A Pilgrimage

Kathleen and I went on the pilgrimage to Fort Ross last Saturday. We rented a Chevy Silverado 2500 Heavy Duty 4x4 to pull our Yakima tent trailer. WOW! What a truck! It is the only vehicle I want to drive ever. The only complaint I have is that it has too many electronics. I prefer round analog dials, like an airplane or a old Mercedes-Benz, but this is 2025 and all vehicles come with lots of unnecessary electronics. But the truck drove like a dream. And it was great on the winding roads on the way to Fort Ross and back.

We spent Friday night at Stillwater Cove Regional Park and were at the Fort Ross for the Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning.

There were at least 6, maybe more, bishops present, including the metropolitans of ROCOR and the OCA. I got to see my old friend Fr. David Lowell and Kathleen and I had a chance to speak with our much loved retired Archbishop Benjamin (he baptised my youngest son). And I managed to get a picture of my Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Vasily of San Francisco and the West. I have never met him but I have been told he is very strict and full of love, exactly what a bishop should be.

After the Divine Liturgy (WOW! WOW! WOW! The two choirs were amazing!!! Someone told me that one came from an OCA parish in Sacramento and the other came from the ROCOR cathedral in San Francisco.) and lunch Kathleen and I went back to the campground at Stillwater Cove and took a nap. We woke up just before sunset and made dinner, and after dinner we made s'mores. That was fun. I hadn't made them since I was a Cub Scout leader more than a decade ago.

We came home Sunday afternoon and were at work this morning.

It Been A While Since I've Posted Anything, And Things Have Changed.

I have a grandson. His name is Oliver (of Ancona) Augustine (of Hippo). Kathleen and I flew to Boston and then drove to Kittery, Maine to meet him. He is beautiful.

While we were in New England we stayed at one of our time shares, The Breakers Resort on Cape Cod. We ate at three good restaurants: Red River BBQ (the best fish I had on the whole trip), The Union Oyster House (freshest and best tasting oysters I've ever had), and Parker's Restaurant in the Omni Parker House Hotel (The perfect early morning breakfast after getting off a red-eye flight from San Jose). We also took a boat out to Nantucket where we had fun, but it was not very much like what I was expecting. Everything I knew about Nantucket I learned from Moby Dick. It's not like that now. We learned that there are now 32 billionaires who have houses on the Island. Among other things we saw there, were Daniel Webster's house, Rowland Macy's house, and the whaling museum. When we first got to the island it was very early in the morning so we played chess outside the Athenaeum. Kathleen won. She played a perfect game.

We attended services at two churches while we were traveling: St. Nicholas in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Holy Trinity in Boston (WOW What a choir! You should hear them.).

I took and passed California's Water Treatment Plant Operator test and got my T-1 licesnse in the mail. I have started applying for water treatment jobs.

I quit my job 5 days ago. I really liked it and the people I was working with but sales really dried up starting in May, and no money coupled with 60 hour work weeks just wasn't cutting it. I don't know what I'll do next but I have some good prospects.

Yesterday, Basil and I went to the county rifle range and he zeroed the .30-'06. Then last night, Kathleen and I made two peanut butter pies. One we took over to Cyndi and Basil last night. Kathleen took the other to her Dad this morning. Right now I am applying for a job with CBP.

What we've done during July

A couple of days after I made that last post about Independence Day, Kathleen and I left for the high Sierras. It was our goal to go over the Sonora Pass on the way to Las Vegas. In the past Kathleen and I had been as far as the Strawberry Inn and the snow mobile area a a couple of miles beyond that, but because of snow the CHP had always locked the gate to automobile traffic when we were up there. But Strawberry is at about 5,000 ft elevation and the Pass is another 4,000 feet above that.

We had lunch in Sonora (Thanks, Jeff, for the resaurnt recomendation.) after lunch we fun looking in some antique stores. And I showed Kathleen where I panned for gold when I was a little boy. Then we headed up to the pass. One of the neat things was stopping and wading in the headwaters of the Stanislaus river, and then, once over the Pass, seeing another river, the West Walker flowing to the east and, eventually, into Mono Lake.

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Oh, I should mention the lightning storm we ran into at the Pass. Lots of rain and snow and lighting. The wind was so stong and visibility was so low we had to pull over to the side of the road for a little while.

