It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I love Christmas -- the lights, decorations, cards, gifts, cookies, music and gathering with loved ones. And THE COLOR!

Even the T. rex in front of McDonald's in Tucson is getting into the spirit.

I'm one of those people who actually loves to write a holiday newsletter and add handwritten notes in each one -- all 70 this year, down from 100 in some years. I've moved around so much that I have friends and family all over the country, and I always look forward to catching up with them through holiday cards. I display them all over the house and truly treasure them.

I bought the cactus cards months ago when I saw them at a local gift shop, and this year I bought snow globe and piñata stamps.

Since I moved away from December's rain and snow, I've been decorating my yuccas with ornaments without having to worry about them getting ruined by bad weather.

My neighbors REALLY got into outdoor decorating this year. They used a cherry picker yesterday to raise a worker high, high, high and wind lights around some very tall trees. For perspective, those are the tops of big RV trailers that are dwarfed by the trees! This was the site that greeted me when I went out before sunrise to take out the garbage this morning. (We can't put it out the night before because the javelinas might get into it.)

I'm almost done making/buying and wrapping gifts, most of which I have to box up and send far and wide. Because most of my gifts get mailed, I have to get a jump on them. I can't wait until the week before Christmas to do my shopping.

 My rotary cutter is perfect for cutting wrapping paper (I use a separate one just for paper). The wrapping and ribbons are sharing space with this pile of fabric that's being turned into a special gift.

I put my skinny tree up last weekend and it really brightens up the corner. I don't have room for a fuller tree.

I decorate it mainly with homemade ornaments that each carry a special memory.

 

I also collect ornaments with the string that you can pull to move the arms and legs. I've had the little girl below since I was young, but I pulled the cord so many times over the decades that it finally broke.

And candles! Candles everywhere, battery operated so I don't have to worry about fires.

After I get the letters all written and the packages in the mail I can turn to baking. That's the dangerous part! I hope all of you are enjoying yourselves in whatever way you prepare for the holidays.

Have a colorful day

Thankful for book club

On the heels of my literary post yesterday and the day before Thanksgiving, I thought I'd post some pictures of my book club because I haven't done that in awhile and I'm very thankful for having them as friends.

A few days after last week's meeting, we reconvened at Tohono Chul (above) to celebrate Beth's big birthday. Those pretty pink drinks are prickly pear lemonade. 

And at book club, we celebrated our November birthdays for Beth and Barb with a scrumptious German chocolate cake ...

... a little wine ...

... gin and tonic in Barb's "water" bottle ...

... and, not to be outdone, 

Meegan's salad dressing!

Our book for the month was "The Only Woman In the Room" by Marie Benedict. It wasn't available at my library until the day before book club, so I still haven't read it but I'm starting it tonight. Here's a synopsis from Goodreads:

"She was beautiful. She was genius. Could the world handle both? A novel about Hedy Lamar.

"Hedy Kiesler is lucky. Her beauty leads to a starring role in a controversial film and marriage to a powerful Austrian arms dealer, allowing her to evade Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent. At lavish Vienna dinner parties, she overhears the Third Reich's plans. One night in 1937, desperate to escape her controlling husband and the rise of the Nazis, she disguises herself and flees her husband's castle. 

"She lands in Hollywood, where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star. But Hedy is keeping a secret even more shocking than her Jewish heritage: she is a scientist. She has an idea that might help the country and that might ease her guilt for escaping alone -- if anyone will listen to her."

Tomorrow, five of us from book club are celebrating Thanksgiving together. This is probably going to happen next:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Steinbeck, Miller, and Dennis the Menace

My trip to California had a literary twist, which linked John Steinbeck, Henry Miller, and Dennis the Menace. I'll start with Steinbeck, who grew up in Salinas, CA, and wrote about the surrounding area. 

We spent several hours at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas soaking up film clips, quotes, and memorabilia. Here's the actual camper truck that took him around the country in 1960 for the trip he wrote about in "Travels With Charley." You can see Charley, his poodle, looking out the window.

There were settings for many of his stories, including this one for "East of Eden." It was fascinating to see the stories come to life.

Afterward, we had lunch at Steinbeck's childhood home. We talked with one of the docents in the room (below) where Steinbeck was born. It was his parents bedroom at that time.

Next up was a tour of the old Pacific Biological Laboratories in nearby Monterey, home and workplace of the Steinbeck character "Doc." Doc, made famous in the 1945 book "Cannery Row," is based on Steinbeck's good friend Ed Ricketts, who lived in the lab. The short story "The Snake" also takes place in the lab.

