A new moon sets, a new home rises

Memorial Day weekend, and a staple of Solana Beach Presbyterian Church is the annual Come Build Hope mission over that Friday to Sunday to build homes and plant seeds of hope for deserving families in northern Baja California.   This year, a return visit for Cathy, Torrey and I, perhaps the best ever. As a once Army grunt, I liken Come Build Hope to…

Peak Color

Over those many decades of commercial flying I developed a strong affinity for the stark beauty of the Four Corners region.  Over the PA I’d point out that it was the only place in the U.S. where four states come together at right angles—Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Minnesota.  Mind you this was back in the day when people actually looked out of the windows,…

Paradise Taveuni, Fiji

  It having been too long since we’d taken a family dive trip, we decided to explore a new site in the Fijian islands—the Paradise Taveuni Resort.  http://www.paradiseinfiji.com Getting there from SoCal is modestly straightforward—a 10:20 nonstop from LAX to Nadi (pronounced Nandi) on the main island of Viti Levu, then an hour’s flight by De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter to Taveuni, and another…

The Nature of Nurture. The Nurture of Nature.

Over the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to watch three hummingbird mothers go through the process of raising a brood, but each time there were logistics challenges documenting the process.  Then, this March, we discovered a nesting female in a palm abutting our front porch.  I’ve surmised that she may have been a first-timer, with only a single egg and placement of a shallow…

Sorrow. And Joy.

“Imagine the amount of sorrow this wood has seen,” said Pepe.  “And Joy,” countered his son, also Pepe, of the surprisingly heavy wooden plank I held. These would be Pepe Romero, my dear friend and neighbor, preeminent concert guitarist, and Pepe Romero—the son, whom I will refer to as Pepito, for differentiation—my growing friend, and masterful luthier, as guitar-makers are more properly called.  And ukulele-makers, too, in…

There and Back Again

Like Rumpole of the Bailey, I am wedded to “She Who Must be Obeyed,” also known as “Ol’ What’s Her Name,” affectionate titling for my bride of THIRTY YEARS! this month.  Trying unsuccessfully to keep up with my dotage, Cathy nonetheless managed to qualify for Medicare in May, ample motivation for a celebratory trip, adventurously worthy of age denial and anniversary exultation.  Naturally, I obeyed her summons, and agreed that…

Flight Review Fun

As a Certified Flight Instructor there are times when I am called upon to conduct a Flight Review for client pilots, required biennially as per Federal Aviation Regulation 61.56 for them to continue to exercise the privileges of their airman certificate.  It’s a chance to review, practice, add some polish to perhaps disused operational skills, and to spend time savoring the unbridled joy of…

A Biplane Landed In Our Yard Today

      One of creation’s cooler creatures.  Alliteration?  Who me?  

The Intersection of Armageddon and The Savior

For eight of the past nine years, our Solana Beach Presbyterian church has done a mission trip, building homes for struggling families across the border in northern Baja California.  Known within our church as Come Build Hope, and accomplished in concert with Amor Ministries, which provides the logistical support and building materials, it is always done over Memorial Day weekend.  This year was Cathy’s and…

This Week in the ‘Hood

Not much to say, perhaps better to let the images speak for themselves.  Some storms, some sun.  And Spring flowers.  Elements of life. A time-lapse sequence.  Dvorak, adagio movement, Symphony from the New World. https://vimeo.com/90345195