We spent that night at the Willow Spring Resort in Bridgeport. I liked it. We didn't use the fishing pond but I saw one Dad with two little kids fishing in it. The rooms for rent are clean but nothing special. I think the real attractions t Willow Springs Resort are the plentiful RV hookups and the proximity to good fishing places. But we were just passing through.

After that we went to Mammoth Lake to find some breakfast but it was super crowded with people, like all ski resort towns, I guess. So we skipped breakfast and went on down the road. Crossed through a Shoshone reservation and wound up in the town of Beatty, Nevada where we happened upon Smokin J's BBQ. HUGE PORTIONS OF MEAT. It ws excellent and it was enough to feed us that day and the next two. I should mention all the wild donkeys just south of town. You have to be careful not to hit them while driving.

The next three nights were spent at a resort in Las Vegas. It was our second time to go there and sit through their sales pitch in exchange for a three night stay. We mostly slept and watched C-Span for 3 days but we did buy into Blue Green this time. We weren't going to but two of the locations are marveolus. Golfing and hunting got us. So we are Blue Green "owners" now. It isn't really owning anything, rather it is pre-paying stays at a couple of hundred resorts. If I live 7 more years, I think, it should pay for itself. The salesman said 4 but, I think, 7 is more realistic.

We drove home over the Tehachapi Pass to the south. It was fun for Kathleen. She didn't know that the Sierras get taller and steeper the farther south you go. And she got to see the oil fields near Bakersfield, something she lectures about in her history classes but had never seen. And we stopped at Casa de Fruta for dinner while driving from the San Juaquin Valley through the Pacheco Pass and into Gilroy.

Oh, while driving over the Tehachapi Pass we came across a radio station playing a decades old recording J. Vernon McGee. I hadn't heard him since 1990. It was Kathleen's first time hearing him. She said, "This is what you listened to on the radio when you were a kid?!" Then a few days after that I took Basil fishing at Pillar Point. And then a few days after that I took Kathleen fishng there and then to The Moss Beach Distillery for fish tacos and iced tea while watching the sunset from the cliffs.

And today I finished all the paperwork for my candidacy and took the oath that qualifies me to run for school board. They make candidates hold an American Flag when we recite the oath to defend the Constututions of the U.S. and the State of California.

Summer School, Pentecost, Independence Day, and more.

I finished teaching summer school on July 3. I was mainly working on the period from the War of 1812 through Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomatox. It was much time and many people and events to cover in 4 weeks but we did it. The highest grade in the class was a B- while the lowest grade was a C-. I also supervised some ESL students from Vietnam who had to read They Shoot Canoes, Don't They? and write responsive essays.

On Pentecost Kathleen and I went to the Festal Vigil at the Cathedral in San Francisco. It was good to be in service with Archbishop Benjamin again. Pentecost was his last time to preside at the Divine Liturgy. He is too ill to continue. The next morning Basil and a friend went there for Divine Liturgy. Basil said it was sad to see Archbishop Benjamin, who Baptized Basil, take off his miter and give it to someone else.

On Independence Day, Kathleen, Maximo, Basil, and I were going to go to a minor league baseball game and see fireworks after. When we arrived at the stadium we learned that the baseball game was the day before. It was a good fireworks show though. They set the outfield on fire.

Today, for the shared meal after the Divine Liturgy, I made Texas Caviar but I subtituted one can of corn for one of the cans of black-eyed peas. I thought it would be nice with a little bit of sweetness. It was. I've been a member of the American Legion for years but until today had never been to a local post (my membership was only with the national organization). Today, after church I transfered my membership to the Post in my neighbrhood, Post 791, the oldest American Legion post in the Bay Area. Then, Kathleen and I visited it and really enjoyed meeting all the people there. Kathleen is already calling it "our new hang out."

End of the School Year

Last week at this time the shotgun team I coach was just settleing into the hotels in Kingsburg, California because the next morning was the start of the state tournament. It was so much fun! We placed right in the middle of the pack, which was pretty amazing considering we are still a you team with only 6 people on t the team. we were right between Willows High School and Turlock Christian, two of the best teams in California. But my team wasn't intimidated at all. I am very proud of them. Also, it was very enjoyable to meet all the coaches from all over California, especially Willows and Turlock who really did a lot to help us, since it was our first time at the tournament.

We got home from the tournament Sunday night, a little sunburned and a lot tired but Final Exams started on on Moday morning and continued through noon on Wednesday. Then came graduation wednesday night. Thursday and today I spent getting ready for summer school, which starts on Monday.

