Bethie

2009-06-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

Jane's Birthday Party

On June 13, 2009, friends and family gathered at

the Brooder to celebrate Jane's 60th Birthday.

All signs lead to Jane's

Patti, Beth, Jane & Katy

Patti, Jane, David & Katy

Leonard, Shirl, Gary, Jane & Judi

Patrick
Patti & Tom

Pauline
Aunt Betty & Uncle Loren

Uncle Loren

(L to R) Jane, Melinda, Aunt Betty, JoAnn,
Uncle Loren, Mark, Chrystie & Rosemary

Dennis, Shirl & Leonard

Andrea, Katy & Kathy

Nate & Alice

Teresa & Bob

Katy, Sheela, Jane & Kristina

Judi, Gary, Shirl & Leonard made
Vanilla, Peach & Lemon Ice Cream

The Birthday Girl

Walt & Jared

Patti & Tom played cowboy music

Click the button above to play video

Jane reads her birthday cards to an attentive audience

2009-06-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

Jane's Gardens

Click the button above to play video

2009-06-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

Coco & Willys

Coco and her litter-mate Willys were re-united for the first time since they were 8 weeks old at Jane's Party.

Click the button above to play video

2008-12-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

Moon, Jupiter and Venus over Los Angeles

December 1, 2008 5:30 pm

2008-11-16T09:12:00.000-08:00

Smoky Sunset

November 15 2008

Smoke from the fires burning across Southern California made for a beautiful Sunset in Palos Verdes on Saturday, November 15th, 2008.

Point Vincent Lighthouse with Catalina Island in the distance under a cloud of smoke from the Southern California wildfires. Taken Saturday, November 15, 2008

Catalina Island under cloud of smoke from Southern California wildfires, taken from Palos Verdes, CA on Saturday, November 15, 2008.

Ash from the fires in Southern California on the hood of my car in Redondo Beach, CA on Sunday morning, November 16, 2008.

2007-07-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

There is a Block Party going on out front in Vincent Park. Did some gardening this morning and it's cooled off today. I'm out in the studio and Coco is napping on the yellow blanket. We will join the party later.

It's good to be back here at the little pink beach house. It's been an eventful couple of weeks. I was in West Virginia last week for business. Lots of work and lots of fun too. Went white water rafting on the New Gauley River, totally awesome experience! We floated underneath this bridge. It's the 2nd longest expansion bridge in the world.

There were lots of deer at the resort, I saw this one on the last night walking back to the lodge.

The night before I left for West Virginia I saw the Police at Dodger Stadium. Great show, they really sounded great. Foo Fighters opened and they were awesome.

It's been busy in Hollywood too...

The White Stripes took over the old Tower Records building for a free concert. Hundreds of kids camped out to buy the new CD and get a wristband for the show. The office sent over breakfast burritos for them.

Later that same night there was an accident right in front of the store...luckily there were no injuries.

The week before was filled with celebutant drama....Paris Hilton lives down the street from the office so we had a birdseye view of the news helicopters following her back to jail. If you look carefully in the upper right hand corner you can just make out a couple of them circling their prey...

Coco is waking up now so we must go join the party out front. Happy July 4th!

2007-05-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

Coco Settles In

2007-05-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Little Pink House

We moved into the new house this weekend.

Above is the house and outdoor patio area.

Above: The living room looks out into the garden

Above: The Kitchen isn't really this dark, it's just the photo

Above: The Garden Area

Above: The office/Dave's studio/garage

Above: The Laundry Room!

Above: Coco has dealt with the move with the greatest of ease. She unpacked all her toys and tennis balls and has made herself at home. She loves being able to run in and out of the house although she is reluctant to do her business in the yard. She prefers the park across the street.

Saw the Oscar Meyer mobile on La Cienega on my way to work this morning...

2007-04-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Today is Easter sunday and we are in springville at the Jessups. Today also marks the one year anniversay since Coco came home. We will celebrate all day, first with the Jessup's at RICC where Natie is the Easter bunny. then we will go up to Jane's to see Coco's mom & dad and brothers. After that we return to the J's for turkey dinner.

