Huntington Beach and Seal Beach

Photo by Matt S    To See and Be Seen!

Two of the nicest places in Orange County are Huntington Beach and Seal Beach. Even though they are both beaches with piers and a diner at the end of the pier, they are quite different communities.
I love Huntington Beach because of its diversity. My favorite place to eat breakfast there is the Sugar Shack.  Here you see tourists, of course, but also tanned white haired retirees with grandkids, grandparents with their kids and grandkids, surfers and volleyball players, young people, and youth in cut offs, halters and tattoos. You can sit outside on the street, if you want to be seen, which we don't, or inside, but why waste CA sunshine? Or on the patio behind, which is where we always go. The shops along Main Street are generally restaurants and clothing establishments. On the weekend a tent city of artists’ stalls clutters the promenade by the pier. It tends to be a crowded glitzy place, but isn’t that California?

Photo from the Bay Cinema Website

Seal Beach still has that 1950's atmosphere. Right at Main and Pacific Coast Highway 1 (PCH1) is an old cinema with its fancy marquee. You feel that born Californians live in Seal Beach and they stroll the through the shaded parks. Once we met a group of middle-aged people all walking their sleek miniature hounds (that’s what they appeared to be to me – I didn’t ask).

Youssef and I always eat breakfast at the Old Town Cafe, which has a distinctive blue Dutch door (top/bottom halves open separately). It is owned by a Mexican-American who worked in the café 20 years before he bought it in 2003. Besides the usual Euro-American fare they also have breakfast versions of burritos, huevos, refried beans, etc. On this last trip to California, I suggested to Wade that we eat there. They had plenty of patrons, Latino and Anglo. I ordered 'to die for' waffles with bananas, walnuts and syrup. I had so many walnuts I couldn't eat them all. And how I hate waste, especially walnuts! Wade had one of the Mexican breakfasts and liked it.

After breakfast we browsed passed little dress shops, a used book store, a floral nursery smelliing of fresh flowers, restaurants, coffee and ice cream parlors and walked out on the pier. Looking northwest we could just barely glimpse the Long Beach Pier.

If you want to know more about the Old Town Cafe with photos go to http://www.presstelegram.com/lifestyle/dining/ci_7781578

Antique Clock

Back in the late 1970’s or so, Youssef, Sharif and I were driving around in the West End of St. Louis when we came across an estate sale in Portland Place. There the houses are large and majestic, but had seen better days…at least in the 1970’s and early 80’s. The owner of this house was an antique collector/dealer, a man in his late 30’s, not my idea of a collector.

The collector had a number of clocks, and out of the blue Youssef asked how much he wanted for one in particular. The guy said $500. Youssef offered him, I think, half of what the man was asking -  $250. The man, being no fool, jumped at the offer and the deal was done. I was speechless with astonishment. The collector said it was an Ansonia Clock, and that only about 20 of them were made around 1887.  Yeah, I thought, says who?

Although I was in a state of denial, we took it to our home in University City and hung it above our couch. It tended to run slow, but it had a charming chime striking the hours and dinging once for the half hour.

When we moved to Egypt in 1991, we put it in storage. Returning ten years later, we got it out, but didn’t do much with it in our new home in Columbia. First, I hung it in the den, but fearing it might fall on someone’s head took it down. It lay around long enough for its chains to come to pieces and after a while I threw them away. Then I set the body of the clock on the mantel of the fireplace downstairs for atmosphere.

This summer, we took it to Bob, a clock repairman here in Columbia. He was reassuringly impressed. Bob confirmed that it was an Ansonia (whatever that means), and the copy write date (1887) is stamped inside the clock. He thought that the cabinet, the pendulum and the weights were all original. I thought, “Too bad I was so cavalier with the chains.”  He oiled the innards and installed new chains. It is now hanging on our wall again, charming us with its chimes and losing about five minutes every 24 hours.

