A Respite from the Usual Fray

A belated happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. If you can step back from the corporate commercial side of the holiday season, this time of year is filled with a combination of busy time preparing for family and friends visits and quiet time as we reflect on and appreciate all that is good in our lives. My week "off" from teaching this Thanksgiving week was just that. I chose not to get caught up in the big spending push of "Black Friday" and all that ensues. Instead, I chose to use this time for rest, spending snippets of time with my adult children, tend to a few piles of accumulated stuff at home, and take many walks in this unseasonably warm weather. 

Tomorrow, the work fray continues..........

Here are a few quick snap scenes from my week:

 <--------The Automotive Museum in San Diego, California. My son wanted to visit this during our day at Balboa Park. Me? Not so much. But, since he appeased me by allowing me a few hours at the Museum of Photographic Arts, I obliged and was pleasantly surprised. In this shot is Louie Mattar's Fabulous Car that made 2 non stop long distance drives in the mid 1950's. This car could change a tire, refuel, change oil, do laundry, cook, had a toilet and shower, tv/radio, wet bar....all the comforts of home without ever stopping! In the 1950s no less! It even had a hookah. Interesting.


I see this bridge every time I walk from where I stay, around the bay, to the other side where my favorite cafe for morning coffee is. It goes across Mission Bay to Pacific Beach --------------------------------------->


<---------------Soaking up the lush green surrounds while in San Diego. It does a desert dwelling body good.






My hike yesterday was on my favorite trail out of Black Rock Canyon in Joshua Tree National Park. This is the Panorama Loop Trail with vistas galore. The view below is looking north back down the trail. We were probably 3 1/2 miles into the hike. It was warmer than usual for late November. Sweating is a good thing, right?

 This is the top of the ridge. A hard hike up, up, up. You can see my valley town in the distance.


And here the terrain changes back to pinion pine, joshua trees, and scrub oak as we happily descend back to the trail head.  Nothing like a heart pumping hike to balance out all the holiday splurging - not on Black Friday deals but on great company and scrumptious food.......


I hope you and yours, wherever you are, enjoyed the warmth of family, friendship, and simpler times.

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