I did something to my knee.

For the past couple of months my left knee has been killing me. Last Sunday my knee started collapsing under me. I've been taking huge doses of ibuprofen and using lidocane patches. I've had two sets of X-rays and have seen three doctors but they don't know what's wrong with my knee. This week I have not been at work and have been walking with a cane and a knee-brace. An MRI is scheduled for 6 on Sunday morning. It is troublesome. About 12 years ago I realized I was no longer young and strong but, until this week, I never thought of myself as old and weak. And it is duck season but I am unable to go out to the blinds.

In other news, today Kathleen and her son, Maximo helped me with the first weekly "watering" of the fruitcakes.

Another Year, Another Christmas List.

1. You know the hours he has spent looking at Swiss watches on Chrono24 but you also know he is way too practical for those. He just admires the workmanship, engineering, and artistry of automatic watches. Also, he is a hunter. When he's running from a wild pig because he's missed every shot and only annoyed the pig, or when he's running through brush chasing a pheasant that refuses to fly, well, he just doesn't want to worry about damaging his watch in situations like that. He needs something that can "take a licking and keep on ticking". He needs a Timex field watch.

2. Ever since he was a little boy watching KBHK TV-44 out of San Francisco on a Saturday afternoon and saw the three stooges he has wanted one of these. He bought one on eBay for his two youngest boys the first Christmas after the divorce but it was from eBay and didn't work. And a few years ago he bought one for his friend. But here he is 50 years after he first saw Moe, Larry, and Curly playing with them in old movies, and he still doesn't have one. He would, don't you think, love finding a seltzer bottle under the Christmas tree.

3. You and he have been shooting pheasants for a few years but have nothing to show for it. Yes, they were good eating and, yes, it is fun to make pate from their livers and share it at church, but the one time he tried to have a pheasant taxidermied, well, it was a very expensive horror. Wouldn't it be nice to just have a bronze statue of a pheasant to commemorate all the pheasants you and he have downed?

4. It was September of 2020 when he was last at the Indian Colony Tobacco Store. Well, guess what. That's right his can of Captain Black (the original blend with the white label) is empty. You know you love the smell so this would, really, be a present for both of you.

5. You know how he loves to make fancy food and take it to church to share at the meal after Agape Vespers on Pascha? Well, you might not know this, but he has always thought he could do better. The only problem is that he has never had all the right equpment. Yes, you gave him a KitchenAid mixer and All-Clad pans but just think of all the yummy salmon mouse the people of your parish could be eating at Pascha if only he had a fish-shaped tin(or nickel)-lined mouse mold. If you get it for him for Christmas he will, probably, use it to make you yummy good food on Twelfth Night. Oh! And when it's not being used to make food it can hang on the wall and be beautiful.

6. About 40 years ago his mother had an old black and white photo of his grandfather hand tinted and framed. She gave it to her husband on his birthday. He kept it on his desk in his office until he retired and no longer had a desk. His mother and father are dead now. But it might be the case that his oldest brother's widow or one of her children, or his sister, or his yet living brother has the photo. Maybe, if one of them does have it, they will loan it to you long enough to have a copy made.

7. The years his kids were Scouts were the happiest years of his life. He would be very happy to wear the Eagle Scout and Arrow of Light lapel pins if he had them. They commemorate the highst awards his sons earned.

8. He likes Italian tuna . He eats several cans a month. He appreciates gifts of food. You can't go wrong getting him this.

9. Since 1996 when he was living in San Francisco flop houses he has been eating Molinari Salami. He would love get one for Christmas so he can slice it up and put it on this year's Astro Weenie Christmas Tree.

10. When he goes hunting for big game he doesn't want to tote around a whole box of cartridges with him. Nor does he want to carry loose ammo in his pockets. What to do? What to do? It seems a Tourbon leather ammo wallet is ideal for situations such as this.