Linda gave Coco a bunny rabbit for Easter.

Nate aka Easter Bunny

Easter Bunny Linda and Coco

2007-03-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

View from window on Sunset Blvd

2:15 PM, Friday March 30, 2007

2007-03-10T12:37:00.001-08:00

J'aime la France !

Click the link below to view more photos from France. I had such a great time there. It's a wonderful, wonderful place and I miss everyone there so much. I also miss the Duck and the wine from Couronneau and the lovely rabbit pate that Ron made. I will be back!

France_Photos

2007-03-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

France is a truly magical place and I had a wonderful time there. Here are some photos until I can make a proper post.

2007-02-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

Heading north down the grapevine into the San Joaquin valley it as so clear we could see Mineral King. We were on our way to Springville for a party at the Inn. Patty Torrey was playing with the Long Riders. Big Nate Jessup sat in on the Congo drums. It was fun.

Much needed rain came in the next morning for the drive back to LA. Got home on Sunday and started preparing for the trip to the Tranquil Cottage in France on Tuesday. More later!

2007-01-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

It's been a stressful week but we survived. New job seems to be going well, although the hours are a bit longer than anticipated. But I like it alot and the people are fun and have been really supportive. It's the same company I worked for before just a new position so I know most of the people already.

Big win of the work week: I successfully secured Boss #1 and her family flights and a great hotel room at a great price in Miami for weekend of Feb 5th. No big deal you say? It's Super Bowl Weekend and the game is in Miami! LOL, go ahead, you try it...

RIP Izzy, Katy's cat on Thursday. Izzy had been sick for a couple of months and it was just time for him to go. He was well loved by all but is especially missed by my Aunt Mary. Izzy's name as a kitten was Lizzie but as he grew up it became evident that Lizzie was an Izzy so the L was dropped. He had eyes of the bluest skies...

Friday was day from hell...first I had a fender bender on the way to work, luckily nobody hurt but both cars need new bumpers. In keeping with tradition, I rearended the car in front of me...this time a Land Rover. Luckily Farmers Insurance rocks and will cover damages. Process so far has been very easy and painless.

Got to work and found out Boss #1's grandmother had died and the funeral is in St Louis the day before she was scheduled to fly to Super Bowl....had to totally rearrange travel plans I had painstakingly made first of the week. Didn't get home until 9 pm

Coco and I went to the Dog park early this morning and threw the ball. It was lots of fun and very pretty. Sun was rising and clouds were coming, supposed to rain later.

We also went to our 4th dog training class. It really should be named owner training because the dogs behave perfectly when the trainer asked them to sit, stay, down, etc but when the owners try, it's complete chaos. We come home mentally exhausted. The trainer says Coco is doing fine and I need to be patient, it is not an overnight process. Coco is very smart and sometimes smart dogs take longer.

Coco convinced me that she really needed the rocky raccoon plush toy and she promised to keep her midnight barking at the real rocky raccoon to a minimum. We shall see....

2007-01-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I start my new job. Here is my new space:

Here is my new space virtually decorated by Dave...

2007-01-10T07:07:00.000-08:00

January 10, 2007

10:00 PM Raccoon Update

Standing outside the house talking to next door neighbor Dawna, one of the baby raccoons came down around the front of the house and ran to the storm drain on the corner. When it saw us, it ran around, sort of toward us but not toward us then ran back the way it came. Not aggressive but kind of aggressive. Definitely not afraid of us. Definitely calling animal control tomorrow....

Rocky Raccoon

January 10th, 6:30 am

These tracks were on our front porch this morning at 6:30 am. Our neighbors across the street report that a giant raccoon was seen lying about our front lawn last night and that yesterday afternoon the ravens that live in the telephone pole on the corner were dive bombing it.

Coco is none too happy about this, but she is learning to deal with it by practicing to sit. Here she is showing off!

