Mother's Day

I started this post early this morning but was having problems loading photos so I had to resume later. Better late than never, I guess.


I know, yesterday was Mother's Day but today is the day I decided to acknowledge it. Obviously, Betty didn't have our kids close by to spend with her on Mother's Day, however, both called and talked with her at great length.

And how did we celebrate the day you might ask. Well, I was going to do whatever Betty wanted to so we stayed home and just relaxed. I needed to get some "cramp medicine", so I went to the store but that was about it. I purchased some ribs, as I know Betty really likes them, so when I returned home I told Betty I was going to have ribs for dinner. Now you have to realize Betty only eats about one meal a day and when she is hungry, well, I need to feed her. So she informed me she would rather have the pork chops I had already thawed, which was alright with me. That was alright with me because I could tell she was hungry right then. So I cooked one of her favorite meals, i.e., pork chops (she like good bacon also), fried potatoes, fried eggs and toast from homemade bread. We both love this meal so it was special for Mother's Day also. And, since it was only 1:30 pm, I knew I wouldn't have to cook again. As you know, I love to cook and try new recipes, but the tried and true simple fare is what we enjoy the most - bacon, eggs, and potatoes; beans with tortillas or cornbread; top-hat - and things like that.

I thought I would honor Betty and Mother's Day by sharing photos of the mother's in our life. You may have seen some of these photos before but again it's nice to revisit them. So here goes:

Many years ago:

My great Grandparents Mandeville with my Grandmother Fannie on the left and my Great Aunt Jeannie

My Great Grandparents Dupres with their girls. If I have my facts right, my Grandmother is standing on the right and my Cousin Pat's (C.P.) mother is the little girls standing on the chair.

Grandma Hitchcock - my father's mother.

My father with his sister's and Grandma Hitchcock. The sister with her arm around his neck is Aunt Lois and the my Aunt Ruth is on Grandma's left.

Grandma Madge, my mother's mother and C.P.'s aunt.

My mother with Grandpa Fred and Grandma Madge.

One of my mother's school photos. She taught for 20 some years, and never made it past the 3rd grade.

Lolo in a later photo.

Betty's mother, Myrtle.

Time for coffee with Myrtle and Betty.

My lady and I cutting our cake at our reception.
(She's feeding it to me in the heading photo)

With the "kids" in the snow at the Grand Canyon.

My lady and I - 45 years later.

What a history of mothers. It can't get any better than that and I hope you enjoyed traveling with me through time honoring the mothers in Betty and my life.

Until next time.

????

It has been quite sometime since I started posting and sharing photos, and to be honest with you, I can't remember all of the photos I've shared with you. So as I go forward with my postings if you happen to remember seeing a photo I may have previously posted, just chalk it up to "old age" and enjoy the moment again. o that end, I'm going to post more family photos.

As stated above, I don't remember all of my posts and I'm not going to go back to see what I did post. However, I don't really think I had very many photos of my father so today I'm going to concentrate on him. Those of you who knew him personally might say he was a "gruff, old man", but in reality, he really was s softy. He really loved his grand kids and had nick-names for most of them. Some of the names where not the most flattering but they were all his way of saying how much he cared about the individual. The only two I remember are the ones he had for my sister Doris, "Pickle-puss", and her daughters, Jennifer, "Big Red", and Jacki, "Cracker-Ass" (sorry you three but I just HAD to let everyone know----). Other than the nick-names, he didn't show much emotion with any of us. Therefore, when I came across the photos below, I had to share them so if you did know him, or if you didn't, you would see how he really did interface with his family.

Pop playing (teasing perhaps) Daryl. We did not live very close to Lolo and Pop so our kids were not around them much. In fact, based on Daryl's age at the time of this photo, this may have been one of the first times Pop had interacted with Daryl.

Amy was the last grandchild so I think Pop had a special feeling about her. He changed her diaper when she was only three months old, we were told he had never changed any of his grand kids diaper before, and it was a big mess. But her at least gave it his best shot.

Amy really loved her Grandpa!

You can tell he was a good man because her loved the dogs. Charlie was his dog and Popo, the one lying down was Daryl's. Charlie was from South Carolina because Betty and I got her when I was in training at Ft Gordon, in Georgia. However, when we returned to Santa Paula prior to going to Panama, Pop adopted her so she became his dog. This photo was taken at Lolo and Pop's "rock house" in St George.


