SoCal Bill McDonald – Irrational exuberance in Southern California

Christmas letter 2025

“I can see clearly now.” Remember that song from the early ’70s? The major change in my life this year happened at the end of last year, after the 2024 version of this letter had been sent.

On December 16 and 30, I had surgery to replace cataract-laden lenses in my eyes with new ones, designed to improve my vision. The doctor said he would make me “less nearsighted.” He went better than that, advising me after the operations that I no longer needed any correction, near or far.

I had progressive myopia as long as I can remember, so I may see better now that ever before in my life. What a blessing. And the world is so much more colorful than before, when cataracts made things duller than “normal.”

The rest of the year was pretty good, too, though it started out with record cold. For us, here, since coming to Southern California at least. Broke record of 31, set last year. Doesn’t mean it didn’t warm up significantly later. We’ve seen temps go up 40+ degrees from early am to early pm.

Once again, I was a hole captain at the PGA tournament at Torrey Pines in late January. At least for many volunteers this year, the focus was more on the horizon than on the course. This was soon after the devastating fires in Los Angeles, and conditions in our area were creating fires here.

On my pre-dawn drive south on the first day of the tournament, I saw that the 15, the inland freeway, was backed up, with no one moving. I switched to the 5, along the coast, and learned from the traffic report that the backup on the 15 was because of a fire. That was very close to the scene of the fire that had forced me to evacuate in early December 2017.

Indeed, when I got to the course and opened up WatchDuty, an invaluable app that provides info about fires in the West, our house was in a zone adjacent to a zone that had been “warned” it might have to evacuate. That fire was stopped before we ever received that warning.

But other fires in San Diego started up. Several of the marshals assigned to my hole were unable to attend or had to leave because their homes were in jeopardy or had the potential to be.

As the photo of the flag on my hole attests, high winds were a major factor in the spread of local fires. It was several days before the spate of fires became contained.

Last year, I visited Julia and Sam at their new residence in Arlington, Va. Julia returned the favor in May, and we visited a gold mine in nearby Julian and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

We also went to the Birch Aquarium, part of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego. One of the most amusing scenes was captured in the video below. The ray spent several minutes going up and down repeatedly. It seemed as if it was enjoying itself. With audio on, you can hear a child off-screen saying “Wheeeee!” on its descent.

You can see much more from the aquarium here.

Julia had not seen Baxter for several years and figured he would not remember her. He did. This year, based on local reports of coyote attacks on small dogs, even being walked by humans, I got him a “coyote vest.” He occasionally is “armored up” when we go out for a walk.

One of the worst elements of advanced age is the loss of friends and loved ones. In August, Lee Pellegrini, a dear friend and former colleague when I worked at BC, died at the age of 75. In the course of sharing the news with other former colleagues, we re-established connections by sharing memories of what we all remember as a wonderful group of co-workers.

In November, Rob Sternstein, husband of Margaret Evans, died at 65. I always wanted to visit Rob and Margaret on my visits to Boston. They were warm and welcoming, and sharing time with them was always a joy.

When we learned BC was to play football at Stanford in September, the eastern contingent of classmates agreed to come out west for the first time since 2013. The Downeys found a great airbnb location on Half Moon Bay for us.

We joined hundreds of BC alumni from California at the game and had a great pre-game tailgate among the trees near the stadium.

Less of a good time at the game itself, as the Eagles suffered the second loss of their season. A precursor of what was to be a 2-10 season overall. You can see much more from Stanford here (tailgate and game), here (Moss Beach), and here (Stanford campus).

I did go east for football, too. Local friends Lori and Joe Mahler made one of their season tickets available to me for BC-Notre Dame and I joined them for the Nov. 1 game in Chestnut Hill. Also saw family and friends on the Cape and at BC. More about that here.

As I write this in mid-December, Julia and Sam are in Japan . . . for the second time this year (third for Sam). They spent time in Tokyo/Kyoto in Feb/Mar, Sam went back in the summer to climb Mt. Fuji, and this time they’re focusing on Hokkaido. Here’s Julia with “squid on a stick.”

In Virginia, Julia’s joined the crew of Trader Joe’s.

Dillon has moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he continues on the staff of the National Center for Manufacturing Excellence.

