Roof-top camera found on La Cumbra New Year Lemon
May this year be the best 2015 ever!
It is a tradition to take an annual family photograph. Last year Melika handled the arrangements: a professional photographer, Victorian costumes, an elegant setting (the Santa Barbara Courthouse) and on-sight make-up and hair stylists. This year it was left to me. Naturally, I was up to the challenge. I just had to convince Nazy.
“Well?” Nazy asked. “It’s after Christmas and you haven’t taken a family photo.”
“I thought it would be a good idea to wait until everyone was here.”
The window of opportunity didn't open early because Stefan spent the first part of the holiday in the mountain desert recharging his batteries.
“Wasn’t he cold, Mitra?” I asked. (It had been abnormally cold this time of year.)
“It doesn’t matter Dad. Once a year, Stefan needs to be outside, He communes with nature.”
“Doesn’t he get cold?” I asked pragmatically.
“He has a cave on a cliff, Dad. He’ll be fine.”
Note: When Stefan arrived, Nazy asked him about his excursion - in particular about the cold weather. Stefan said that he had coped by spending a few nights in his car - which was parked in the wilderness.
In the end, we were able to assemble on the 28th at Melika’s. When Nazy, Darius and I got in the car to drive over, I put my house keys and my digital camera on the roof the car while I put the stroller base into the trunk. As you have surmised, we backed out of the driveway without any thought of retrieving these important items. Luckily, I realized that I had made a miscue before we arrived at Melika’s.
“Before?” Nazy asked.
“Yes!” I replied emphatically.
“Just barely before, Dan. And after you drove 5 miles and entered the 101 freeway.”
“Before!” I repeated. “I wish I hadn’t put the car into ‘sport mode’ when I turned onto the freeway.” I thought I stopped the car about 100 meters from Melika’s house. (Like I said, ‘before’ we arrived.) My house keys were stuck in a groove created by the trunk hinge. My camera was gone.
“Don’t worry, Dad,” Darius said. “We’ll just go back and find it.”
Nazy was uncharacteristically less optimistic. “It’s gone, Dan. Gone. Because you left it on the roof of the car.”
“Don’t worry, Nazy,” I replied. “Like Darius said we’ll just go back and find it. It’s probably in our driveway.” I replied, exuding confidence. “I probably sent it into the Pacific Ocean when I accelerated onto the freeway in sport mode” I thought.
Darius and I retraced our steps home. The camera was not in the driveway. We slowly made our way back to Melika’s. When we got to the freeway entrance, Darius spotted something on the ground. I pulled to the side and turned on the blinkers. Darius dashed back to retrieve a..
“Sunglass case, Dad!”
While I was thinking about how to turn a sunglass case into a digital camera, a pickup truck pulled into the lane in front of me. A lady jumped out and picked something off the ground. She walked back to our car.
“I saw this on the side of the road,” she said - handing Darius my camera.
While Darius thanked this angel, a text message from Nazy arrived: (“Did you find the camera?&rdquo
“Of course we found it.” I replied. Triumphantly. “Miracles happen!” I thought.
Back at Melika’s the family (except for the baby) was shocked:
Ever since we moved to California, Darius has suggested a family trip to La Cumbre Peak, a 3997 foot mountain in the San Ynez range. (It is the highest peak close to the city.) Naturally, I have been supportive.
“Well, Dar, if it was a 4000 meter mountain, there would be no issue. But this hill isn’t even 4000 feet.” I explained. “And, although I personally love hiking, Wikipedia says it’s a hard hike. And we have the baby.”
“We can drive, Dad.”
“Ah - what a great idea, Dar.”
The view from the peak was worth the drive and we had a great time. (The family enjoyed the hike when we got there. Tom carried Tiger.
New Year’s celebrations were more complicated. Mitra, Stefan and Darius went to San Diego for a Tango Festival. (Mitra and Stefan were performing.) Melika and Tom headed the other way - to San Francisco. Nazy and I agreed to take care of young Tiger, but unbeknownst to me, we had agreed to do it in San Francisco. Luckily, Nazy’s brother Shahriar had room for us in his house. We drove up on the 30th.
The drive was remarkably traffic-free. (Although an 18 wheeler decided to change lanes without warning. Luckily there was an empty lane next to us.) We picked up the baby in the Mission District and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Shahriar’s house. He had a nice dinner for us. The baby slept the entire night!
New Year’s Eve was an exciting time for everyone. We went to lunch in Tiburon with Shahriar. There, it quickly became clear that the baby was wanted to eat solid food. He grabbed my bread, Shahriar’s beer bottle and Nazy’s healthy salad. Seeing his determination, I decided to help by offering him a lemon. It didn’t meet his culinary expectations. For dinner, Nazy made him a sweet potato. This was a choice that he found far more to his liking.
Tiger’s Response to the taste of Lemon
Shahriar’s wife, Fay, arrived in time for a New Year’s party while Nazy and I celebrated with the baby at their house.
Factual Disclaimer: We stayed up until midnight - Memphis Time. Young Tiger sleeps all night, but only if someone is sleeping next to him. Nazy and I filled that purpose - by retiring to the bed chamber somewhat early. (Early, but not before a bit of celebration.)
We even took a ‘selfie’:
Nazy and an and Jamsheed">I each personally celebrated with young Tiger.
The next morning, we met Melika and Tom at the San Francisco Airport, dropped the baby off, and began our drive home. We stopped at two major historical sites on the way: one of the first McDonald’s stores (it had ‘real’ golden arches - compare with the golden gate from Shahriar’s home) and the Mission in San Miguel - which is the 8th of the 21 California Missions that we’ve visited since we moved.
The Mission, surprisingly, didn't have a Bell Tower. But his did have beautiful grounds.
We made it back to Santa Barbara early enough for a very enjoyable and tasty dinner that was courtesy of Melika and Tom.
Later in the weekend, Nazy and i went to see the movie Annie. After seeing “Into the Woods” where everyone who deserved it lived happily ever after, I thought it would be nice to see a relentlessly cheerful movie.
Annie was relentless. Unfortunately, it was relentlessly bad. We should have realized the problem when we entered the theatre as the only patrons. And the film would have been better if any of the cast could sing. (Or if the director had used the songs from the Broadway show rather than newly written, acoustically limited, Hip-hop.) On the other hand, there was a happy ending.
For last week’s letter, click here
To see more recent photos, click here
Mission Peace Garden