2006-12-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

The Wayfarer's Chapel

Rancho Palos Verdes, California

December 25, 2006

Built by Lloyd Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright, in 1951

2006-12-25T11:12:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas 2006

Teedee's Tree

__________________________________________________________

RIP James Brown

1933 - 2006

The hardest working man in show business.

2006-12-17T15:38:00.000-08:00

Progressive Dinner

December 9, 2006

Greek

Poseiden reading Ithaca by CP Cavafy

As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon-don't be afraid of them: you'll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul,unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one. May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you enter harbors you're seeing for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind-as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you're destined for. But don't hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you're old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you've gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich. Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn't have set out. She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Iris

Demeter and Persephone

Anonymous

Demeter, Hermes and Persephone

Iris

Appetizers

Spanakopita

2006-11-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

November 23, 2006

Things I'm Thankful for this Thanksgiving

My Family...

My Friends...

The Democrats taking control of the House and Senate...

The Rolling Stones singing "Connection" last night at Dodger Stadium...

And last but not most certainly not least, the best doggy in the whole world, Coco!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-22T11:47:00.000-08:00

Puerto Rico!

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Puerto Rico for the inaugural Discover Puerto Rico Choral Festival. I traveled with Helenor Webb and her family, she sings with the Los Angeles Episcopal Chorale Society. This is the 2nd time I've traveled with the Chorale, the first trip was to Vienna, Austria in 2003.

Carol, Ruby, Barbara and Helenor at LAX at 5 am, Thursday, November 16th, 2006.

We were delayed by bad weather in Philadelphia and we arrived in San Juan about 3 hours late. We got to the Hotel Normandie at about 1 am and promptly made ourselves at home in the lobby, enjoying a late snack and cocktails in the art deco lounge.

Next morning the was just enough time for breakfast and a quick walk around the hotel grounds before boarding the bus for the first performance.

(click to enlarge)

The Chorale's first performance was at the Episcopal School of San Juan (k - 12th grade) which is celebrating it's 60th anniversary. The students were wonderful and enjoyed the show very much. They danced and sang with the chorale and were very gracious to us.

(click to enlarge)

Across the street is the Catholic Church.
We left the school and started the 3 hour drive to our hotel near Guanica.

The cities in Puerto Rico are densely populate but once outside of the city the countryside is extremely lush and green. There are houses and small communities dotting the rain forest hillsides and religious statues pop up unexpectedly along side the road.

We turned off onto a two lane windy roady down the mountain to get to the hotel which is directly on the beach...well, the road is two lanes if you are in a small car that is.

We were in large buses and pretty much took up the entire road. The drivers would honk repeatedly to warn oncoming traffic. This worked pretty well until we were about 5 minutes from the hotel and an oncoming car was traveling way to fast and plowed right into the back of the bus I was on. Luckily no one was hurt and damage to the bus was minimal. The other car however was pretty well smashed. Anyway, we quickly loaded everyone onto our other bus and also a bus carrying one of the other choirs and proceeded safely to the hotel.

We arrived at the Copamarina Beach Resort just in time to change clothes and head into Ponce for the opening ceremonies of the festival. The ceremony was held in the town square which was beautifully decorated for Christmas.

There were 6 choral groups from the US and 6 from Puerto Rico. Most of the groups were from either high school or colleges with the exception of the 2 groups from LA. Our group knocked everyone out and got a standing ovation. After the performance we got a police escort up to dinner at a mansion on the top of a hill that overlooked the city. The food was great, roasted pork and chicken with salad, beans and rice flavored with olives and achiote oil. Lots of rum flowed also.

Our second day in Puerto Rico started with an outdoor breakfast of bacon, fruit and coffee on a terrace facing the Carribean Sea. There was a warm breeze blowing and the sky was the bluest of blue dotted with cottony clouds. There is no smog in Puerto Rico and the colours were brilliant in the sunlight.