It appears I will be back as president of the Anza-Borrego Foundation for the coming year. We’re in a transition from being a “working” board to becoming a “governing” board.

Situation stable at home. Meredith at Boys & Girls Club, Winter at Charlie’s Foreign Auto in Escondido. Alice hit double digits in June. Addy turns 14 next month. High school for her next fall!

To make sure all of our pets make this letter, Cinderella is shown taking a cat nap on my lap.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas. Best wishes to you and your family. May even politics be positive in 2026!

Back East

Earlier in the year, I had not expected to travel back to the Boston area this year. With BC playing at Stanford, my usual classmate contingent came west to attend and the Notre Dame game at BC was limited to people with season tickets.

San Diego friends Lori and Joe Mahler, however, had season tickets and made one available to me, so I kept my string alive of visits to family and friends back East. And this time, in almost peak foliage season.

Taking my usual redeye in late October, I was able to recover at the home of Jackie Hewitt and Ed Hattauer in Winchester. That’s their driveway in the picture at the top of the post, conveying, I think, a classic scene of the season.

After visiting cousin Kathy Gagne McManamy on Plum Island, I returned to Winchester and later met Tom Burke for lunch October 31. As we walked into the Stockyard in Brighton, I recognized by sight and by sound my classmate, Bob Ryan. Bob is the Hall-of-Fame sportswriter and columnist for the Boston Globe.

He was lunching with Tony Massarotti, co-host of the #1 Boston sports radio program Felger & Mazz. As Tom chatted with Bob, Tony asked me what my relationship was with Bob. I told him, “Bob was on my staff at BC when I was co-sports editor of The Heights. Taught him everything he knows.” (Latter part of that not at all true.) Mazz looked stunned nonetheless.

That afternoon, I met with former BC colleagues Susan Callaghan, Paul Hennessy, and Pat Casey. I had worked with Susan and Paul when I was editor of Boston College Magazine almost 50 years earlier. Lee Pellegrini, photographer with us, had died in August after working at BC for 40 years. We had reconnected sharing that news and recalled that afternoon how much we treasured our experiences together.

The game was the next day. The Eagles were already 1-7 and the Irish were favored by four touchdowns, so I was less expecting a competitive game and more interested in the spectacle.

First, though, there’s tailgating. Ken Hamberg has a prime spot outside of Gate A at Alumni Stadium and that’s where we gathered.

L-R: Marcy Kenah, Debbie Hamberg, Ken Hamberg, Ed Hattauer, and Jackie Hewitt.

Joining us were Lori and Joe Mahler.

Our seats were on the east side of the stadium. While it meant we were among more visitors than on the west side, we had the sun for more of the game. That was a bonus on that brisk day.

Here are the Eagles entering the stadium.

You may hear some boo’s, because we were surrounded by Notre Dame fans. As mentioned earlier, Notre Dame was favored by 28 1/2 points. At halftime, Notre Dame had the lead, but only 12-7. The Irish fans were getting irritated. “What? Are you trying to give it away?” was one comment I heard. Among many like it.

In the third quarter, Irish fans got even more irritated and BC fans might have gotten a slight feeling of hope when the Eagles cut the lead to two, 12-10. I imagined fans in stadiums around the country looking at scores of other games and saying, “Wow! Look at the Notre Dame score.”

Early in the fourth quarter, BC drove to the Irish 23, but ND intercepted a pass at the six. Next play, Jeremiah Love, considered by many the best running back in college football, ran 94 yards for a touchdown. Irish won 25-10.

Much better than expected, but BC’s eighth loss.

Headed down to the Cape to see my sister and friends there. Met Ann in Woods Hole after she took the ferry from Martha’s Vineyard.

We went to Falmouth for lunch and found a place that specialized on breakfast toast. Saw one option was “Avocado Sunrise,” an avocado toast with a fried egg.

I was a little concerned about getting avocado on the Cape, but it ended up being ripe and delicious. I told the staff there that I lived in the “Avocado Capital of the World,” which is how Fallbrook describes itself, and that I thought theirs was pretty good.