Pop as a senior in high school. Check out the "letter-man's sweater" from Santa Paula High. He played baseball and tennis for the Cardinals.


Pop's graduation picture in 1924.
Gee, he graduated from Santa Paula High only 37 years prior to me.

This was taken in October of 1942, a year prior to my birth. Pop was not allowed to enlist during the was because he was considered to work in a critical industry, e.e., citrus. So, he became an air-raid warden which is the "uniform" he is wearing.


Lolo and Pop's 50TH Anniversary Photo.

That's all for today, and if you had seen some of these photos before, I hope you enjoyed them again. Until next time, have a great day.

No Rhyme or Reason

When we were younger and taking a multitude of pictures, the slide was the media we used the most. The first, and most obvious, reason, was cost. It was quite a bit more cost effective to use slide film than print film. And it was always fun to get the projector out an have an eventing slide show. As the digital generation progressed, the cost factor was greatly reduced to the point film was only used by the "professional". Even as the quality of digital photography has improved, film still gives the best image, unless you spend "boo-koo" bucks for the highest quality camera. However, the average consumer can't really tell the difference so the inexpensive digital camera is the "Brownie" of the past.

Why did I start this post with the above dissertation, you may ask. Well, it was to set up the next part of the post. We have "tons' of slides we rarely peruse because of the hassle of preparing to watch them. So, I have been digitizing them a little at a time. Of course, my slide scanner is not the highest quality so the some of the images may leave a lot to be desired, but at least they are scanned and saved as a digital image. With these new digital images, what am I going to do. Well, to that end, I'm going to share them with you starting today. There will be no rhyme or reason with what I share on a particular day unless there is a theme associated with the series of photos. That being said, today's photos does have a theme.

When we lived in Bakersfield, our neighbors that live across the street from us, Lewis and Debbie Hancock, became very close friends. In some ways, they were surrogate grandparents to Daryl and Amy. Lewis was a teacher and an ordained Baptist minister (the first Cherokee Indian to do that) and Debbie was Dr. D. Hancock, PHD., Dean of Education at Cal State - Bakersfield. Prior to our moving to the San Diego area, Lewis and Debbie had moved back to Fullerton, where Debbie resumed working at Cal State - Fullerton and Lewis reorganized the Indian Baptist Church of Los Angeles. When they lived in Bakersfield, Lewis and I would play golf and we would have gatherings with them. This resumed when we migrated to the San Diego area. Deb and Lewis had a timeshare in Montana, so we joined them there in the summer of 1990. The following photos were from our Montana trip, but keep in mind some are digitized form slides.

Debbie at our house in Bakersfield. I think it was a Thanksgiving Dinner

Lewis, the same day as the above photo.

This was from a day in Montana when we had traveled to a "sapphire mine" hunting for "the big one". I don't remember if this before or after our search but we are enjoying a respite anyway.

Picking through the rocks for "the big one".

The Sapphire Hunters

Another story about Lewis. After we had moved to New York and I began to travel for classes, every time I would go to L.A. to teach, I would visit Lewis and Debbie (there is an additional story about visiting I'll relate another time). Anyway, Lewis and I had very similar tastes in a lot of things and both of us loved the movie "Where Eagles Dare" and we both wanted it on video tape, but couldn't find it. The next time I visited Lewis and Deb, Lewis, with great fanfare, showed me a tape of the movie he had found. He, of course, made sure I was reminded of it every time I saw him after that. Lewis had a major heart attack and wasn't able to fulfill his duties as pastor of the Indian Baptist Church for several months. The doctors finally allowed him to preach one Sunday and after the service, some parishioners took him to lunch in celebration (Debbie was laid up with a bad back and was not there). While waiting for their table, Lewis had another massive heart attack and died. The next time I was in L.A., I went to visit Debbie and she had a few things that Lewis wanted me to have. I was very appreciative of them but I asked her if it would be possible to have the video tape of "Where Eagles Dare". She stated she knew Lewis wanted me to have it but she couldn't remember the name when she was accumulating the things for me. To make a long story short, I still have that video tape and have never watched it. I have the movie on DVD so I still watch the movie, but the video tape is a very special memento.