Sights in St. Louis

Monday of last week (July 26th) docents from the Art and Archaeology Museum and friends took a bus to St. Louis to see "Treasures of the Vatican," at the Missouri Historical Museum.  My sister, Mary Sue and friend, Trudie, also made the trip.  I don't know what I was expecting, Michelangelo maybe, but I was pretty disappointed with the exhibition.  I couldn't get excited about a brick from Peter's tomb or an early Christian relief of the Visit of the Magi.  There was an interesting reliquary holding almost invisible bone chips. There was a plaster cast of the Pieta.  It was noted that 9 bronze Pieta's were made in the 1930"s and served the restorers well when they had to repair the Pieta after it was attack by a mad man with a hammer. 

  At 2:00 we returned to the bus after taking pictures in front of the fountain.

Then we went to the St. Louis Cathedral which has more mosaics than San Marcus in Venice. It was spectacular.
Our guide was great with an accent I last heard in  the Godfather movie.  He told us many stories, and gave us a great appreciation for the intricate workmanship involved.  As we wandered through the church a young man came and began to play the organ.  The music of the Doxology filled the sanctuary.

Some mosaics were made to look like paintings.  Some mosaics reminded me of Byzantine icons I had seen in Coptic churches in Egypt.

This bronze Pieta is one of the nine Pieta casts made in the 1930's and is touring the States.

The Cathedral garden was quiet.

And the lilly pond was tranquil.  This was good, because we left St. Louis at rush hour and arrived back in Columbia around 8:00.  Lovely trip.

Trip to Orange County CA

President Reagan is said to have observed that when Republicans die they go to Orange County. I sort of doubt this, but Wade dearly wanted to go to college in California (Pomona), and has lived within three miles of the coast ever since, most of it in Orange County. Now he and his family (Joyce and 2 sons) live in Fountain Valley, and Orange County seems like a little bit of heaven when one feels the cool breezes and gazes at the lovely landscapes in the neighborhoods and along the coast.

Agapanthus - Fountain Valley

Zachary and Cody

Zachary. The firstborn grandchild always has a special place in one’s heart and Zachary is the first of our 4 grandsons. Now he is 13 and growing up. It was a thrill to have Zachary meet me in the baggage claim area, looking broader of shoulder and taller than he was at Thanksgiving, and lift the big clumsy red bag off the carousel with ease.

Zachary goes for a layup

Both Zachary and Cody are in the GATE classes at their schools. (Whatever that means. I guess that the curriculum is supposed to be more advanced or more enriched than ordinary classroom programs.) But a major focus in Zachary’s life has always been sports: Taekwondo, soccer, swimming, volleyball and now BASKETBALL. Basketball is Zachary’s favorite sport at school. This summer his coach has him practicing with the high school ninth graders, although they are all taller than he is.
Zachary is also taking advanced woodworking next year.  His shop teacher says he has an extraordinary skill with detail.

He plays ping pong against his dad and brother.

Zachary is also doing things for his family now such as getting the trash out on trash day and washing his mom’s car.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cody.
 
 
Cody (age 9) has always loved video games.  However, playing video games doesn't make interesting copy or photographs.  Here Cody awaits Zachary's serve.
 
 
 
 
 
He is on the subdivision swim team as is Zachary.
Here his dad secures his swim suit.
Both boys won a race  and lost a race at the neighborhood swim meet.
 
 
 
 
 

 

Cody was interested in making a snake out of a tie, a la Alice Baird and Locke.  Above Cody peruses Alice's blog about Locke and making the snake.
 
On the right is Cody with his tie snake  We used a pipe cleaner for the tongue and put the goggle eyes on with rubber cement.  Neither eyes nor tongue stayed put.
 
 
 
 
 Doing Things with  Zach and Cody.

After telling my friends I wasn't focused enough to finish a Monopoly game, I managed to devote  3 hours to a game which Zachary finally won, although I was very happy to come in second as I am usually last.
That's Wade's disembodied hand in the picture.

Mom Joyce took us to the Science Museum in Santa Ana.   Here the kids are in Predators Plaza on a treasure hunt.

 Cody examines a bead sorting machine.

Another day they took me to one of my favorite places:  Huntington Beach.  We ate breakfast at the Sugar Shack (pancakes for me - yum yum) and walked on the pier.