11. He doesn't understand it. Where do they go? Regardless of the answer, the need is real. Black socks from Gold Toe.

12. He has bought them for his kids. He had one when he was a soldier (They sold them in the uniform store and its inside was the only thing in the barraks that wasn't inspected every morning.) but he hasn't had one in many many years. And the last few voyages he was on; to the deserts of Nevada and Arizona, to Alaska and Cape Cod he really wished he'd had a leather dopp bag.

13. He wears Aramis. Not the Aramis 900 Herbal his dad switched to in 1981 but the original Aramis, the first designer fragrance for men. Maybe, delight him with a whole gift set!

14. He's had that leather club chair for a while now, and he knows you think it looks worn out. An easy way to get him to part with it would be to give him one of these for Christmas.


15. He would love to make more holodets (the old ladies at church love them) but he doesn't have enough little ramekins to ensure everyone can get some. Just imagine the glory as he walks into the hall at church bearing a platter of little holodets! (Shredded chicken breast with spicy mustard is his favorite but he knows some people who like minced ham with carrots and black pepper.)

16. Many times he has thought to himself, "Gosh, that's an amputation waiting to happen." And he is, genuinely, worried about it. That blade needs to be covered. So get him this razor head cover and ease his mind.

17. Sometimes, he has the feeling that too much of his shirt is exposed, and that his tie is having to do too much work. He really needs a vest.

18. Have you ever seen his tie fly away? He needs a tie tack. Or a tie bar. Maybe one in a duck or pheasant theme would be nice.

19. Because of that listeria problem that killed 9 people last year it has been hard to find liverwurst in stores. Thankfully, braunschweiger is still available. Imagine the joy when he makes everyone braunschweiger and red onion sandwiches with dark mustard on dense rye bread! Yummm!

20. When he was a little boy his mother and grandmother made pickles; sweet never dill. He loved those homemade sweet pickles but never really liked other pickles; not dill nor sweet. They always tasted chemically to him. But then, one day he tasted Bubbies, and WOW! That's all. Just WOW! They are the best pickles he has ever tasted and he would be thrilled to find a jar under the tree this year.

An Inheritance, Dinner with Family, and a Recipe.

As I mentioned a few months ago in this blog, my oldest brother died. Yesterday, I got a text message saying to go to his widow's house. When I got there my nephew opened a book and said, "My dad wanted you to have these guns." Then he opened a safe and handed me Remington 700 BDL chambered for .300 WinMag, a Stevens double barrel 12 ga shotgun, and an ancient Montgomery Ward bolt-action 20 guage shotgun with an adjustable choke. I now have more guns than can fit in my safe. I'll send my Axis .30-'06 to my son Anselm Samuel in Maine. Maybe he'll get a moose.

I picked up my son Basil and we played games at Starbucks for a few hours then we met my surviving sibliblings, their spouses, my brother's widow, one nephew, and my wife at a pretty good Mexican restaurant in Sunnyvale. It was a good time. I don't see them often enough.

Today I had work to do so I ent into school but the internet was out so I went shopping for the ingredients for the Christmas sausage, and Mama Samberg's Cranberry Relish. Then tonight Basil came over and we played some more games. I think my favorite was Bread and Beer. He won, but he's been beating me at games for about 5 years now.

Update Saturday Dec 21.
Basil came over and we made the Christmas Sausage today. Oh, what goes in our christmas sausage? pork shoulder, lamb, pork belly, garlic, orange zest, salt, black pepper, oregeno, fennel seeds, and white wine. Use about 3 lbs of pork, 1.5 pounds lamb, one pound of pork belly, 3 tablespoons of salt, 1 cup of wine, everything else to taste. grind it up. stuff it in casings, then trhow it in the freezer until Christmas eve. Take it out of the freezer on the way to church in the morning, then eat it after Divine Liturgy.

The Christmas List

My wife reminded me that I haven't published this years Christmas list. I told her I have everything I want or need but she didn't belive me. So, here it is.




