Merry Christmas 2015 and Happy New Year 2016

The typical mix of wonderful, sad, routine at Casa del Aguila in 2015 . . . and one more granddaughter! Alice Anderson joined sister Adeline in the new generation on July 13.

Addy seems to be adjusting well to sharing the time and attention of her parents with Alice, but there is also the special “tension” that can arise between sisters.

The Andersons had visited here again in February, joined by Aunty Julia. New places on the itinerary included the Safari Park, USS Midway Museum, and Temecula Old Town. We even schlepped up to the La Brea Tar Pits and Getty Museum in LA. While she didn’t have the happiest expression on her face at Estrella’s in the photo at the top of the post, she was much happier with the flan.

When Dillon joined us during their visit for breakfast, it was the only time this year we were all together. 🙁 We continue to be geographically challenged. Dillon is nearby, working as night manager at the Hilton Garden Inn, Carlsbad Beach, and just snagged their “employee of the year” award, something he also won in Portsmouth in 2012. Julia is in Athens, Ohio, with beau Sam, who’s in Ohio U’s computer science doctoral program. She is working at the Ohio University Inn on campus. So, with Meredith at the Hilton Garden Inn in Portsmouth, all three kids are in the hotel biz.

I visited Alice and family in Rye, NH, two weeks after she was born, and also took advantage of an invitation from Pat and Tom Sugrue to join them and my regular BC classmate group for a long weekend at their place in Rehoboth Beach, Del. It was a time of warm friendship and cold beer — can’t beat that! Got the chance to spend some time on an iconic beach on the “other” coast. Great boardwalk! Saw other old and dear friends, and got to drive through Greater Boston in heavy rain and heavy traffic. Brought back such fond memories.

There are other photos in the earlier post “At the beach.”

Just before heading to New England, I had the great pleasure of hosting cousin Kathy McManamy for a few days. She was especially interested in the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, about 100 miles east of me, and one of the weirdest places you’ll ever see. Too much about it to explain here, but this is one view of Kathy’s visit there.

She got to see much more, of course, including La Jolla, Balboa Park, the Zoo. You can see more in the earlier post “Krazy Kool with Kathy.” She is visiting again to start the new year.

Confirming Woody Allen’s notion that much of success comes from “just showing up,” I became president of the local Navy League council this year. As part of Navy League, I participated in a day of activities at nearby Camp Pendleton intended to let family members and friends know a little  bit about what our Marines do. This was our concluding group photo. Oorah!

There’s a video of the day in the earlier post “Day at Camp Pendleton.”

I’ll be more involved in coming years with the Anza-Borrego Foundation (ABF), partners with the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, as vice president. I was at the Park in September, for the first time overnight. Borrego Springs is one of the few official “dark sky” communities in the U.S. and I have looked forward to seeing the stars there in a way I had not seen them since riding the USS Biddle (DLG-34) across the Pacific in 1969. But it was a full moon and that made the nighttime sky more routine. It provided a beautiful moonrise, however, over the badlands.

There’s more from that weekend in the earlier post “Moonrise in the desert.”

Also, look for me on TV at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, end of January. I’ll be a marshal at the 17th hole (north course until the weekend, then the south). Boston College had a terrible football season this year, which made our weekly game watches less than thrilling and less than well-attended. But San Diego Eagles also did a couple of service activities, sponsored a hike, got to watch the ponies at Del Mar as a group, and assisted BC admissions.

No major fires around here this year, but we are awaiting something of a different nature from El Niño. I’m not in danger from rising water, but, being on a hillside, perhaps from water, or worse mud, running down the hill from above. Ninety-nine years ago, parts of San Diego County were devastated by flooding and swollen rivers and there has been lesser, but damaging, flooding in more recent El Niños. Most of the time, most of our rivers are dry. Catastrophic flooding is rare here, but it does happen. The photo below is of the nearby San Luis Rey River valley after the flooding of 1916. The river, which I have never seen as it has been dry or nearly so since I’ve been here, was then a mile-and-a-half wide and six-to-nine feet deep. Back then, it was a few farms and the flood pushed everything out to the sea. Much more residential and commercial development now.

We may be on the news again.

I’m expecting another visit from the Andersons in February. Adeline says she loves visiting me because California is so high in the sky. . . . She has to fly to get here, after all. 🙂

Last year, I suggested my plans for the coming year—golf, horses, sailing— might have been just wishful thoughts. Nailed it. The same plans/wishes remain, but I’m okay with that. They still speak of a pleasant future.

And I wish a pleasant future for you, too, and for your families. Be sure to include a visit to me in that near future!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas and that twenty-sixteen is sweet.