Christmas and New Year in Southern Calif

December 31, 2011 and January 1, 2012

Saugus (Santa Clarita), California

What a phenomenal way to end the year.  The azure sky is overhead, honey bees are in the eucalyptus tree, the avocados are ready for us to pick to ripen on the counter, the breeze is gentle, the temperature is in the low 80’s (with even lower humidity), birds are chirping in the beautiful rose bushes and Calvin is becoming quite adept with the pogo stick Santa brought him.  I would never have thought that on New Year’s Eve I would ever be sitting outside typing to you.

It’s been two weeks since I last typed a blog.  A belated Merry Christmas to you and our best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.   We have had so much fun with our children and grandchildren during this time.  Family is so precious and time spent with them during this special season of the year is a huge part of what Christmas is all about and we wanted to spend our time with them first, you just a little behind them!

We arrived here on December 16, a Friday afternoon and spent a good bit of Saturday just relaxing and feasting our eyes on our gorgeous daughter and her handsome family.  How very blessed we are!

On the last Sunday of Advent we attended Valencia United Methodist Church.  It was a celebration of pure joy.  The children’s choir sang, the youth choir sang, the adult choir sang, we sang, scripture was read, special music was played and then a choir I’ve never heard before played.   Guitar, accordion, flute, drums and other percussion instruments, violins and trumpets (many of the members work in Hollywood in the music area, some on set design and in photography) and they prepared the visual aids and played for the choirs as they sang.  The most unusual musical rendition was from the I-pad band.  Four members of the church, each using a different instrument application, played  “Canon of the Bells” on I-pads.  It was awesome and astonished just about everyone who heard it.   My mind was just singing away, “Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells…”  The sermon centered on the shepherds and asked if they knew it was Christmas.  Each week in Advent the sermons centered around different aspects of the Christmas story and each asked, “Did they know it was Christmas?”  The Sr. minister is an NC State graduate and his parents live in Southport!  How’s that for a connection?  The associate pastor is Korean.  It was a treat for Dan and me to be there.  We were in the minority…age wise, that is, for the first time in quite a while.  This church is composed of many different races and also has a huge outreach program, not only in the California area, but in Nicaragua as well.  The minister and about 25 others  are  going there in January or February to dedicate the high school that was built with the help of the Valencia congregation.  They also sponsor a winter homeless shelter in Santa Clarita and hope to have it up and running year round by the end of 2012.  The congregation if heavily involved in  both  youth and adult rehabilitation centers.

On the way to the beach at Carpentaria, we passed fields of green…sod, broccoli, and fennel.  We passed groves of oranges, lemons, avocados, pistachios, and limes.  How does one know when a lime is ripe and ready to be picked?  Acres are covered in palm trees of different kinds and then there are fruit stands with wonderful produce.  Fresh butternut squash, coconuts, oranges, zucchini, California dates and honey of all kinds are for sale in the fruit and vegetable stands that line the roads.  Behind the green fields and nurseries of tropical plants and mountains were patches of green.  They’re not patches!  They are citrus groves that are planted in tiers on the sides of the mountains.  All this we saw on the way to the beach.  Walking in the sand, rolling down dunes, playing with other children on the swings and sliding boards set up nearby was fun.  As we were leaving, Kryn spotted a pod of porpoise rolling in the calm, deep blue waters of the Pacific.  The ride down is along the coast and I was so glad that I could watch the scenery while Kathryn drove.  To the left I could see the ocean; to the right the Sierra Madres! What a fantastic world of wonders we have to enjoy!

One of the major presents Chelsea said she wanted for Christmas was a peacock.  While the back yard here is large by California standards, it is not very large to us.  The next day found us down pass Pasadena and very close to the city of Los Angeles where we stopped at an arboretum in Arcadia.  Unfortunately it was closed because of all the damage it sustained by the 100 mph Santa Anna winds a week or so earlier.  The good part, however, was that the peacocks that roam freely in the arboretum were all over the entry way and we took picture after picture of the peacocks and pea hens along with a solitary guinea hen.  They were all outdoing each other with their calls.  If you have never heard any of their melodious screeches, you should/could/ought ’a  be thankful!  The highlight of this particular visit was that one of the peacocks ate from Chelsea’s hand.  Talk about excitement and one excited and happy five year old.  Hugs and kisses for Uncle Kryn abounded!