1. Ladies, do your man's shirt collars look sloppy, curling up or down at the points? Then get him some of these nifty collar stays. They say they are magnetic, but I am not sure why anyone needs magetic collar stays.

2. And since we are on the topic of collars maybe your man has a job that causes him to sit at a table and talk with students all day, and he never exercises and his neck has grown an inch in circumference. If that is the case, and he doesn't want to just go out and buy a bunch of new shirts, these button expanders are an excellent thing to geive him.

3. Is your man a duck hunter but hampered by lack of a dog? Then a Started Labrador Retreiver Puppy might just be the thing he needs!

4. Does he have a beautul Smith and Wesson .357 magnum but no holster to put in in? Look no farther! There is a holster for his gun!

5. He understands why you didn't give him the cow horn chair he asked for a few years ago, but how about cow hide?

6. He really needs ball point pens in black and red.

7. You know, he really likes kippers.

8. Yes it's true, he almost never smokes his pipe anymore, but when he does wouldn't it be nice to see him earing one of these smoking hats?

A Failed Hunt

I went pheasant hunting again this morning. The club I am in has dogs. The dog dog I used was uncontrolable. She would not follow commands to halt, and would flush brirds when they were 80 to 100 yards away from me (the max range of a shotgun with bird loads is 40 yards.) She would not stop moving when a pheasant was running on the ground, which means she was between mee and the pheasant. All togeher, I missed two birds because of my poor shooting, and three birds because of the dog. I'm going to be in San Diego on Thanksgiving weekend to meet my son's wife's parents). but the weekend after that I'l try again for pheasants. The best thing about today was being with Kathleen. I have hardley seen her for months because of her masters degree program but she went out into the field with me today, and after my failure to get pheasants she went with me to Black Bear Diner for breakfast (There is a "travelling" exception for all the Orthodox Church's fasts.) where I had the best club sandwich of my life.

Pheasants and an injured hip

Today is Monday. On Saturday morning Basil (son #4) and I went pheasant hunting. (I am a member of a hunting club in Birds Landing and it is a lot of fun.) The dog flushed a bird within 10 minutes but Basil missed and I couldn't shoot at it because Basil was standing between me and the bird. The next bird the dog flushed Basil shot at about 30 yards. Then the dog got distracted by something and rand off. I was whistling and calling and it was gone, chasing something. Then I stepped in a hole. It wasn't too deep, only about 5 or 6 inches, but it made me fall and hurt my hip. Agony. I could barely stand. I spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday in bed. I went to work today but evey step hurts. Even sitting in a chair hurts. I hope it heals quickly.

In other news, I am writing a new course based on a book titled Unhumans. I'll pitch it to the headmaster later this week.

I am enjoying the Nativity Fast. Tonight's dinner: A roasted butternut squash.

First Good Rain

I was going to go coyote hunting today but it's raining too hard. That's okay. We need the rain.

Basil was here last night. We made fruitcakes. It was a lot of fun.

I lost my election by about 900 votes, but I came in ahead of a known communist who is part of the local democratic party machine. So I'm happy I was able to keep her off the board, at least.

Life and Real Life

Life: I have met more politicians and press people and community activists than I have ever wanted to meet. And I am a politician. Everyday someone wants me to carry water for them. Everyday someone tempts me to say something I do not believe is true. Everyday the promise of votes is dangled in front of me if I will compromise. Politics is dirty. BUT the Vietnamese are with me. When I knock on their doors and tell them what I want to do they get excited and say they will vote for me. And the Indian grandfathers agree with me and say things I never expected; "America used to be verdant. Men like you can make it verdant again." But there are some groups who hate me.

