Foggy Day

• Fog reachs our altitude (1500')
• It's a "burn day"; Jonathan & I get a great bonfire roaring in the southwest corner.

• In the quiet after sundown, Jonathan and I work on supper, Celtic music on the radio, cat begs food -- magical moment.
• Rena reads a piece in WSJ on "Chinese Parenting" and gets weepy and agitated, remembering growing up during Cultural Revolution.
• Tried watching 1968 Bob Hope "Eight on the Lam" but it was unbearable -- Phyllis Diller, polyester hip ambience.   Settle on a 1941 Jimmy Stewart "Pot of Gold" (musical!)

Friday January 7

• Drive Mary to playdate with Shea and encounter thick fog 5 minutes from home. It's quite startling: warm, blue sky one moment, cold, thick soup the next.

• A Gold Rush cemetery

• Mary took my camera and the girls took pictures of one another

• On the way back, emerging from the fog, someone is selling alpacas on the roadside!

• It's a "No Burn Day", so Jonathan and I spend afternoon cutting and collecting wood.
• Movie: Bob Hope in "Casanova's Big Night" -- lots of fun

Wednesday January 5

• Morning walk with the kids...

• it feels like Spring already

• A hummingbird in January!  I'm afraid he won't survive.

• Beside the creek, a willow jumps the gun.

Beautiful Day

Burn Day
Area close to house...

Is there anything sweeter than working outdoors with a son?

IKEA

Christmas vacation is a long 3 weeks and the kids are growing antsy.  I distract them with a trip to the big city!

 

Sacramento is only a half-hour drive but we never find a need to go there.  Our excuse today is visiting the Ikea store.

The capital of California is actually a small cowtown, a little bump in the distance as you descend the foothills into the broad flat Central Valley.

It feels about the size of Birmingham or Jacksonville.

We have a great time people watching and looking at the clever designs.

We buy nothing but frozen meatballs that we bring back home and cook.