All in all, the whole family spoiled me.
Besides a trip to Huntington Beach, Joyce took me shopping at Westminister Mall, and Zachary helped me pick out a tee while Joyce brought the car around to the mall door (more spoiling). 
While Joyce and the boys went to a family memorial service in Reedley on Saturday, Wade took me to a Cirque de la Symphonie concert with the Pacific Symphony at the amplitheater in Orange County.  The acrobatics who performed to popular classics were thrilling. My favorite act was an acrobat who seemed to fly around the stage with beautiful burgundy curtains fluttering in the wind like wings. I also loved the woman beside me who  cried,  'Wow!  Wow!" as the performers did their tricks.

The Fourth of July in Egypt

This Fourth of July I was looking at pictures I had taken over the years in Egypt. I remembered a number of July Fourths spent in Cairo when we attended the American Embassy sponsored Independence Day celebrations on the Cairo American College campus. (Cairo American College is an international K-12 school, allegedly established by petroleum companies to educate the children of petroleum workers in Egypt. The children of employees of many embassies, including American, attend there. However, the children from East European embassies often attended the school where I taught: The American International School. It was cheaper, although still pretty expensive.)

The celebration took place in Cairo’s summer heat. Cairo Egyptians, those who can, leave for Alexandria in July. Many of my students and their families spent summers touring the States or shopping the capitals of Europe. However, some Americans stayed in Cairo and even went out in the noonday sun, at least on the Fourth of July. Of course, even then we had to go through Security (basically a metal detector) to get into the campus grounds.

For the first few years this celebration was a nostalgic return to Americana. Embassy employees (the men) would grill bratwurst and the embassy women sold acres of homemade apple, cherry (my favorite), a variety of berry pies, as well as coconut and chocolate cream. There were also cakes, breads and cookies. You could buy the whole loaf of banana bread (Egypt has the sweetest bananas in the world), or a dozen cookies and take them home, or just buy one slice of pie. I usually bought a slice of pie, because, as you know, I would be tempted to eat the whole pie by the end of the day, if I took it home.

Here is my water bottle carrier.  My only momento.

There were many tents selling art work, scenes of Egypt, calendars, and books. Egyptians and ex-pats made items such as jewelry, vests, and t-shirts or cylindrical bags for a liter of water with logos commemorating the day and year of celebration.
 For security reasons, we didn’t have fireworks. We would meet a few stalwart friends there. Most young American teachers would have left for the summer. Even teachers who no longer owned homes in the United States would leave soon after July Fourth, if they hadn’t left in June, to spend time with relatives in the USA.

Later the celebrations changed dramatically when KFC, Bascom Robbins, McDonald’s, Chili’s, and other American chains were successfully established in Egypt. On Independence Day, they would set up concessions that were mobbed by the crowds, especially the Egyptian employees of the American Embassy. The concessions quickly ran out of food, and the ice cream was soup. The whole atmosphere was quite commercialized. At this point it became disappointment to attend.

The Two Item Food Rule

Our  Circle of Friends church group of women - older women, because younger women are generally at work or home with children - meet on the fourth Thursday each month, except for November and December, at someone or another’s house. The whole idea is to talk and have an enjoyable time without having to anything to show for it. Generally, the hostess has a number of delicious food selections to offer from dips to fruits in season, cheeses, coffee cakes, bundt cakes, etc.

Several years ago,  my turn to entertain came right after my son, Sharif (in Japan) and his family canceled their plans to come to the USA at the last minute. I had a freezer full of bundt cake, cookies, and coffee cake and I decided to serve all items to my church group. The spread so intimidated them that they made a rule that the hostess should serve only two food items.

Since then, that rule has been violated more than observed, but at least hostesses don’t feel that they have to go 'whole hog' with food. However, this month our member Bonnie totally disregarded both the spirit and letter of the rule. First, she had a huge watermelon carved like a basket containing, of course, watermelon balls.

The jars with red tops contain little lights like fireflies that glitter on the crystals in the jar bottoms. Her table spread included little lemon sandies, little cheese and ham sandwiches, brownie squares with a chocolate filling and spinach cheese balls.

She also served a refreshing watermelon punch.

Also coffee, of course.

A lovely time was had by all.