Carpe Diem

Microadventure #97: San Francisco Bay Area with Jackster

Jack (who I affectionately call, “Jackster”) and I have been friends since both living in H Building of the Tercero Dorms at UC Davis!

For the past few years, whenever I visit Mom in Sacramento, I try to combine it with a quick trip down to the Bay Area to visit Jackster.

Jackster picked me up from the Emeryville Amtrak station and we drove down the coast to beautiful Sausalito!

We walked the iconic streets and stopped to eat at the Barrel House Tavern on the waterfront. This is undoubtedly has made it to the #1 Spot of “Best Restaurant in Sausalito” travel articles.

We ordered up some fancy appetizers and had an outdoor table so we could enjoy the view and catch up in style.

We headed from there to downtown San Francisco where there was a double-70th-birthday party in the works for Jack’s cousin and her husband! This party was like a wedding! The birthday couple owned an Indian restaurant and there was an abundance of yummy dishes, desserts, and drinks!

But best of all, there were lots of happy people! Jackster introduced me to his sister, “Pammy” (I resisted calling her “Pamster,” follow the tradition that Jackster and I have established of adding “ster” to names.).

Jack has often spoken of Pam over the years, so I was happy to finally get to meet her in person. She (along with the rest of his family) were so friendly and welcoming. I felt so lucky and honored to have had that opportunity to be part of such a celebration!

The next morning, “Cafe Jackster” served a delicious breakfast, complete with grits! There was even fruit and yogurt on the side. This meal brought me even more joy than those fancy appetizers we’d had at the Barrel House Tavern!

Jackster was just full of surprises, with the next one being the car that we would be taking for our excursions: A restored 1957 Volkswagen Beetle!

I have to admit, it was crazy to be driving in a car with absolutely no modern-day gadgets! Cars without a line of software? How do they operate? It almost looked like a toy car!

Luckily, Jack is a talented driver and knows how to operate old cars!

We stopped at a place along the Pacific Coast (Maybe JV Fitzgerald Marine Reserve?) and spotted a sea lion on the rocks!

But the highlight of the day was our excursion to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park!

The trees and scenery here were incredible.

Such a fun weekend and it was so thoughtful of Jack to plan so many unexpected surprises! I have a lot to be grateful for.. especially for my wonderful friend, Jackster.

Microadventure #96: Sacramento Zoo with David

David is a super-docent at the Sacramento Zoo

David is one of those rare people who started as a virtual friend and became a friend in real life! We “met” first on a site called “gather.com” before Facebook or Instagram were popular. Gather.com was a site for people who liked to write or post pictures.

I wrote this about David in a blog post back in 2010:

I got to know my friend, David, because he sent in a donation when I was fundraising for Leukemia. I only knew him as a “virtual” friend from a social networking site, but he has been one of the most generous and supportive friends I’ve ever had. It’s those kind of people who I admire beyond words.

I discovered that David lived in Sacramento so we’d met up in person on one of my family visits. In the past few years, I’d noticed that David had been posting incredible pictures of animals at the Sacramento Zoo. One of his many talents is that he’s an amazing photographer!

On my recent visit to Sacramento, I asked David if I could visit him at the zoo. In typical “David style” he took the day off of work and gave me a detailed very informative tour! I thought he’d be volunteering and I’d just be able to see him in passing, but instead, I got what amounted to a VIP pass with the best guide ever!

David knows how gaga I am about flamingos. Even though the flamingos were in quarantine because of an avian flu epidemic, David was tell me a bunch of fun facts about flamingos in this little video:

David is just a wealth of knowledge about all the animals! Never have I had such an informative and fun tour! What a treat! It’s clear that David has such a passion and love of the animals and the Sacramento Zoo. His energy was contagious.

I took a lot of pictures and was impressed with all the anecdotes and fun tidbits of information about the different animal species. When we were looking at the giraffes, David pointed out a pregnant giraffe and pointed out the difference between the coats in the male and female giraffes.

My favorite giraffe, however, is in this picture he posted for Halloween on Facebook!

The Zebra is very interested in this giraffe!

Microadventure #95: Visiting my childhood home in Sacramento with Mom & Neal

I’m way behind on blogging about my Microadventures, but this is an important one! I typically take a trip to Sacramento to visit my Mom at least once a year. She and her parter, Philip, are in their late 80’s and live in the house that I grew up in (starting in 1972 when I was in 6th grade.)

