globally preposterous drive eventually yields snowy banana entry
“… there are very wide freeways in California.” I said as Nazy and I departed. “We could make that trip in 90 minutes. Each way. If the traffic cooperates and Venus is retrograde and..”
“… the ‘president’ tells the truth.” Nazy interjected.
“Precisely. It will never happen. That’s why I’ve allocated 3.5 hours for the journey.”
We left at 11:33AM for our 2:45PM appointment. We drove without stooping…
“Without stopping, Dan?” Nazy interrupts. “We spent most of the trip stopped.”
“I meant that we didn’t get off the highway and stop.”
“That’s right! We stopped on the highway. We spent most of the drive stopped on the 405…”
“… or the 101 or the 710. But we walked into their office at 2:43. Right on time.”
And, in an unexpected move of governmental efficiency, we were seen immediately, we both got our applications approved and we were done within 5 minutes. (Unfortunately, it took even more time to get home.) Assuming that there is not another shutdown, we should have our Global Entry cards in a couple of weeks.
This has been a big week for Tiger. He ended the week in Mammoth with his Mom and Dad and Arrow and Azelle. He took his first ski lesson — which he loved. I was reminded…
Flashback: Hanover, New Hampshire
The family, recently moved from Houston to New Hampshire, was celebrating the first winter by learning to ski. The community provided Wednesday afternoon lessons to all the school kids. Nazy volunteered to be a teacher, so she had a free lesson the day before. Unprepared, I joined everybody on Saturday. Early in the winter, we all made it off the lift (more or less) gracefully and we all turned downhill. I watched the kids zoom off…
“… on short little skis, sans poles, with not very far to fall,” I thought before shouting: “Oomph! Ouch!”
Melika was waiting for me when I (eventually) got to the bottom.
“I was faster than you, Daddy,” Melika enthused.
“That’s because you never turned,” I replied, sourly.
End Flashback
Melika says that Tiger loves his ski lessons. Arrow, on the other hand, simply notes that..
“It’s white outside.”
And, as an aside, it was really white: the mountain had huge amounts of snow and chilling temperatures. For parts of the excursion, skiing was, according to the Mammoth website, impossible. Tom assured me that the weather didn’t stop them.
…. and while Melika and Family were skiing, Nazy and I were walking along the Pacific Ocean:
In addition to skiing, Tiger has been appointed one of the ‘peace partners’ at school. This means that when two of the children in his class have a dispute, Tiger can be called upon to intervene and resolve the situation.
“We should send him to Washington,” I proposed. “Maybe he can get Congress to reach a funding agreement.”
“Dan..”
“I bet he can get the Democrats and the Republicans to work together.”
“Yes, he probably can,” Nazy concurred.
“I wonder if he could get the demagogue to agree?” I replied. “Tiger has the right background: a lot of experience with 4 year old behavior,” I thought.
This weekend, Nazy and I were on the way home when …
“Can you swing by Trader Joe’s? I need to pick up a bunch of bananas.” Nazy ‘suggested’.
“Just bananas?” I asked, well aware that it was genetically impossible for Nazy to purchase only one item once she entered a grocery store.
“Yep.”
“I’ll wait in the car.” I replied.
We parked and Nazy headed inside. Settling in for a long wait I reached into the glove compartment and grabbed my copy of War and Peace as well as a Russian to English dictionary.
“I could make the wait pass more swiftly if I translate first into German and then from German into English.” I thought, well aware that Nazy was roaming the fruit and vegetable section in a grocery store.
She came out (just after sundown) with … well, see the photo of the bags required to carry the “bunch of bananas”.
In a break with family tradition, my sister Marjorie actually made her connection at LAX and arrived in Santa Barbara early. Somewhat jet-lagged, she slept well and, the next day (the only one for which rain is not forecast) we went for a walk along the ocean.
“How many steps?” Marjorie asked when we got to the start of the beach access route.
“242.” I replied, succinctly. “But all of them go down to the beach.”
“Don’t we have to come back up?” Marjorie, ever practical, asked.
“Yes, there is that,” I replied.
“It will be fun,” Nazy interjected. “And we’ll all make our Fitbit goals,” she thought.
It was a beautiful sunset — but, in truth, beautiful sunsets are a common feature of this location. We also saw interesting rocks, artistic driftwood, broken sea shells, decaying kelp and the Goodyear Blimp.
We also went for a walk along the Santa Barbara Wharf and for a stroll into the Funk Zone. Nazy and Marjorie found some, eh, ‘funky’ stuff.
Melika, Tom, Tiger, Arrow and Azelle made it safely back home after the ski trip. Tiger loved skiing and his ski lessons. Arrow, on the other hand..
“… refused to wear any outdoor clothes.” Melika explained.
“It was 8 ℉ (-13℃). If he won’t wear a warm coat he…”
“… only stay’s inside — complaining.” Melika continued.
“Well, now he’s back at school. I’m looking forward to seeing him. The last time I picked him up, he didn’t want to go until he’d introduced me to his friends Ethan and Ava.”
“I hope I can get him to change his mind before our trip to Whistler in a few weeks.”
“I’m sure you can,” I replied. “Good luck,” I thought. “He’s a two year old."
“But Azelle…”
“I know. Mom and I will be in Australia.”
For last week's letter, please click here
Dan and Azelle playing ball with Arrow