Once again we boarded the bus to travel to Ponce where the chorale was scheduled for a morning workshop on Puerto Rican music and rythem with the other choirs at the University of Puerto Rico. The workshop was led by Professor Ruben Colon Tarrats, the director of the Camerata Ponce.
Following the workshop the Chorale performed at a live radio broadcast from the historic Park de Bombas building in downtown Ponce. The Park de Bombas is the city's historic fire station and was built in 1882.

Downtown Ponce

A quick bus ride back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon on the beach.

Saturday night we traveled back to the University of Ponce for the Friendship Concert where the Chorale performed with Orfeon San Juan Bautista and the Gwen Wyatt Chorale, who are also from Los Angeles. Not that I'm biased or anything but the ECS Chorale totally rocked the house. For the encore, the chorale went into the audience and invited people to join them onstage to sing "Oh Happy Day". After the show we were invited to dine with the members of the University of Puerto Choral members. They performed during the meal and everyone sang and danced.

When it was time to go the students sang us to the bus and the dancing continued outside for several minutes. We were sorry we had to leave the party.

Sunday morning we had to leave bright and early for Ponce for services at the St John's Episcopal Church. St John's is the oldest Episcopal church in Puerto Rico. The chorale performed during and after the services which were entirely in Spanish.

St John's is home to the first woman minister in Puerto Rico.

After the service we were treated to coffee and homemade empanadas and sweet rolls.

The church ladies

After church we went back to the hotel and took a short boat trip to Gilligans Island. It's not the real Gilligan's Island of course but it resembles the deserted island from TV fame.

The final concert was held in the newly built Concha Acustica de Ponce. Each choir performed separately then gathered en mass accompanied by the Ponce Muncipal Band to perform "Tributo musical a Puerto Rico" which was specially composed for the festival by Professor Ruben Colon Tarrats. This concert was broadcast live on the radio across Puerto Rico.

We left at 4 am the next day for San Juan and our flight back to Los Angeles. Puerto Rico is a beautiful island and the people are warm and welcoming. All throughout the trip it was clear just how important music is and what a wonderful common demoninator it is between different cultures. It makes me wonder what would happen if we shared music with our so called enemies instead of bombs...
The lights of Los Angeles from the plane while coming in for a landing at LAX. Home again.

2006-11-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

November has been a busy month so here is some catching up...David arrived on November 9th and we went to a booksigning for Robert Greenfield's new book, "Exile on Mainstreet, A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones" on November 10th at Book_Soup in West Hollwood. The book tells the tale of life at Villa Nellcote, where Keith Richards stayed in the south of France during the recording of the Rolling Stones album Exile on Mainstreet and . Bob is an old friend of David's from the Carmel Valley days and we met up with some other good friends there also.

Bob read from the book and answered questions from the audience.

David catching up on his reading while waiting for the event to start.

Lori was also here visiting from Orlando.

Me and Janice.

Brian, Janice and David on the Sunset Strip

Bob, Josh and Donna at Dinner.

We had a delicious italian meal at Club Med on Sunset Blvd. Naturally we were way to cool to take photos so you'll just have to take my word for it that we saw Frankie Muniz from the TV show "Malcolm in the Middle" and a sort of half Nelson, either Matthew or Gunner, one of the twin sons of Ricky_Nelson eating dinner at the restaurant too.

Linda's Birthday Party in Camp Nelson

2006-10-31T12:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Howl-o-ween!

Coco in her witch's hat

Coco showing how she really feels about her witch's hat!

Pebble made a very cute bumble bee

Coco, Me and Mr Jack O Lantern

Halloween is also the birthday of my friend Tommy who I've known forever and ever and ever. The photo below was taken last May and is of Tommy with Teedee and Matt taken at Janice and Pat's house in Visalia before a Bon Jovi concert in Fresno. Matt is the youngest son of Janice and Pat. Janice went to the prom with Tommy in High School.