I was at a meeting the other night where people were openly talking about Communism as a good thing. I did not engage them on their Satanic ideology but I stuck to my talking points: Student achievement, parental rights, and balanced budgets. The audience hated me. They blamed the state legislature for poor academic performance. They wanted to talk about how excellent it is to have Aztec dancing (The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice. Why are public school students dancing for their gods?), liberated ethnic studies, raises and housing for teachers, and community health clinics in schools. And they know that if I'm elected to the board I will work against all of that because it doesn't promote academic achievement. Over the weekend the teachers union sent out 60 precinct walkers to defeat me.

Real life: Kathleen, my son Basil, and I went to my brother's Celebration of Life. I can't describe it. I was overwhlmed and had to leave early. I am looking forward to pheasant hunting in November.

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.

<

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.

Old Guns

My two oldest guns are worn out and broken but I can't find parts. I took them to a gunsmith but he can't find parts either. He said that if I really want to use the guns I would have to go to a machinist and have parts made, because no one has made parts for either gun since the 1970s. I think I'm just going to trade them in at one of those "gun buy back" events. Maybe, I'll get baseball tickets for them. One is a 50 year old pistol I bought used for $85 when I was 24. When I was homless or living in one of San Francisco's Tenderloin flop houses in the 1990s I used to sleep with it duct taped in my hand. I used this gun to teach my two oldest sons to shoot in my Uncle Fred's (Link to every mention of my Uncle Fred.) eucalyptus grove.

The other is a 80 year old double barrel shotgun. My friend Jeff's dad bought it during WWII. When he died about 13 or 14 years ago Jeff's mom sold it to me. I used it to take my first two turkeys and to go clay target shooting with Kathleen, Anselm, and Basil.

I am sad to be losing both of these guns.

The Sixth Day of Christmas

The festivities have been beautiful. We missed Royal hours on Friday but Vigil on Saturday and Divine Liturgy on Sunday were greatly joyful. A fun thing is that our friend Rowan from church joined us for Christmas dinner. It was just Kathleen, Basil, Rowan, and I for Christmas dinner. And the dinner itself was simple compared to past Christmas dinners: Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, peanut butter pie, cranberry walnut pie, fruitcake, au gratin potatoes, and Brussels sprouts, a port wine cheese ball, and pheasant pâté made from pheasants we shot.

On the second day of Christmas Kathleen and I went to Lake Pillsbury in the Mendocino National Forest to shoot wood ducks. But we saw no wood ducks but we saw tule elk. One bull had a harem of more than sixty cows and a huge set of antlers. No, we didn't shoot any of the elk. They are protected and rare. We stayed at lake Pillsbury three nights. There was lots and lots of rain.

Now we are back in San Jose and are preparing for the next semester. It will by my first time teaching economics. I'm excited.

Finals Week

It is late Monday night in Finals Week. I gave the Final Exam to my civics (mostly political philosophy and economics in the Fall semester) and A.P. Government students today. They did pretty well. I am happy for them. They all turned in the term papers last Friday. One girl did an amazing job. I think her paper is publishable, and I'm going to send it off to a journal and see if I can't help her get sonme serious attention. Her research and synthesis abilities are amazing. She would be such an amazing politics scholar or historian but she wants to major in math or chemistry. Maybe, if I can get her published I can convince her to pursue philoshopy. Probably not though. She is Singaporean and her parents want her to get a B.S. in Chemistry and then go to Med school or get into a bio-chem Ph.D. program.

I've been pheasant hunting twice since Thanksgiving. I have a freezer full of dead birds but one was so beautiful I am having it taxidermied. Sadly, I had no idea that dry ice is considered a hazardous material and that I would have to pay mucho dinero to ship the bird to the taxidermist in Idaho because of the dry ice. I think I would have spent less mony if I had hired someone local. Oh well. Live and learn.

Saturday night (this is Monday night) Kathleen's niece spent the night with us. She is a single mother, has a drug problem, and some mental health problems on top of that. It is difficult to know how to help her. We would adopt her baby but as long as she has him the State of Claifornia pays her money so she won't give him up. I am vey worried about that little boy. Tonight Basil and Kathleen helped me make the Christmas sausage. It is something we have been doing since Basil was a little boy of only 3 or 4 years. He is 17 now. Wow, where have the years gone?