Spent a long night, into the morning, talking with long-time friend Richard Sullivan, then visited with classmate and shipmate Steve Curran and his wife, Kathy. I had not known Steve at BC and met him when I joined the crew of USS Biddle (DLG-34). Then visited Susan and classmate Reid Oslin.

Driving on the mid-Cape highway, I found it a interesting comparison to my earlier trip on I-5 through the Central Valley of California.

Cape

Central Valley
Back to Winchester and then to BC to see former colleagues. Visited with Maureen Raymond and Nate Kenyon. Very much missed visiting with Lee Pellegrini.

For three of my recent visits to Boston, I had a pickup truck as my rental vehicle. I had not reserved one, but it was either available or the only option available at the same rate as my less expensive choice. This time, the clerk said she noticed I was alone and asked if I would be okay with a “larger vehicle.” “Is it a pickup?,” I asked. No, but it was bigger than usual.

This is a Toyota Highlander . . . sorry, a Grand Highlander. Bigger than the regular SUV. Nice vehicle . . . and red, just like my ride at home.

Heading home, I took my traditional photo of a serving of Legal Seafoods clam chowder at Logan.

And headed home, happily.

Marines 250

Back in mid-October, there was notice of a big celebration at Camp Pendleton to salute the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Marine Corps. A live amphibious exercise, static displays, thousands of Marines, VIPs, etc. I had been invited years ago to observe an amphibious exercise there and it was impressive, but I thought the logistics for attending this one would be a problem.

Then I received an invitation to attend. With a pass and a procedure, which I thought would make things easier. Yeah, right.

The event was scheduled for 1200-1500 (noon-3 pm) October 18. The day before, I heard on the news almost weird information that the 5 freeway section that ran through Camp Pendleton might be closed during the amphibious exercise. It was related to a dustup between California governor Gavin Newsom and the Trump administration about the scheduling and manner of this event.

I was expected at the BC gamewatch that morning in downtown San Diego. I figured on attending that for about an hour and then head up north to Camp Pendleton. On my way south to San Diego on the 15 freeway, I saw road condition signs lit up with something like “Fed Gov Closure Fwy 5 11-3.” Wha??

On my way north at about 1000, I realized traffic was heavy because of people trying to get north on the 5 before it closed. This was the scene about 10 miles south of Oceanside and the southern edge of Camp Pendleton. The sign on right says “FED GOV. N 5 FWY CLOSURE AT SR 76 11-3 P” and, ominously, “LIVE WEAPONS OVER FREEWAY.”

I realized I was not going to get to Camp Pendleton on time by staying on the freeway. Getting off the freeway, I also realized a lot of other people were on its exits and entrances, creating traffic jams throughout. By getting past the jams and taking another entrance to the base, I was able finally to get on base and reach the commissary at about noon.

My shuttle to the event was leaving from the commissary and I thought I might have gotten on the last one, since the event was supposed to start at noon and the invitation asked that we get there early. In the first indication the event overall was less than militarily precise, it became clear the event would not start at noon.

The invitation had said that attendees would “see” a sea-to-shore amphibious exercise. But we were not brought to the beach where I had seen such an exercise earlier. We were brought to Del Mar Beach, a recreational area, and we would see the exercise on a video screen set up in a “stadium” on the sand.

I had a good seat though. John Hernandez, a fellow Navy League officer and recently-elected junior vice commander of the California VFW, was a “special guest” for the event and had saved me a seat in the third row at the center of the event stage.

View from my seat during speech by Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Some of the crowd in the stadium. I don’t think I’ve ever been around so many Marines at one time. And there were thousands outside the stadium as well.

When the amphibious exercise finally got underway, around 1300, the narrator provided more bombast than information. At one point, with several artillery pieces on screen, the narrator said, “. . . and the roar of artillery began. THUNDER from the skies!” One howitzer fired. And then . . . nothing for several minutes. Then change of scene and topic.

Only later did we learn that the first projectile fired, over the now closed 5 freeway and aimed at an inland impact area, detonated prematurely. At least one piece of shrapnel hit and damaged a California Highway Patrol car parked on the freeway, part of the detail providing security for Vice President JD Vance. No one was injured, but the “thunder from the sky” stayed quiet thereafter.