Even though Mom would prefer to stay home than go out on some kind of excursion, I consider myself very lucky to be able to spend time with her in our home that holds so many memories.

Mom and Philip both recently gave up driving and I’m so proud of them for doing that. They both resisted initially and I know that it’s very difficult to be dependent on others. One of the purposes of my visit this time was to try and help make sure they were getting all the help they needed. Philip also had a fall and broke one of his vertebrae so he was getting some physical therapy and was having some mobility challenges.

I’m happy to note that even when I was out there, he was tootling around with his walker. He’s continued to improve and he and Mom are walking regularly in the neighborhood now.

Luckily, my brother, Neal, lives relatively close by and regularly helps Mom and Philip with the house and rides. He also was able to find a wonderful woman who comes regularly and gives Mom and Philip rides to the store and doctor’s appointments.

While I was out visiting, I even went out swing dancing with Neal! This is something I’ve done enough times with Neal that I’m getting to know his swing dance friends, which is very fun.

Swing Dancing with my brother, Neal, is always something I look forward to when I visit Sacramento

I also visited our long-time family friend, Dee, who is almost 90! I blogged about her being in hospice over a year ago. The woman is invincible!

I have my fears about aging and the grief I’ll feel when I lose people I love. However, I’ve learned that it’s more important than ever to savor the time I do have with the people I love. Seeing how Mom and Dee handle aging with such grace inspires me. I’m so glad to have these role models to remind me of the beauty of living life fully at every age.

Microadventure #94: Red Feather Lakes Retreat with Jill, Cathy, Shari, and Sonja

My friend, Jill, has a beautiful second home which she refers to as her “cabin.” I put the word “cabin” in quotes because cabins are usually small and her house is more like a luxury vacation home!

Jill generously invited our whole GGG (Girls Gathering Greatly) group to enjoy a weekend retreat at her place! Those of us who could make it were in for a treat!

I’d been particularly stressed over some family illnesses and drama. I was worried that I’d be distracted and bad company, but getting away with trusted girlfriends was exactly what I needed! I’m so grateful to have such supportive friends!

We had some beautiful hikes, delicious food, and deep conversations. Last year, Cathy and I also enjoyed a getaway weekend at Jill’s.

Getting off the grid with girlfriends is such a joy and a boost to my mental health. I’m so grateful to Jill for sharing this priceless sanctuary and to all my friends for their support and friendship.

Microadventure #93: Rebecca’s Wedding

Weddings are my favorite type of celebration! Even better, when the bride is one of my best friends.

I met Rebecca at least 20 years ago at Toastmasters when we were both married. We went through our divorces at about the same time and were newly single women, navigating our way through the dating world in our 40’s.

Rebecca met Mitchell in about 2007 – 15 years ago! Mitchell was in his 50’s and had never been married! (This is often a “red flag” in the world of dating.) In fact, Rebecca had often told me that they’d “never get married.”

However, over the years, they were progressively more of a serious couple – living together for the last several years. But still, it was a surprise to me when Rebecca told me earlier this year that they’d decided to get married after all!

At the reception, her daughters remembered the night they were told about the engagement. When they asked Mitchell “Why now?” he replied, “After 15 years, it’s about time!”

The ceremony was gorgeous in their backyard on a beautiful day. Rebecca was escorted by her daughters, all three of them looking stunning in their flowered gowns. Mitchell was escorted by his two sisters and also looked happy. At age 70, his first marriage!

Though I’m very happily single, I couldn’t help but feel a bit inspired at the thought of marriage at this stage of life. We are wiser and have retirement days to look forward to. Both Rebecca and Mitchell are very healthy and active and now have the security of knowing they will be with each other always.

I know I’ve often heard the argument (and even thought it myself) that marriage is “just a piece of paper.” It doesn’t change how you feel about one another.

But I talked to Rebecca recently and she said she feels different since the wedding. Marriage does make a difference. The life-long commitment, the sacred vows we take in front of friends and family, that pledge of love — it makes a difference!

Maybe it’s time to get back on match.com! Or not. As I discovered at my 50th birthday party, no need to get married to celebrate love!

Microadventure #92: Soap Making Class

Soap Making Class courtesy of BVSD Lifelong Learning and Courageoussoap.com

One of the best things about this stage of life is that classes are pure fun with no pressure, tests, or stress!

I especially enjoy the adult education classes that we can attend in person now that Covid is no longer a threat, so when I saw a 3-hour soap-making class offered by BVSD Lifelong Learning, I jumped on it!