The party called me. Sunday afternoon they are meeting with me to go over campaign management and financial stuff. On the 15th I'll be officially nominated to run for school board.

Snow and a Baseball Season Opener

The rain woke me at about 3 o'clock this morning. When the Sun rose and I drove to work I saw snow on Mount Hamilton and the rest of the Diablo Range to the east and on Mount Umunhum to the south. It made me happy.

Work today was just a meeting with the headmaster and the other teachers. We were through by half-past one in the afternoon. He commended me for all the work I've done since June getting ready for WASC accreditation inspectors later this month. Now I have off the next 9 days from work.

Tonight Kathleen and I went to the season opener of the San Jose Giants. We lost to the Fresno Grizzlies but it was still fun. I always feel patriotic at minor-league baseball games.

Oktoberfest

One of the fun things I do at work is that I play a little jodel (I know, it's swiss but they wear lederhosen and dirndle. on the screen for my students every morninng in October and give them a few extra credit points if they show me they've learned to jodel by the end of the the month.) Tey seem to enjoy it and some of them desperately need the points by the end of October, when the midterm exams happen.

Today, Kathleen and I shared a guest lecturer from F.E.E.. First he came to my school and spoke to my two classes of economice on business ethics, a lecture I would have titled The Beauty of Profit. It was truely was beautiful. I wish I had recorded it. After the presentation, when the guest lecturer had left to go to Kathleen's school, one of my students said, "It was like having Henry Hazlitt talk to us", and she was right.

At the end of the School day we took the lecturerer from F.E.E. out to dinner at Teske's Germania, a resturaunt in San Jose. (I was there once before, when I was 26 years old, that was more than half my life ago.) Kathleen ordered the Schweinshaxe. I ordered the Jagerschnitzel. When the dishes came to the table she was grossed out and didn't want to eat what she had ordered. So we traded dishes and, wow, I am glad we did! I have a new favorite food. When I came home I looked up the recipe online and it looks pretty easy to make. I am sure I will be able to convince her that it is good.

In other news, Son #3 called me from Peru. His submarine has been at sea for a couple of weeks, and i knew he was headed south, but I didn't know he was going to be stopping in at Peru. It sounds like he is working hard but having fun.

Son #4 is applying to universities. I think the four on his list are Hillsdale College (In America the words University and college are, mostly, interchageable.) California Maritime Academy, Montana State University, and San Jose State University. Personally, I wish he were not considering San Jose State but, I think he wants to live with his mother and save money on room and board. I'm much prefer he go to Hillsdale or Montana state where there are very active OCF chapters, or to Cal Maritime where the gradutes have the highest average starting salaries of any college in California, but I think he just sees the expense of room and board and wants to avoid it.

And finally, the highschool clay target shooting team I coach is in second place in our conference this season. That is much improved from #39 out of 54 that we placed last season. The team is really working hard and it shows.

Wedding Rehearsal

The rehersal was tonight at St Nicholas Orthodox Church in Saratoga. The chanter, the reader, the priest, the sponsors, and us. After the rehearsal Kathleen and I said our confessions, then we joined the others in the church hall for Togo's sandwiches.

A wedding and other things

Kathleen and I got the wedding license last week. The service has been scheduled for July 16. My boss asked me to stay on for another year and teach the same subjects. Anselm recieved his dolphins and got promoted to Petty Officer 3rd Class. Basil is still going to Evergreen Valley Community College and is gtting his documents ready to apply next month to Hillsdale College and Cal Maritime for Fall 2024.

Kathleen and Basil and I wanted to go to a San Jose Giants baseball game on July 4 but this is their year to play in Fresno. o, after looking around at all the parades and concerts and fire works shows we decided to see the San Francisco Symphony and fireworks at Shoreline Amphitheater. It was utterly beautiful.

A Day in Napa

Kathleen and I went to see Ottmar Liebert and Luna Nega at the Blue Note in Napa yesterday. It was much fun to see in person a band I first heard of back in 1994 when Columbia House sent me a CD. It is very rare that I go to a live music performance but I really like very much Ottmar Liebert's music. It was surpising to see him as an old man. The only picture I had ever seen of him was on the CD cover from 30 years ago. But I just saw my old drives license from back then and I'm old now, too.

The Blue Note was a nice place. I would not be opposed to seeing other performers there, but it is a long drive from San Jose. If I go to Napa again I'll stay overnight in a hotel.