Both the Marines and the Trump administration gave sometimes conflicting information about the decision to fire live artillery shells over the roadway. One report said the only previous time it had occurred was more than 70 years earlier, before the freeway had become an interstate highway.

Back in the stadium, the crowd was entertained by flyovers of some of the aircraft involved in the exercise. Here is a compilation of those (42 secs). At the beginning, the first jets were lower and faster, and louder, than the rest so they go by in a flash. That’s followed by them in “slow motion,” which does little to slow them.

Following the flyovers, the speeches renewed. When the emcee said the event was going to go on for “the next few hours,” I deferred. I was leaving when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth began to speak. I heard him say that, while he didn’t think he should say so, “You Marines are my favorite.” I bet that’s not the first time he’s said that to one service or the other.

Apparently, all this was for a special video broadcast on November 9, the day before the actual Marine anniversary. It also took place on the same day as the nationwide “No Kings” rallies opposing the Trump administration. What a coincidence.

For a less bombastic view of an amphibious exercise, this is a video (7:03) from the aforementioned exercise I attended on the actual beach at Camp Pendleton in 2017.

Stanford: Tailgate and game

As my car was to carry the “stuff” for the tailgate Saturday afternoon, there was room for only one passenger and Tom Sugrue volunteered to help set up the table, chairs, etc.

We arrived at the entrance to the preferred tailgate area at 2 pm, 30 minutes before it was to open. We were the first car in line. And soon after the gate opened, we were ready.

The rest of the Moss Beach group was to arrive via Uber a bit later in the afternoon. Meanwhile, we were soon joined by Lissa and Brian Tsu from the San Diego alumni chapter, Chris Lamb from the Bay Area, and an increasing number of BC alumni.

L-R: Bill Connors ’00, Alyssa Connors, Brian Tsu ’00, Lissa Tsu ’00, and Diego Garcia.

Too soon, it seemed, it was time to go to the game. As mentioned in the first post, our seats were pretty good. Here’s the view.

The performance by the Eagles didn’t match the quality of our seats. Tied at halftime, BC didn’t score again and allowed Stanford 10 second half points to give the Cardinal their first win of the year, 30-20.

Here are some snapshots in the stands.

Lissa and me, and Tom Sugrue right behind us.

A great day. A disappointing evening.

The drive home

The trip back to Fallbrook took two hours less than the drive north. Two basic reasons: it was a Sunday and, when I got to the LA area, I took the inland freeways instead of the coastal ones.

Stanford: Moss Beach

Friday night before the BC-Stanford game, the crew that stayed in Moss Beach went out to dinner at local favorite, the Moss Beach Distillery Restaurant.

L-R: Dan Downey. Shelia Downey, Me, Ed Hattauer, Marcy Kenah, Tom Sugrue, Pat Sugrue, and Jackie Hewitt.

Meanwhile, in Menlo Park.
Members of the San Diego chapter, as well as some from LA, Orange County, and San Francisco, gathered Friday evening in Menlo Park for pre-gaming.

The 7:30 pm kickoff time for the game meant that tailgating could start after 2:30 pm on game day. So that left some time Saturday morning for a walk around the local area, particularly the seashore.

Most of the others had gone earlier, so I was on my own. The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve is a San Mateo County protected area. The coast there is primarily an inter-tidal area, where the difference between low and high tide creates a distinctive environment for algae, crabs, sponges, seastars, mollusks, and fish.

Throughout our time in Moss Beach, we would see flocks of birds, mostly brown pelicans, flying north and south along the coast line. Soon after entering the marine reserve and standing on a bluff, I was lucky enough to view such a flock flying north below me.

Plant life, most notably trees, was also distinctive in this environment. The local unofficial name for the area is the “enchanted forest.” Here are some views.

And the stairway to Seal Cove Beach. Didn’t take it.

On to the tailgate!

Stanford: Tailgate and game

Stanford: The campus

I had been to Stanford Stadium twice before, but both times were in the 20th century. Went to a Big Game (Cal-Stanford) and to an exhibition game there between the then-Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots. Son Dillon, big Pats fan, joined me for the latter game.

I had not experienced the Stanford campus, however. Had seen lots of pictures of the buildings and knew the campus was huge, but I wanted to spend time there walking around and also to scope out the locations near the stadium where we wanted to have our tailgate.