The soaps are so beautiful and, even though I’ve never considered myself naturally artistic, I’ve been embracing a “growth mindset,” realizing that it’s good for our brains to learn new skills! The lower our skill level, the bigger opportunity for improvement, right?

Actually, after taking the class, I realize the skills required have more to do with chemistry, perhaps, than art. Actually, it was much like cooking – starting with a recipe that could be adjusted based on many factors.

Lisa from courageoussoap.com demonstrates blending of oils

Our instructor, Lisa, owner of courageoussoap.com, stepped us through the creation of a three-oil Peppermint Ice soap.

The ingredients needed to be measured to the gram and mixed when they were the right temperatures. A peppermint scent was added to give the soap its distinctive fragrance.

Lye is used for the cold-process soap we were making, and because it can be dangerous to work with, we were wearing long sleeves, pants, goggles, masks, gloves, and closed-toes shoes!

Lisa said when she asks her students if they’re going to make their own soap after class, and they often say.. well.. no.. They’re scared of the lye.

I have to admit, I’m in the, “I’m not gonna lye” camp myself.

Lisa reassured us that as long as you cover up and are careful, it’s not that worrisome. My reluctance is also due to my realization that investing in a new soap-making hobby is a bad idea right now when I’m trying to downsize. The fear of lye just helped make that decision a little easier for me.

We took turns with the various stages of measuring, mixing, and pouring. I especially enjoyed the final stages where we added the tints that would create the designs. The blues were brilliant and the gold sparkled as though there were actual flecks of real gold in this royal-looking soap!

Soap in the mold with the tints swirled in a top design.

Soap needs time to cure, so we didn’t get to take home the actual soap that we made that night. However, we did each get to take home a bar made from the same recipe.

Lisa offered kits with pre-measured ingredients for those who wanted to try it themselves at home.

Pre-measured kits and recipes from courageoussoap.com

Even though I decided not to make my own at home, I’m so glad I got to experience and learn about this unique and beautiful art!

Microadventure #91: Into the Woods at Arvada Center for the Arts with Reneya

Reneya and me at “Into the Woods” performance at Arvada Center for he Arts

One shared passion I have with my granddaughter, Reneya, is a love of Musical Theater. I’m so excited that she not only loves being in the audience, but she’s a very talented performer! I can’t wait to see her future performances!

In the mean time, it’s fun to be able to share being in the audience at a professional theater production! For her 11th birthday last month, I gave her tickets to see “Into the Woods” at the Arvada center for the Arts.

I got two tickets for the very front row. Front row seats are not desirable in a movie theater, so I was a little nervous about whether or not it would be hard for us to see being so close up. As it turned out, it was amazing to be so close up that at times, it almost seemed that the actors were talking right to us!

“She’s really crying!” Reneya whispered to me, when we could literally see the tears in Cinderella’s eyes. “She’s a really good actress!” As a budding actress, herself, Reneya notices these things.

Reneya in front of the “Into the Woods” stage.

I loved being close enough to take in all the intricate details of the stage setting and the glimmering costumes. We love the special effects and the creativity that’s involved in getting just the right props, costumes, lighting, and music to set the scenes of the story.

Usually, when I’m going to a professional production at a big theater, I’m so far in the back, I can hardly see anything without binoculars. What a treat to be up front!

“Into the Woods” was also the perfect musical for us because both Reneya and I really like stories that use classic fairy tale characters as back story. She introduced me to the Descendants movies and The Land of Stories book series.

<Spoiler Alert> If you haven’t seen “Into the Woods” and don’t want any spoilers, skip to the <End Spoiler Alert>

Neither of us had seen “Into the Woods” and when the first act ended, all the conflicts were wrapped up so neatly that we both thought the play was over! However, the second act surprised us with it’s unpredictable plot lines! It was a definite deviation from traditional fairy tale, giving it some unexpected depth (and unexpected death.)

Though darker than Disney, we’re reminded that anything can happen in story.. villains might be heroes, what we assume is good, might be bad. And even though it’s not Disney, the dead can come back to life and take part in the happy ending finale, so still appropriate for children. I’d give it a PG rating or maybe even PG13 – not because it’s inappropriate for children, but because of the mature ideas and thinking the second act requires.

The lyrics, by Stephen Sondheim, were incredible in their complexity and substance! As musicals often are, most of the script was in song, but many of these songs had thought-provoking lyrics.

An example is from the second act, Your Fault / The Last Midnight, where the characters are blaming one another for their current predicament, and the Evil Witch reminds them that good or bad, action must be taken.