Just a little nap before dinner after a hard day in Montana. Lewis was just a wonderful, dynamic man with so much to offer the world.

There is another part of the story about our trip to Montana that is very pertinent but I will save it for another day. So until next time, have a wonderful day.

Back to Nature

Today I just wanted to share a couple of photos I took from our enclosed porch. Sometimes when I look out the sliding door I am amazed at what I see. But, by the time I get my camera out, what I want a photo of has long gone. As you can see by the photos on today's post, that did not happen these times. Most likely because I kept my camera in a handier location. So, here we go!

This Osprey, a member of the hawk family, hunts behind our house frequently. He sits on the post rails and watches until he sees a small rodent, or something else, then swoops down for the capture. A small bird but very majestic.

Small but beautiful!

Surveying it's realm!

may moons ago I shared a photo of an Anhinga, better known a the snake-bird. The reason for the name snake-bird is because of the way it looks while after a meal. It has no oil in it's feathers, like other aquatic birds, so when it is in the water all you can see is the neck and head. After it has finished hunting, it must stand in the sun with it's wings extended to dry them out. It is only after they have dried it is able to fly. Well, the other day I was on the deck and there was an Anhinga sunning itself after hunting. In actuality, it sunned itself about 15 minutes before it flew off. The following photos show what I explained above.

Snake-bird. You can see why it got the nickname.

"Ah!! That sun feels great on my back!"

Just a little longer an' I'm Outta' here!

That's enough nature for today. As you can see, we live in an area where nature is an integal part of our lives and there is always something to see in nature, whether animals, fantastic skies, or even tremendous storms. So until next time, I hope you enjoyed our little trip into the bird arena.

Back to Posting

Well, as I stated yesterday, I was going to begin posting again but most likely not every day. So, if you want to keep up with the Florida Branch, you'll just have to check back every once in a while.

As many of you that read this posting are aware, I like to entertain. Well, a couple of weeks ago I was at the market when one of our friends asked if I was going to have an Easter Dinner again this year. At the time I really hadn't thought about it because I was busy "doing my thing for Uncle Sam" and really wasn't in the correct mood for entertaining. However, the more I thought about it the more I decided that we should host it again this year. The way it usually works, in theory, is Betty and I provide the main entre and drinks, and everyone else brings everything else. Reality being what it is, I usually also make other things, i.e., desert, appetizers, side dish, and then of course there is the work prior such as cleaning the house and setting up for the crowd. After I had decided to go ahead and host a dinner, Betty informed me she was going to call our friends and tell them; "I told Fred he could have Easter Dinner if he wanted but I wasn't going to let him. He doesn't need the stress related to having it." And, she called them. So needless to say, we didn't have Easter Dinner at our house. It seems all of our friends were in agreement with Betty because they all said I did too much. Well, to make a long story short, a group of us went out to dinner instead and had a great time. Aren't you glad I related that story to you. I'm sure you were totally engrossed in it.

The weather here in Florida is really great and I spend quite a bit on the deck, either reading or watering. A couple of years ago we transported from Arizona a small piece of cactus and replanted it when we returned home. That small piece grew and filled one pot so we split it and the results are really pretty. Check out the photo of the cactus in bloom. Thanks to my sister-in-law Frances, as it was started from her cactus.


The other photos I'm sharing are taken from the deck also. As you know I love clouds and nature so that what these are all about. The captions are more explanatory.

This photo is the area between the deck and the ramp. It is really shady so I wanted shade plants that will still give some color. One of my favorite plants is the Hosta which I grew in New York and were beautiful, so I purchased a couple that will supposedly grow here in Florida. They are the two plants at the top of the photo. I think they are doing well so we'll see.

Looking back at the deck and ramp. I was going to fill the blank area to match to lattice but when my lime, lemon and grapefruit trees get a little more mature, I won't need to fill it in.

I took this while I was sitting on the chaise lounge. I just though it was kind of a neat photo with the trees in the background of the bird feeder and birdhouse. I hadn't really noticed the planter as I was taking it but I didn't crop it out because it shows my lettuce just starting to get big.

These photos were also taken while I was relaxing on the chaise lounge. They are nothing special but I think the subject matter and composition are great.

I guess this is enough for today. I don't remember who said it, I think P.T. Barnum, but you should always leave your fans wanting more. So, that is my strategy, - leave them wanting more. So as I stated at the beginning of this post, I'll be posting regularly irregular. Til next time, ...