I went to the campus, about a 45-minute drive from Moss Beach, Friday morning and parked at the Visitor Center, where I picked up a map. My first walk was to the stadium and, more importantly, the Arboretum adjacent to it. I had purchased a parking pass in that location.

Instead of paved parking lots, the stadium is surrounded by groves of trees. Tailgaters park among the trees, which provide shade. It’s just a much more pleasant environment for a tailgate than an open field or parking lot.

After getting some eyes-on orientation to the tailgating location, I headed to the academic area of the campus. I took just under 11,000 steps that day, which an online calculator gauged to be just under five miles.

Stanford did not begin its “autumn quarter” until more than a week after the BC game, so the students on campus were primarily grad students. And while the campus is open to automobile traffic quite extensively, based on the number of bicycles I saw being ridden or in racks, it’s a bike-centric campus.

The Stanford logo is a cardinal red “S” with a green sequoia tree superimposed on it. After walking around that campus, I get it. Trees are plentiful and are somewhat honored with arboretums and identified “groves.” (The “Stanford tree” that you see with the Stanford student band is the mascot of that band, long recognized for boisterous and, in the opinions of quite a few, offensive behavior. The University has no official mascot.)

Below is a gallery of scenes from my walkabout. Clicking on any of the thumbnails will present larger image.

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A specific target of the walkabout was the Rodin Sculpture Garden, with 20 of the noted sculptor’s most famous sculptures on display among cypress trees and gravel paths on an acre of land.

Here’s a slideshow of some of the sculptures in the garden.

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I wore a somewhat bold BOSTON COLLEGE shirt on my tour and ran into several fellow alumni doing the same walkabout as I was. At one point, I came upon an older gentleman who asked me to take a picture of him and his daughter, which I did happily. He told me she was on campus to begin her doctoral program at Stanford. She was aware that BC and Stanford were to play the next day and wished us luck.

We would need it.

Stanford: Moss Beach

Stanford: The drive north

I had decided that I would drive up to Stanford for the long weekend. It would enable me to bring some of the “infrastructure” for the tailgate, e.g., a folding table, couple of camp chairs, and a large cooler for food and drink.

I had made the drive to SoCal from the Bay Area and back several times when we lived in the East Bay a few decades ago. Most recently prior to this drive north, I had done it in 2017, picking up my daughter, son-in-law, and two little granddaughters at SFO and spending a few days showing them where their mother had lived, gone to school, etc.

I left at 7 am Thursday, two days before the game, figuring most of that day would be on the road. The drive was going to be just under 500 miles and GPS said it was going to take about eight hours. I also planned to stop twice at Costco, one just north of LA and the other in Gilroy, for restroom and fuel stops.

GPS also advised me to take the 5 (Interstate 5 to non-Californians) through LA. I knew most of the trip was going to be on the 5, the main north-south highway through California’s Central Valley. Was a little surprised GPS advised getting on it south of LA.

It wasn’t until I was stuck in morning bumper-to-bumper commute traffic that GPS finally advised an alternate route. It took me off the freeway into some of the least attractive areas of LA and then up onto the 210 to the east of LA through Pasadena.

There I was able to see some of the burn scars resulting from the fires back in January, as shown here.

The first stop at Costco was 90 miles from my house. It took me three hours to get there.

Going through “the Grapevine” north of LA on the 5 always seems interesting. Grapevine is not a formal name. There are various local references to grapes and grapevines, but it is where the 5 stretches from Santa Clarita, just north of LA, to California’s Central Valley.

The freeway goes through the Tehachapi Mountains, reaching an elevation of 4,144 feet at the Tejon Pass.

The Grapevine. Again, burn scars ahead on the left.

Once through the Grapevine, the Central Valley stretches ahead to the horizon and the 5 is flat and straight.

For more than 100 miles, the only change in direction of any note is changing lanes on occasion.

On my second stop at Costco, in Gilroy, I picked up some of the local produce from the “Garlic Capital of the World.” Just garlic bulbs, not the garlic ice cream.

The weather forecast for Moss Beach and Half Moon Bay had changed significantly just days before. Instead of clear skies and high temperatures in the low 70s, the forecast was for the marine layer to persist throughout and for high temperatures in the low 60s.