Well, in the morning I have to give final exams to my U.S. History classes. I'd better get to bed.

The Day Before Thanksgiving

This week I gave all my students an extra credit assignment: Read three Thanksgiving Proclamations: George Washington (1789), Abraham Lincoln (1864), and Ronald Reagan (1988) then write a 6-10 page Chicago Style essay comparing and contrasting the proclamations. I gave them until next Monday to turn it in. Some of them have submitted their essays early, and they are beautiful.

Today I expalined to my stuents how NPR broadcasts Mama Stamberg's cranberry relish recipe every year, let them hear some recordings of the broadcast from years past, then let them taste it. I've heard the recipe many times over the last thirty years but this was the first time I ever made it. It tasted good and most of my students liked it.

Now I am baking two cranberry walnut pies. I just put them in the oven. Once I finish writing this post I'll get to work on two peanut butter chocolate pies (recipe below), and then I'll make pheasant pate (we have lots of pheasants in the fridge!) for tomorrow. We are going to be at the cathedral in San Francisco.


Peanutbutter Pie Recipe
Use two Keebler chocolate pie crusts or two Graham cracker pie crusts. The filling is one cup of creamy peanut butter, 8 oz cream cheese, 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar beaten together, then fold in 8 oz of cool whip (refrigerated but not frozen). The filling is enough for two pies. Top with whipped cream. I like to whip 8 oz of heavy cream with 1/4 cup powdered sugar. That way it doesn't separate as quickly as it would otherwise.

Pheasant Shooting

It was a busy week. Basil had school (student), I had school (teacher), and Kathleen had school (teacher). Yesterday, Veterans Day we did not do our usual activities. Instead, I slept all day, Kathleen did stuff with her kids, and Basil did homework.

Today the three of us went pheasant hunting. The dogs were not doing their job; acting more like pets than working dogs, but we each got one pheasant. Later we had lunch in the clubhouse and Kathleen picked out a new shotgun. All our shotguns are a little bit to big for her so she tried out this Syren and really like it. Now I just need to save up the money for it.

Well the timer on the oven just went off so I better take the pheasant out.

Fruitcakes and civilization

Kathleen and I made 10 more fruitcakes today. We were going to go pheasant hunting but it was raining this morning so we decided to stay home and bake. The house smells beautiful; like cinnamon, butter, and whiskey.

Last week it dawned on me that in my world history class (we have been reading the about the pagan world; the Indians, the Japanese, the Aztecs, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Chinese, the Akkadians, the Incas, the Nubians, the Minoans etc.) that the whole pre-Christian world (except the Hebrews), all of them practiced human sacrifice and canibalism. Right now we are on ancient Greece and we have just finished reading Hesiod's Theogony, a gruesome tale of murder, incest, infanticide, cannibalism, rape, and war. I think we will be right up to Caesar Augustus in early December. And then I will assign my world history students the Gospel of Mark. I didn't plan it this way but isn't it amazing to be able to make the transition from the horrors of the demon-ruled pagan history to the Christ-filled history of the years of our Lord right at Christmas time.

So much news.

Well, dear reader, there is much that goes on in life. I'll start with work, which is going wonderfully. I teach two sections of U.S. history, and one section each of civics, world history, and A.P. goverrnment. It is so much fun I can hardly stand it. Here is an example: In my civics class I have had my students read Aristotle, Cicero, John Locke, parts of Isaiah, all of Judges, and the first two chapters of Forest McDonalnd's Novus Ordo Seclorum. I was going to have them read the third chapter, which deals with the economic ideas underpinning the American Revolution and our ConstItution but I realized that most of my students don't have the background to understand that chapter. So, what are we doing? We are reading childrens books together! Yes! I read A Year at Maple Leaf Farm to them and had them identify every instance of production, consupmption, capital preservation, life preservation, and conservation of natural resources. Then we did the samething with The Ox Cart Man but this time I told them to keep in mind John Locke's discusions of property, waste, savings, and surplus. Then, on Friday I assigned each of them one of Laura Ingalls Widler's Little House books and assigned them a 10 page essay (in Chicago Style) on the economic ideas contained in the books. And in addition to the classes I teach I am the faculty advisor to the gardening club and the internatinal relations club. It is just so much fun!