Ricketts was a marine biologist, ecologist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the study of intertidal ecology. His lab was positioned to give him direct access to the bay's tide pools, above. The back of the building, below, leads to the bay, and the cement tanks are where he kept the ocean animals he was studying.

Visitors could pore over the books on his shelves and look at some of his hand written notes.

 

The lab building is where Ricketts and Steinbeck planned their 1940 voyage to Baja California's Sea of Cortez, a trip that led to "The Log from the Sea of Cortez." 

An extra bonus for us was that their boat, the "Western Flyer," had just been refurbished and returned to the Monterey waterfront the day before our arrival and we got to see it (below)! It arrived in a boat parade to crowds of people, speeches and other festivities that we just missed.

Years after Ricketts died, the lab was purchased by some Monterey men as their private club in order to save it from being destroyed of redeveloped. They each had their own liquor stash above the bar for their meetings. The members included artists, cartoonists (including Hank Ketchum, who wrote "Dennis the Menace"), politicians, judges, and doctors who maintained it much as Doc had left it. The club, real movers and shakers, started the Monterey Jazz Festival, which is still going strong.

And speaking of Ketchum, he designed the Dennis the Menace Playground in Monterey, which we also visited. It opened in 1956 and includes a boat that I think resembles the "Western Flyer."

The last literary site we visited was the Henry Miller Memorial Library on Big Sur, just down the road from Monterey. Miller hung in some of the same circles as Steinbeck.

It's in the building where one of Miller's friends lived and turned it into a memorial when Miller died. Giant redwoods surround the library (and book store), and the grounds are filled with quirky art.

This dog looked so regal on the old sofa under a tree hung with books protected by plastic cases.

Inside was plastered with posters of events related to Miller.

The Miller place was fun, but it's Steinbeck who is all over Monterey. This parting shot is a sculpture of Steinbeck (with the seagull perched on his head) and some of the characters from his books.

Have a colorful day

Beautiful beaches on my California trip

Carmel Beach

We visited a string of beaches on our California trip -- from Pismo through Carmel, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. I loved them all, but my favorite was Carmel for its wide soft sandy expanse and its background beauty of cypress trees. We saw a lot of happy dogs on this beach.

Pt. Lobos

The views of the water from Pt. Lobos State Natural Reserve, also in Carmel, are breathtaking, with the water colors ranging from light aqua to turquoise to a deep cobalt blue. In contrast to gentle waves on the sandy Carmel Beach, the ocean here crashes against high rocky cliffs topped with gnarled cypress trees.

Pismo Beach

 

The busiest beach we visited was Pismo -- probably because it was a warm, sunny Sunday. Here we saw surfers, waders, walkers, sand castle builders, even horses.

Santa Cruz boardwalk and beach

The famed Santa Cruz Boardwalk, with its carnival rides and bright splashy colors, was like a ghost town. We had it practically to ourselves on a sunny weekday morning.

We spent hours wandering along the boardwalk and wide beach and watching the shore birds and noisy sea lions.

Later we came back for a fish dinner at Woodie's on the wharf with a great sunset view from our table.

Monterey Bay waterfront

The waterfront here was full of boats and people. A little crowd of us watched these sea otters rolling in the water. 

Sea otter fact: Instead of blubber, sea otters have the densest fur of any mammal, about a million hairs per square inch. An undercoat and longer top coat trap air, preventing water from ever touching their skin. But the otters must spend hours a day grooming their coats to keep it in good condition.

 

One sunny morning we boarded the Princess Monterey for a whale watching trip ...

... only to be engulfed by fog and frigid wind as soon as we headed out to sea. Can you tell we're cold?

But somehow the boat's captain and naturalist found this humpback whale and her baby sleeping at the surface. We watched for quite awhile before heading back toward shore and away from the fog. On the way we got a closeup view of the barking sea lions that blend in with the rocks. Most of the sea lions we saw were males. The females stay elsewhere, according to our naturalist, but I can't remember where.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

This place is amazing! It was my third time there in about 25 years, and it just gets better and better. We spent six hours wandering through the exhibits of everything from sharks to jellyfish to shore birds.

View from a deck at the aquarium.

This shore bird wasn't shy! A favorite spot for me was behind the glass as big waves crashed over me and into a tide pool. I easily could've spent a few more hours there, but it was nearing closing time so we headed out with some good memories.

Have a colorful day