Happy Easter!

I was going to start blogging again today, however, I really didn't think it was appropriate. So I'm just wishing everyone a Happy Easter!



Until tomorrow, have a wonderful day and keep your "Peeps" dry.

Heading to Florida

Well, we're almost finished with our cruise adventure, which is kind of sad because I'll have to come up with something else to blog about. I was able to drag the cruise out to such an extent that I really didn't have to think about what to write for sometime. But now, I'm in a quandary as to what I'll be writing about next. Oh, well, I'll most likely come up with something really profane and enjoyable. Wow, nothing like being a little egotistical, is there?

So let's continue with the cruise and see where it leads us. As I stated in the last post, when we departed from Aruba, there was going to be two days at sea, which I really love. It is a time for relaxation and just plain doing nothing , or everything, your choice. Since this was a 10 day cruise, there were two formal nights on the agenda, and we already had one. The second one was scheduled for the first night at sea after we left Aruba. Sidebar: When we discussed going on a cruise to Alaska with the kids, Daryl said he didn't want to go on one with formal nights. But I have to tell you, formal nights are really fun. Getting dressed up to go to dinner really makes you feel special if it's not something you normally do. The only place a coat and tie are required is in the main dining rooms, so if you don't feel like dressing up, there are plenty of venues where you can get something to eat and not have to "dress up".

After we spent the day just relaxing, we dressed for dinner. On formal nights, there are photographers all over the ship waiting to take your picture. Each area had a different backdrop so we would go from one area to another and have our picture taken. It was really fun, as we had not done that on the first formal night. There was also a roving photographer that took our picture in the dining room. The next day, every picture that was taken is printed and displayed so you can pick and choose if you want to purchase any of them. Betty and I purchased three photos we really liked. The photo used in the heading of this blog was one of those we purchased. As a matter of fact, we gave the kids a framed one for Christmas, lucky them!! It was really fun going through all of the photos trying to find the perfect one. In addition to the professional photos, I had my camera with me so I could take pictures of all of us at dinner. Another note about formal night, they always have something special on the menu that is not normally available.

So, let's get on with the photos as the narrative is getting pretty boring to you, I'm sure.

Relaxing on a day at sea. I know I shared this photo with you before, but it is well worth seeing again.

This was the sunset we saw prior to going to dinner on the formal night. It really set the mood for the evening.

I wanted some photos of our last formal dinner, so I took one of each of our friends for posterity.

Skip

Mo

Keith

Mary

When we booked the cruise, we opted for traditional dinner versus free-style. The difference is, with free-style dining, you go to dinner when you want and sit wherever there is an available table, i.e., like a regular restaurant. Whereas with traditional seating you go to the same restaurant at the same time and sit at the same table every night. Therefore, you also have the same wait staff who get to know you and your tastes. For instance, all of us drink iced tea, so after the first couple of nights, our waiters had tea waiting for us when we sat down. In addition, they "took charge" of seating Betty and taking her wheelchair away so she was comfortable. I have to say our waiters were outstanding and we really had fun with them.

Mary and our waiters.

Our head waiter, Valentino

Our assistant waiter, Leo

Obviously I didn't take the next photos. I know I'm talented but even I can't take such a great photo of myself. There goes that ego again. Mary had taken my camera so she could take photos of Betty and I and these were the results of that endeavor.

On the first formal night, I wore a bow-tie and cummerbund, but I really like this look. Except for the fact I no neck and multiple chins.

Betty really was having a good time, as you can tell by this photo.

I honestly don't remember why Betty was posing like this, but I think it had something to do with Leo calling her a tough lady.

The following two photos were taken by the ships photographers, as you can tell. We all wanted one photo taken with all of us, and this one turned out really well I think.

Betty and I both liked this photo taken at dinner by the roving photographer. I think it really captures the mood of the whole eventing.


Well, we've come to the end of our cruise adventure. Even though we had one more day at sea, the only photos I took were of Cuba as we sailed by. I really couldn't believe how large of an island Cuba is, or really hadn't thought about it before we sailed past it. The ship was cruising at a little over 20 knots and it still took eight hours to sail past Cuba. Amazing!

So until I can think of anything to post about, have a great respite.