, a donation piece from the late Meredith Reynolds (leader & mentor), and see her husband Jim with a great ceramics piece by Thom Shuman. (Note too, my drawings honor the late journalist Gary Webb (who exposed the CIA cocaine trade in LA) and the Tinker siblings (who championed symbolic speech)…
Then there were the grandparents. We went to Santa Cruz a couple times to visit my mom, and Mary Lynn’s dad came for 10 days. (See video for his wise words.)
Aaaand, we had a cypress removed by the arbor barber and swashbuckling tree surgeon Christian Duvall. (Around the same time we endured a couple weeks of road work on Ventura Avenue as a new water pipe was put in.) Don’t miss the video of Christian finishing off a big chunk of trunk. He also had the limbs chipped by a buddy and did some chainsaw art with the big bits…
In conclusion (finally), a couple pix of the pond (can you find the great blue heron, ducks, turtles, etc.?), Charlie at the Puente Fun Run (5K – in which he won first place), and Charlie and Veronica in the HMB High Marching Band for the first football game of the season…
Random Vail 