<End Spoiler Alert>

Coincidentally, the Musical Theater group that I performed with last summer is having a Stephen Sondheim performance this coming up Sunday, so it’s great that I was exposed to more of his music. My good friend, Becky, suggested reading the Sondheim Wikipedia page, and I see his musical genius is more than I’d realized! There are a lot of musicals I’ll be putting on my list to watch!

Microadventure #90: Camping at RMNP with JJ

Cub Lake – Rock Mountain National Park

One of the things I’ve had on my list to do since turning 62 has been to get a Lifetime National Park Pass! Yes, one of the benefits of getting older is taking advantage of senior discounts, and when you turn 62, you’re eligible to get this lifetime pass for free entrance to any US National Park!

I also bought one of those passport books, so I could keep track of all my National Park visits. Too bad I don’t have stamps for all the parks I’ve already visited. I don’t mind starting over again and revisiting those I’ve seen before, though, starting with the park I’ve been to most often: Rocky Mountain National Park.

My first passport stamp and the Visitor’s Center at Rocky Mountain National Park

Even though I’ve been to RMNP several times before, I’ve never gone camping there… until this week! In fact, I hadn’t been camping since my divorce, almost 20 years ago!

I was very excited that my long-time friend, JJ, had offered to go with me and provide all the camping gear for this microadventure. I, of course, brought my very inefficiently-packed “stuff” so we had a carload to unpack and then pack up again. We were prepared!

Lots of gear for our one night of camping!

We even had two big coolers full of food for one dinner and one breakfast. Boy, did we feast!

We’d timed our visit with the Harvest Full Moon — a couple days short, but close enough to look beautiful and light up the sky.

As often happens in Colorado, we went from unseasonably hot to unseasonably cold overnight. We were prepared for it all! (Packing all that stuff paid off!)

It rained throughout the night and we heard the high-pitched cries of the elk, but we were cozy, bundled up in sleeping bags and blankets.

We were able to get in a good 5-mile out-and-back hike to Cub Lake, despite the cool, damp weather.

The misty weather gave a kind of ethereal effect to our surroundings, as though we were in another world. It was surprising that there were so few people around.

We saw both the last signs of the summer wildflowers and the beginnings of the fall colors. Even though we’d had a big rainfall overnight, we didn’t have any mud or bad weather on our hike.

When we got to the lake, it was filled with lily pads and quite beautiful!

I’m always amazed at how gorgeous nature is.. I know hard-working humans help with creating the paths and laying the groundwork for the trails, too. We were noticing the work it must have taken people to line the trails with boulders.

It was the perfect hike – just the right length, with a variety of scenery and picture-worthy stops.

In a short 24 hours we were able to experience all the wonderfulness of camping at Rocky Mountain National Park!

Microadventure #89: Santa School Graduation with Michael Bolé

“You’re gonna love it! It’s right up your alley! And I can guarantee, you’ve never done this before.”

Those were my only clues from my friend, Michael Bolé, about our surprise Microadventure event that we enjoyed last night.

My Mystery Microadventure started with dinner, courtesy of the generous Michael Bolé

Michael had told me that a friend of his from Ohio would be in from out of town and that he would treat me to dinner first at a Panera that was close to the event in NorthGlenn.

The mystery Microadventure was already a favorite, just by virtue of the fact that it was a surprise! I love surprises!

So it should be no surprise that I also love the magic of Christmas and Santa Claus!

When we got to the hotel and saw Santas roaming around, the mystery was revealed! We were going to see the Santa School Class of 2022 Graduation Ceremony! Michael’s friend, Kevin, was one of the new Santa Graduates!

New Santa Kevin O’Brien with Santa School Founder, Susen Mesco

This was no typical Graduation ceremony. The Santas and several Mrs. Claus’s proudly entered the auditorium to the tune of “Here Comes Santa Claus” ringing their bells, and laughing with their hearty Ho Ho Ho’s.

These Santas had real beards and gorgeous velvet suits. They were authentic! They each looked like they stepped right out of a greeting card.

The ceremony was fun and entertaining! The Santas recited “The Night Before Christmas,” we sang “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.”

We also learned a North Pole Dance, the “Ho Ho, Pokey.” Two notes:

This was Michael’s first experience with “Pole” Dancing.
Our friend, Adam, thought this event would be too “Hokey” for his tastes. The “Ho Ho” is on him, because the Hokey was completely removed.

