bonus post ~ hayden snoozing away last night

my grandson hayden.

taking 5 on the trail

this is william and his cousin holly on a hike in sabino canyon.

until he would turn purple

when we went to the beach, both william and sarah would be in the water as fast as they could. never mind the thermal shock their bodies would go through.summer, winter never matters, the pacific is always cold at best. this day was windy, overcast and downright nasty. you can tell william is being brave but i know that water hurts. looks like sarah has retreated at least for a short while. both of them would stay in the water until they turned purple.

spending time with grandma

enjoying time on the couch; moments like these do not last forever. make the most of each other for as long as you can.

september 12, 1979

we had been in los angles for several days. this was back when we would spend 5 days or more at the parks. this september had a bonus. i had gotten premier tickets to see apocalypse now at the pacific's cinerama dome, which was a big deal. i had called out about a month in advance for the tickets and i was able to reserve them for the 10:30 am showing. wow, i was excited.
the day before, the 11th, we had spent at disneyland taking pictures and generally just loafing around the park. the smog was horrible and made the day overall unpleasant. it was so bad that there was a brown haze about 3/4's of the way up the matterhorn which was very smelly and ugly.
the next day we get up in what i believe is plenty of time to get to the show, which is about 25 miles away in downtown la. as i get into the car and turn on the radio i am greeted with the news that the 12th would be the worst smog day in la for the past 25 years. undaunted, off we go up highway 5 towards downtown. traffic normally is bad, this day was just down right impossible. stop and go, nearly getting run over by a semi truck and 1 missed turn later we get to the parking lot. we get out of the car and run to the ticket booth.

the show had started about 10 minutes ago. i was crushed because these were reserved seats and that was that. it was go in and watch the movie, minus the first 10 minutes or give the tickets up.
i asked for the manager, who of course was not expected into work till around noon. dejected, we went and found a brunch down the street and waited.
at noon, we were back at the theater asking for the manager to see if we could do another showing, sometime over the next few days. good luck, opening weekend for a world preimer movie.
turns out, the manager did arrive, about 12:10, he had been running late all morning due to the smog as well and he totally understood my pleadings about being from out of town and the really horrible conditions in town that very day.
well, happy ending to this story. there were 2 seats that he had reserved for his friends at the next showing. at 2:30 in the balcony, first row, right in the middle. just amazingly awesome seats. he let us exchange for those seats and man was i happy.
my little adventure of september 12, 1979 - up the river.
{historical note of interest-$5.00 for a movie;apocalypse now was the first $5.00 movie ever}

an how sweet we are with precious

the evidence speaks for itself. precious was loved and poor brandon was do-do. you know, both aaron and heather had day beds, i do not remember you having one. guess you started the whole day bad thing. and, what is that thing on your window sill? the white plushy?

The SAHNCSG’s brick memorial.

The Southern Arizona Head and Neck Cancer Support Group has a memorial at a local park here in town. I went by and took several pictures which I wanted to share. I hope it means at least a little something to each of you who see these. Their names will mean nothing to you, however, know that each one of those named lived their life as full as they could and showed courage every day in their battle with cancer. They are missed but not forgotten.

brandon abuse.

see the sweet young child and how can anyone argue with that smile. so nice and kind. now, look at her hands as they attempt to strangle this poor little dogie. and she says she loves animals. all animals except brandon i guess. (LOL, I couldn't resist.)

the La Serina

this is a picture of the U of A's dive boat the La Serina. she was given to the U by a wealthy benefactor. must be nice. she is the large craft just to right of center. i spent many days flopping off her tail. my major job was to go down first and clear the dive site for the students. i always thought that was funny as i was a student also. it was fun times. i sometimes wish i had been smart enough to finish but live takes strange turns. it was an exciting part of my past and a part that i will not forget.

wishing everyone a happy new year

best wishes from 1957