In spite of Covid, its been a busy summer. We had three visits and took one quick camping trip. ML, Charlie & Veronica took another trip to SoCal, but I demurred.

First, Steve & Christina brought the wildly adorable lil’ Freya for a visit…

Then, Josh & Adrienne Crockett came to visit and camped in our back yard. More kid fun with Sophie and Isaac…

Then, we took a trip to Eagle Lake and Lassen National Park. Cousin Elayna was going to come with, but she had car problems. So, Veronica invited her friend Paulina. Eagle Lake turned out to be nice, what with a super large campsite and a long relaxing day in the refreshing water. Check it out…

This second batch is of our drive through Mt. Lassen Park which included a hike to Bumpass Hell, a natural hot springs. Couldn’t get the crew to go to the top of Lassen (which I did solo years ago), even tho’ you practically drive to the top…

Who doesn’t love panos? Who doesn’t love having twins?

Who doesn’t love time lapses? Heading home over the Bay Bridge into San Francisco…

Our last visit (so far) was Elayna! She got her car fixed and come up to camp in our back yard. We were able to turn her on to the natural wonders of our area by hiking, mountain biking, and as you can see here, kayaking (in the San Gregorio slough). I’m throwing in an old picture of a littler Elayna holding baby Veronica (ML looks exactly the same). Cheers…

As mentioned, the rest of my crew adventured to Oceanside & Santa Monica, but I stayed home, bereft with cognitive dissonance. I owe my dear cousin Steve a visit to his hood, and I want to go. However, legit Covid fears (spiking!) and complicated house projects edged out my wanderlust. Further, my Santa Monica homies, lil’ Stevie Whalen, Uncle Jon Amsden, Ol’ Danny Boy, etc. share my Covid concerns. Most significantly, they took the rings off the rings, so a trip to the beach would have lacked a certain swing. Like the Olympics, and notwithstanding my carpe diem sensibilities, I’m putting such a trip off until next summer when I can do it all, including visits to North Hollywood, Riverside, and maybe even a lil’ Newport Beach/Balboa Island action. I only hope my kiddos will come along down that memory lane…

As ever, thanks for you time & attention!

The Covid-19 pandemic and consequent quarantine put a kibosh on all the activities that students enjoy near the end of every school year. Sports, concerts, plays, proms, and more were all cancelled. However, there was an attempt to put on graduation ceremonies.

Here in La Honda, both Charlie and our friend Phoebe Deacon graduated from HMB High School this year. Some friends, teachers, and community members did a drive by, complete with music, honking, and kind shout outs, first to our house, then to the Deacons near the top of the hill. A very nice, even touching tribute to our kids. Can you find his graduation sign?

At Half Moon Bay High School, there was a kind of walk through, one student at a time, through campus, into the gym, across the stage, and out the door. Charlie was able to be in a cohort with a few of his friends, but the one-at-a-time thing rather mitigated the camaraderie. I think ML and the school have other pix, but here are some…

At Pescadero High School, we did a kind of drive-in graduation. Everyone stayed in their cars parked in front of a stage set up in front of the gym. The kids and their scholarships were announced, they walked the stage, but it was quite efficient. The fun part was all the cars honking for each graduate. They filed out and off campus, then did I kind of parade through the town of Pescadero. A pretty good consolation prize…

In one era and out the other…

I should have a post or two about the Coronavirus pandemic, but I’ve got nothing to add to the barrels of ink spilled into the ether.

Instead, here are some pix from adventures with Dr. Alan Burr, my friend and neighbor. His daughter was a student, his wife was our dog’s vet, and he was vet (retired). Anyway, we’ve explored some of the local trails during the quarantine, of course physically distancing and wearing masks. First, up to the Hiker’s Hut and thereabouts…

Some stills in the stillness…

Alan invited me to go tide-pooling with our mutual friend and neighbor Mark Nolan, AKA “Marine Mark” and his son Shea. Here are some pix of a very low tide around the Pigeon Point lighthouse (same spot I brought my Environmental Field Studies class when we did the LiMPETS program)…

Finally, some banana slugs running through the woods…

Hey WordPress, why won’t my video of mating bullfrogs load? It’s only a minute and a half? Kind of exciting the way they hop around and make those alluring bullfrog noises. Here’s a link: https://youtu.be/cvyTrk-M-ek