Merry Christmas, once again!

Merry Christmas!

Jesse, the Grandson, 12/23/10

Even the cat can be "exhausted" during the rush to the shopping malls.

Have a great Christmas! The celebration of the birth of Christ starts today....that means the tree, the lights, the celebration continues for days to come! Yes!

--Dan

Photos from my Dad...

May, 1951, Inchon, Korea. The tide is out, this Japanese LST is high and dry.

My Dad, right, Korea. He also served in WWII.

Cruz is turning...50!

My sweet, sweet, wife...she is, on Sunday, 10/17/10,.....50!

Yay, for her!

At bottom...too hard to edit for proper form, here...

December, 1984, Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans, in the swamps and bayous. Those two "other" folks, are my own dear Mother's Mom and Dad.

Thank you to those that wished her a happy birthday on the last post before this one.

Cruz and her Mom, who she lost in 1977.

The outside new Orleans photo. She was pregnant....we did not know yet. Our first was to come, we then have the grandboy, today.

--Dan

December, 1986, Morro Bay, California

I just dug this one up....it is very cool, and I love it! We are on a boat in the harbor, approaching the open sea....but NOT getting to the edge of the breakwater...Morro Bay has a history of being a very, very, difficult place to enter and exit the bay. We were safe, it was just a tour. It was wet, it was cold, it was....COOL! We don't do this no more....wish we could....Cruz...she is absolutely lovely!

--Dan

My Mother's birthday is Oct. 16...

We lost her in 1962. Here she is with my oldest brother, Francis Jr. , late 1940's.

Me, with my Grandparents, my Mom's Mom and Dad, 1980, near New Orleans, La.

Mom would have been 85 , on 10/16/10.

Mom would have LOVED the Grandboy, and so many more others in my family that all happened because of her.

--Dan

More....

We did not catch the snake, but now "Spiderman" and "Grandpa-man" are ready for any more!

--Dan

The Mountains, ....the boy...

Looking for snakes in the forest with the grandboy.....more to come.......


--Dan

Saturday Car Show

First of all, Cruz is HOME! She is slowly recovering....much to do.

I was able to get away with one of my daughters to a car show after Mass on Saturday evening. We saw another daughter at the restaurant next to the car show. Here are some photos...

(NOTE: Neither myself, nor any of my family in these photos)

--Dan

Passing on the torch

And, this is from....The OLD DAYS!....

My daughter, one of FOUR, was given a relic today. It was an old, old, shirt, from the 1970's. It seems to be in great shape, and I am superlatively happy to hand it over to her....she hikes a lot, we, me and her, have hiked a lot, it should be with her. I, no longer can wear what I wore when I was in my early twenties. She says it will fit her....!!! She is tall, but not wide, like me, nowadays. Amazing...!!

Same shirt...me, Mt. Whitney, I think 21st birthday, Lone Pine, California, mid 1970's!

--Dan

Looking Back to 1975....

In 1975, I was with a couple of folks who decided to "climb" Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the USA (excepting Alaska's Mt. McKinley, now often known as Denali Peak). At well over 14,450 ft. high, it exceeds any of the Colorado Rockies, and anything else in North America not in Alaska.



Anyway....



To make the very long story very short, here is a photo of my tent, somehow on the summit. There were so many boulders....I dunno how I did that. There are many associated tales to tell....but this is just a photo....must be worth nearly a thousand words....? I have been to the summit more times since then, but that one time....was very special. I spent the night on the top. It was very, very, cool.





--Dan

The 4th of July and Beyond

Last summer....we took a late summer photo of Grandpa and The Boy....Jesse...This summer, the 4th of July, a NEW photo of the same....he was THRILLED to be back in his pool again! Photo at left, Dan in brown shirt, was last year....

So much fun! The weather has been fantastic, the family is mostly well....SUPER!

--Dan

Father's Day

First....I gave my Dad a couple of bottles of Dad's Root Beer....among other actually much more important things. He is a great Dad. He just turned 85, June 10th, and is looking well.

Here is what I got, as a Dad...The scanned photo is a mess....the actual framed picture is a ton better....I tried to make it look right, but there were issues. It was from amy oldest daughter, Serena, and the little Grandboy.

--Dan

Friday, tons of fun

Rachel, our 3rd daughter, shooting the magnificent .50 BMG round!

Me, Dan, at the range, .50 caliber Barrett.

Allen, my neighbor, at the range, .50 caliber Barrett.

More later....

--Dan

Happy Birthday, Pete Townshend!

