Month: January 2020

Christmas 2019

First Christmas in Fallbrook for the Andersons and thus a very different Christmas for me, too.

I had never attended the annual Fallbrook Christmas Parade until this year. Below is video (5:12) from the December 7 parade. It’s held in the evening, which accounts for the rather dim video. Evening is more convenient for folks, I guess, and closing Main Street on the weekend would be problematic, but evening is also good for showing off the Christmas lighting.

Actual Christmas was also different. For only the second time (the first time being when Julia was living here), we had a tree. For the first time, I wore an attractive(?) Christmas sweater. And instead of the usual Dillon-and-me brunch, with chorizo and nopales (cactus) scrambled eggs, it was opening of gifts and Christmas dinner, featuring ham sent by Annie and Gordon.

Addy, Dillon, and the ham.
Baxter with his new Christmas companion.

Here’s video (2:58).

 

Getting to know SoCal

Last October, we undertook a few adventures to introduce and reintroduce the Andersons to various aspects of Southern California culture. (A combination of factors led to this presentation being tardy. Sorry.)

First — on October 19 — was “Borrego Days,” a community celebration held by Borrego Springs, situated in the middle of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Borrego Springs is 70 miles east and a little south of us. Here’s a video (2:52) showing some of the parade and our time walking around the exhibits in Christmas Circle.

The next day was Fallbrook’s “Harvest Faire,” held “downtown.” Video (4:21) below. Spoiler alert: they each won the costume contest for their age groups!

Balboa Park is San Diego’s central and major park, featuring several museums, gardens, etc. A couple of days following the Harvest Faire, Addy played hookey from school and we all traveled down to see the Park.  Here’s video (3:51).

Halloween time around here doesn’t feature the neighborhood trick-or-treating the girls were used to in New Hampshire. But there is another tradition — Dia de los Muertos, “Day of the Dead” — big around here. Celebrated in Mexico and among those of Mexican heritage, it is a multi-day holiday. We attended a one-day celebration at San Luis Rey Mission, 11 miles southwest of us, on October 27. Video (4:41).