From the road just east of the bay, evidence of the marine layer’s “cat’s paws” was pretty strong.

The last of the group to arrive at our Airbnb around 5 pm, I enjoyed the view and the chance to rest.

Day 1 complete.

Stanford: The campus

Stanford: Tickets

When it was announced that Boston College would play new ACC member Stanford in football September 13 this year, San Diego Eagles were interested in the opportunity to see their football team play on the West Coast for the first time in 12 years.

To assist, I contacted the Stanford ticket office in the spring to inquire about group discount tickets through them. We decided to set aside 50 seats on the upper level of the visitor side of the stadium at midfield ($40) and another 50 in the adjacent section ($25). They went on sale May 1.

We shared information on the tickets with members of the San Diego chapter, as well as alumni chapter leaders in Orange County, LA, and San Francisco.

Long story short, later in mid-summer we expanded the number of tickets assigned to us at midfield and ultimately sold 120 there.

I had purchased 10 tickets and transferred them via the web to nine classmates and partners who planned to head west for the game, replacing the usual game at BC for which I would travel east to join them. That was a nice change for me.

Stanford: The drive north

Jujube visit: Birch Aquarium

Jujube’s final visitor experience in May was at the Birch Aquarium, part of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

We were joined on this trip by her nieces, Addy and Alice.

One of the main attractions at the aquarium is the recently-completed Scripps Living Seas Gallery, which displays several of the ecosystems and sea life of the Pacific.

Here is a sampling from that exhibit. First, fish . . . and some Garden Eels, which look like worms in sand. (The videos in this post can also be viewed on YouTube. Just click on “YouTube” at lower right.)

Also, jellyfish.

A small ray provided viewers a lot of enjoyment doing something that seemed to give it some enjoyment as well. It spent several minutes repeatedly seeming to climb up the tank and then glide down. On the video below, you can also hear a young child urge it on.

The aquarium also offers an extensive selection of seahorses and seadragons. Here are some.

Jujube and the nieces spent a lot of time at “Blue Beach,” an activities space at the Aquarium. There, they used available materials to build small boats and test their seaworthiness in a flowing stream.

The nieces also fulfilled an Aquarium-visit requirement at Blue Beach by posing in the shark’s mouth.

Another distinctive exhibit at the Aquarium features Little Blue Penguins, native to New Zealand and southern Australia. They’re the smallest penguins, generally growing up to 10 inches tall and three pounds in weight. They don’t live in snow, but on coastal dunes and rocky shores.

I enjoy watching octopuses, but rarely see them in action. Often, they seem to be avoiding public view, up in a corner of their space. Not on this visit! Got to see one in action, moving across the tank.

Finally, on the way out with a stop at the restrooms, noticed this sign. I assume “they” are penguins, not women.

Jujube visit: Cassowary and platypus

On Tuesday during Jujube’s visit in late May, she and I made a brief visit to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido. They had added a Walkabout Australia section since she had last visited.

There we were able to see a cassowary (above), a large flightless bird most closely related to the emu. They’re native to Northern Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands. Emus are taller than the cassowary, which is 4-5 feet tall, but the cassowary is the heaviest bird in Australia and second heaviest, to the ostrich, in the world.

Among the unusual features of the cassowary is its casque (helmet) atop its head. While distinctive, its purpose is uncertain. According to the Zoo’s website, the casque is “made of a sponge-like material and covered with a thick layer of keratin, the same thing our fingernails are made of. Although it is quite sturdy, the casque can be squeezed in the middle fairly easily.”

Two of the three cassowary species have “wattles,” fleshy pouches of skin hanging from the neck. They are colored blue, red, gold, purple, or white, depending on the species or subspecies. Again, the purpose is uncertain.

The cassowary is most active at dawn and dusk, so we were fortunate to view ours in motion and relatively nearby. To get a better view, the photo at left is from the Zoo website.

Also visited the platypus exhibit. The Safari Park is the only zoo outside Australia to have platypuses. They are nocturnal, so their exhibit is darkened during zoo hours, and it is difficult to see them clearly.

The platypus is an egg-laying mammal, one of only five such species. Again, we’re going to use a photo from the Zoo website.