My wife, and me, in the kitchen just after 9 PM, the Lakers won, she is home from dialysis, and it is Pete's Birthday! She rarely wears her WHO shirt, but today she flaunted it....and, HAD NO IDEA it was Pete's B-Day! Pete will affect YOU that way too!

Side note....Gonna go shooting WW I and WW II machine guns in a couple of weeks. Fun stuff. Gatling gun too. Love it.

--Dan

Air Show, March Air Reserve Base

I was NOT at the airshow...I was very near to it! It was a neat trick, we knew. My wife, and...one of my daughters, we got to hear the ROAR of those cool planes, but no traffic, no walking nightmare...we briefly visited the area, and got very cool things to see and hear.




Lead by the WW II P-38 Lightning, the zoomed cell phone photo shows, at left, the new F-22 Raptor, at right of the Raptor is the fantastic front line F-15, and in the rear is the fabled F-86 Sabre....of the Korean War.

Note:

The P-38 was designed by the SAME GUY that designed the U-2, and the SR-71 Blackbird!

--Dan

Happy Easter!...and looking back at the past weeks

Cruz and the little Grandboy, a couple of weeks ago.

Sidewalk chalk art from Rachel and the little boy.

Rachel, at the range for some target practice on Palm Sunday. That is my "Don't Tread on Me" flag. ....And yes, we did go to church first!

Happy Easter!

--Dan

March marches on

I have often found the month of March to seem rather long....it takes a while to wander around in it, and through it...only to finally arrive in a similar month....APRIL. Now, all that being said, is it really already March 7th? Time flew a bit.

Speaking of MARCH...

March Air Reserve Base is scheduled to have an air show in early May. I may go, in May.

The photo above has only little in common with March ARB, but I thought it was cool. Dunno where I found it, somewhere on the net. It is from days gone by, back when the Blackbirds flew out of Beale AFB. They no longer fly, never will, since 1999. There is one on display at March ARB, or rather, not at the base, but next to it at the March Museum.

What, me post more photos? But I always do....





This photo (above), was probably taken in 2009. It is one of my most favorite local churches.



A couple of months back, some of us here, at the ranch, saw the movie ASTROBOY. I think I was the only one that connected, since I knew him when he was on the tube in the early sixties.

Notes:

Art Clokey, creator of GUMBY, died recently. He lived down the street from my sister. I was going to go and meet that man, but he was not well, and I never got there. He left us all a lot of fun.

My wife's uncle has also passed. He was much loved, will be much missed.

Lent continues, we change clocks next week, it has rained enough to get us out of much of the water shortages in the state.

Our cat is still like a dog.


Hope all who read this are well.

--Dan

February 14, and the rest of Valentine's Day

And So, .....we went to March Air Reserve Base, and....it has the March Field Museum...The Boy, Grandma, and Auntie Rachel....with me, Grandpa, at the photog. Did I say SR-71 Blackbird in the back?

Did you, or anybody, know this sweet woman is my wife, Cruz is her name, her FIRST name,....my Valentine?

--Dan L.

The desert, the little boy, and all

This is a rather popular, and now, even famous spot in the entrance to our eastern desert region in S. California., very near to Palm Springs, and on the way to Arizona. I see my daughter, Rachel, with grandpup, Jesse. "Click" on all images to see a bigger view, OK?

About a week or two ago, not far from home, just following a storm or two or three.

The little boy called this "a wedding". He, like many kids, loves dinosaurs. He also remembers my daughter's recent wedding. He arranged all the gang, here, for his version of....a wedding.

At the dinosaur place, Cabazon, California. Google it...and better yet, learn about how the dinosaurs were built...classic "out west" stuff. We have seen this place many times over the years, and it is more and more popular. Even the local Indians have opened a HUGE casino nearby. It used to be....desolate...with just about only the dinosaurs.

Upon arrival at Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center, located at 29 Palms, Calif. (there are more than one entrance to this large desert park, this one is in 29 Palms), my wife, Cruz, and the boy look at a fine display of how desert creatures live, and even under the eart....the great stuff of a child's imagination, and the real world...with Grandma, no less!

The boy, and his Auntie Michelle (my daughter), walking about the Oasis of Mara, and a great paved place to stroll through the desert landscape. Remember, this is January 31, so it is sorta cool....sorry, you Easterners...we live like this!

The boy and his mom, my daughter, Serena, walking the path.

Old things often found in the desert after a long, long, time.

One way some of us got there, my truck, now out in the park at Indian Cove.

Jesse, and his Mama, Serena, our eldest.

Me, Dan, and the boy. Serena did not really know how to use my "old" weak, digital camera, thus the blurrrrrrr.

.

Rachel, at sunset.

Back home, the "after party".

There was more, but this says enough for now.

--Dan