Michael told me about the movie, Becoming Santa, a documentary which features someone who went to this Denver Santa school. It’s available on Prime Video, so after I got home last night, I watched the movie. I learned so much more about the history of Santa Claus and what it takes to be a Santa Claus.

I remembered a time when my kids were young and we ran across a Santa on our summer vacation wearing shorts. He was very recognizable, though, with his belly and beard. We were all enamored and he even had candy canes on him for the kids. He must have been a graduate from a Santa School, and had become a year-round “real” Santa.

I felt a little jealous, wishing I could become a Santa. I know there were Mrs. Claus’s at the graduation, and I considered going to the school to learn about being Mrs. Claus, but let’s face it… whoever heard of a single Mrs. Claus? Santa’s really the main event. That’s OK. I can still get a pretty Mrs. Claus costume.

What a unique and very fun Microadventure! Thanks to Michael and Congratulation to new Santa Kevin! May he bring Christmas magic to us all for many years to come!

Microadventure #88: Reunion with HH Gang at The Keg in Lakewood

Kay, Deborah, Ravi, and me at the Keg in Lakewood, CO – Sept.2, 2022

The 5th Member of our HH Gang, Keith – via FaceTime from Folsom, CA

Twenty or so years ago, when we were all working at Sun Microsystems, I’d get a common email on Friday afternoon that would say something like: “HH at Village Tavern this week?”

“HH” stood for “Happy Hour” and our little group of 5, Kay, Keith, Deborah, Ravi, and I, would enjoy an end-of-week respite at a local area bar.

These Happy Hours were filled with a lot of laughter and (maybe a little too much) drinking. I always looked forward to this weekly Friday ritual. We even had a big adventure trip to Las Vegas, in 2002. (I’d say more here, but What Happened in Vegas, Stayed in Vegas!)

We were an unlikely and diverse group of friends.. almost 30 years difference between the youngest (Ravi) and the oldest (Kay). Keith stood at least a foot taller than the rest of us. They were all coders and I was a manager. (Luckily, they didn’t hold that against me.)

Ravi, who had immigrated from India, was.. and still is… one of my favorite people in the whole world. We all went to see his baby girl the day she was born and now she’s a beautiful young adult. I think Kay (and her husband, Walt) taught Ravi to ski and we all got together for skiing, golf, hockey (Keith and Ravi played) or skating.

Keith, the only single one amongst us back then, would entertain us with his single-life dating stories. I remember Ravi once said something about Keith not wanting to date anyone with too much ‘luggage’! (Yeah, those language gaffes were the best! Ravi still is so funny and innocently cracks us all up!)

Kay was a sky-diver and adventurer. Deborah was super-classy and sassy! Keith was a confident jokester. And Ravi was naive and lovable.

Over time, Keith got married to Yolanda, and I got divorced. There were moves and job changes, family responsibilities. Happy hours became few and far between.

2010 – At my 50th birthday party in 2010 – Deborah, Keith, Yolanda, Ravi, me, and Kay

Though our regular Happy Hours stopped many years ago, we occasionally kept in touch. The last time we were all together may have been in 2010 at my 50th birthday party.

Keith and Yolanda moved to Arizona and then to Folsom, California. Deborah had a baby and moved to Highlands Ranch so Happy Hour wasn’t much of an option for her anymore either.

I tried to get together with Ravi at least once a year for his birthday in August. This year, I suggested we try to get the HH Gang back together and have a FaceTime call to Keith.

Our reunion was so wonderful. Even though the call with Keith was short, he said he’d be in Colorado later this year, and we could maybe get us all together in person.

Kay, Deborah, Ravi, and I reminisced, laughed, and shared stories of the many years that had passed and the changes that we’d all been through.

Deborah still had her half of the $5 bill we split at the end of our Vegas trip

At the end of our 2002 Vegas Trip, Deborah and I split a $5 bill with the thought that one day we’d all go back to Vegas, tape together the two halves, and gamble our lucky $5 (Was the plan Black Jack or Roulette? I can’t remember.)

Well, Deborah is more organized than I am and had her half of the $5. Not me. I can’t even find the CD I’d put together or a single picture from our Vegas trip! (This has me quite upset, but I’ll resist ranting about it on this blog post.)

I have to admit, our reunion brought up a lot of nostalgic feelings for me. This little group of friends was with me to help me through a very difficult time of my life – the year I was going through my divorce. They each are so unique and different from one another, but together, we were the “HH Gang”.. a group of friends that I will forever hold dear in my heart.