At the Christmas Eve service, Kathryn, Karl, Calvin and Chelsea were invited to light the advent wreath and light the Christ candle at the five o’clock service.   They also had a 7, 9, and 11 service.  Of course, Kryn, Dan and I beamed when they lighted the candles.  Our tradition is to have Chinese on Christmas Eve.  That started in Goldsboro when we got home too late and we were too hungry to wait for the mother of the family to cook the meal, so we ordered from our favorite Chinese restaurant and the tradition was begun. 

Christmas Day was filled with unwrapping packages, checking out stockings, squeals of excitement and laughter.   Junnie has been thinking he was a present all the time.  Either he’s been thinking that or he’s been thinking,  “If I hide under the tree maybe no one will see me and make me put on that terrible harness and leash.”  He has gotten along really well with the “alpha” house cat of the Fiebich’s.   Jimmy (who is about nine years old) has been very tolerant of the young upstart.   Junnie follows him around like a little puppy.  Only once has Jimmy had to raise one of his polydactyl paws towards Junnie and Junnie retreated, hastily!   Church service Christmas Day was at 1 pm and the sermon was…Do YOU know it’s Christmas?”  

Our friends, Amy and Thomas from San Francisco, came to spend Christmas with us, so they were here for our Christmas Eve meal as well and our Irish Christmas dinner.  Calvin and Chelsea asked for Corned beef, I asked for colcannon, and Kryn wanted carrots and pineapple.  We all wanted Kath’s homemade apple pie!  What a feast we had.

Kryn, Karl, Calvin and Chelsea went to the mountains one day hoping to have a snowball fight.  Unfortunately, no new snow had fallen.  Dan and I were in search of tires for the truck.  We realized, (and Dan’s brother confirmed) we had enough tread to make it out here, but not to make it home safely.  We were spending Dec. 26 in search of tires.  We finally decided to get them from Sears.  That way if we need to have any adjustments or anything else done,  Sears  is usually nearby.  Unfortunately Kryn had to leave Tuesday morning.  I really miss him when he’s not around.  It’s so very nice having everyone around.

So far this week, we’ve had everyone over to our camper for a couple of lunches and one more additional pool time.  I’ve never had the opportunity to go swimming three times during Christmas week.  It is our understanding that the weather back home is nice and warm, too.  It’s always a wild guess as to what Christmas in Beaufort will be.  The range of weather keeps us from thinking the season will be the same from year to year.

We celebrated the New Year at 9 pm here.  It’s midnight where our home is and the perfect time for little one to be able to join the festivities with us.

While on the road, I have received word though, that a friend of mine that I’ve had since I peeped around my Daddy’s legs when he delivered medicine to her home when we were both three, and she was peeking at me from behind her mother’s skirt had died December 18^th.  We even went to graduate school together and she was our maid of honor at our Bloomington, In.   Bronna entered this world on May 18^th, exactly two months to the day before I entered and returned home on the 18^th of Dec.  She fought a noble battle against Plu Parkinson’s plus.  At least that’s how we spoke about it.  This was the most virulent form of Parkinson’s there is and she bore the disease for 6 years with the dignity she exhibited all her life.  I will miss her greatly, yet I am so relieved she is no longer in such horrible pain.

I suspect I won’t be back on line until we head back across country Tuesday. the third of January.  We have friends to see in the Phoenix area, I want to see the Alamo, maybe, friends in La, and family in Georgia.  There’s no telling when we’ll get home, but know that you are loved and prayed for each day.  We’re having a wonderful trip and time.

Have a wonderful New Year,

Triple Travel Troopers