My son Basil Wenceslas (I think I mentioed in a previous post that the graduated from high school two years early) just registered for twoclasses (U.S. history and U.S. government) at EVCC. He says he is prepearing for transfer to the Maritime Academy but he just turned 17 and his plans might change. Also, he is my hunting buddy. We go pheasant hunting on Saturdays.

I have cooked two pheasants and pheasant sausauge, and have smoked pheasants in the fridge. The only thing is that I don't enjoy running the dogs. I think from now on I'll leave that to Kathleen. I can't manage the dogs and shoot at the same time, and she likes running the dogs and is better at it than I am. Basil just likes shooting and then rewarding the dogs when they bring him the pheasants.


Anselm has a girlfriend. I haven't met her but Athanasia has has met her and says the girl, (Woman actually, she is a 23 year old speech therapist.) is good to our son. But Anselm is about to go on a 7 month mission and we will see if the relationship will last; 7 months is a long time to a 23 year old.

I am making 12 more fruitcakes today. This brings the total up to 30. It is much fun and is probably my favorite Christmas tradition. I think I have enough dried fruit to make another 16 but I'll Not make them today; maybe next week. It is hard to believe I've been doing this for 11 years. While I am baking thim I am listening to a recording of the Fireside Christmas Stories. It isn't even Advent yet but I am already enjoying Christmas.

Pheasants and Fruit Cakes

The last two Satudays I have been pheasant hunting. Kathleen and I went the first Saturday. We came home with four. Then the second Saturday, Basil went with me and we got three. I've roasted two, had three truned into sausage by the club butcher, and have two in the freezer.

LAst Saturday afternoon, after pheasant shooting, Basil and I made 8 fruit cakes. I just got off work and we are going to make 14 more.

A Trip to Reno.

I went to Reno for one night, just to buy ammo for rabbit and pheasant hunting. The shortage in California is severe and the prices are sky high. The prices are almost as bad in Nevada but, at least, they had some for sale. I like Nevada.

No Pigs. Maybe Pheasants.

Last summer Kathleen and I joined Golden Ram. Our our goal for the year was to kill 4 or 5 wild pigs, 5 or 6 turkeys and a bear. I wanted a pig head and a bear skin on the wall and the freezers full of food. We spent 14 days hunting and were not successful. We saw plenty of doves but why shoot doves?. And we saw a bear and a lot of turkeys and a few coyotes as we were driving to the various hunting areas. We saw a pig at the bottom of an inaccessable canyon. In short, the game we saw was all in the wrong places. Essentially, we paid for nice places to go camping and that is all. We are not renewing the membership.

Today we joined Bird's Landing. It's not big game but it should be fun. And maybe we'll each get a pheasant to hang on the wall. Also, the membership includes guest passes so we can take our friends.

Son #4 and the Maritime Academy

On Friday of last week (this is Sunday night) Kathleen and I took my youngest son, Basil to the California Maritime Academy. We went on a tour of the campus, we saw the TS Golden Bear, looked out over San Pablo Bay, talked about majors, and met some cadets. Basil is sold. He wants to be a Keelhauler and study to be a maritime officer. It is too late to apply for the semester starting in Fall 2022 so he will take some more CSUGE classes at a community college then apply for fall 2023 admission to the academy. He'll still only be 17 so I'm fine with waiting until then. We also went by St. Contstantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church. It is just a couple of miles from the campus. And just a little bit to the west of the campus is some of the best waterfowl hunting in California. I think it is a good plan.