Born on the exactly the same day and year as Tommy is Larry Mullen, Jr., drummer for U2. Here he is singing DirtyOldTown from the Zoo TV tour. I saw LMJ sing this in Anaheim stadium with Lori and Nic in 1992. In 2005 I went to Boston to meet Lori and Amy and to see U2's Vertigo Tour. It was amazing.

Here are Lori and Amy enjoying a refreshment in a pub in Boston.

2006-10-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Gimme the Ball!

Daybreak at the Dog Park. Coco has started waking up really early, raring to go, so we've found ourselves seeing the sun come up at the dog park several times this week. Usually we are by ourselves in the small dog section but there are always several big dogs romping in their section. This morning Coco ran up and down the fence line, racing with a German Shepherd. I took video with my cell phone but since mercury is in retrograde I'm having issues emailing it to myself.

Playing catch up today so here are some odds n ends....

Coco and Pebbles getting ready to walk. It was a chilly fall evening so Pebbles is sporting a pretty red sweater

Coco has expensive taste...

I forgot to post these 3 photos on Teedee's Birthday post...

The first two were taken in Carmel in March 1971 and are two of my all time favorite photos.

This one is of Teed and Masumi taken in the back yard of Dad's place on Theta Circle. More about Masumi later.

Finally, here is a video of Coco taken this past June.

2006-10-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

Knotts Scary Farm

Went to Knotts Scary Farm with the Jessup family for Nate's 14th Birthday. It was a blast, rode the rollercoaster from hell (never again) and went through lots of scary mazes. Oh, and yes, the fried chicken is as good as I remembered!

Coco couldn't go to Knotts so she amused herself at home....

2006-10-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

October 12, 2006

Happy Birthday Teedee!!!

Happiest of Birthday wishes to la Teedalina.

May you alway be surrounded by love, laughter and adventure!

2006-10-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

The Quinn Meeting

Saturday, October 7th was the annual meeting of shareholders of Harry Quinn, Inc. Harry Quinn was my great grandfather and he was born in 1843 in Kilkeel Keel, County Down, Ireland. He grew up helping his father raise sheep and at the age of 16 he left Ireland for Australia. In 1868 he left Australia for San Francisco and eventually made his way into the Central San Joaquin Valley. He partnered with Archibald Leitch in the sheep business, married Mr Leitch's niece Katherine Robertson and settled on Rag Gulch, near Richgrove, CA.

Rag Gulch, 1988 Watercolour on paper by David Richardson

Harry and Katy Quinn had 7 children, Margaret, John, Thomas, Archibald, Cletus, Mary and Mildred. Mildred is my grandmother.

Mildred married Bernard (Pink) Richardson and they had 2 sons:

Bernard Foster (Barney)

and Kenneth Harry (my Dad).

Barney married Mary Jones and they had 5 children: Kenny, Patrick, Sheela, Tom and Katy. Kenny married Barbara Snider and they had 3 children: David, Beth and Sarah (Teedee). In one of those strange twists of small town life, Barney's wife Mary's sister Betty married Kenny's wife Barbara's 1st cousin Loren but that's a whole other story entirely...

Anyway, to make a long story short, when Harry Quinn died, his children formed a corporation to manage his estate. The shareholders are decendants of the seven children and we meet once a year. It's really a yearly family reunion. Here are some photos from this year's get together:

Harry Falconer and his son Tom. Harry is the son of Art and Mary (Quinn) Falconer.

Robert, Michele, Rocco and Janet (Falconer) Marrongelli (seated). Janet is the daughter of Harry Falconer, granddaughter of Mary (Quinn) Falconer.

Pam Falconer and her son Shawn and his daughters. Pam is the daughter of Murray Falconer, son of Art and Mary (Quinn) Falconer.

Ken Hurt, Betty Moreland, Larry Moreland, Mary Jo Deathridge, Dona Hurt (seated). Betty, Mary Jo and Dona are the granddaughters of Tom and Irma Quinn. Their mothers were "The Quinn Girls", Katherine, Margaret, Lois and Patricia.

Ramona Phillips and her brother John Nelson Smith. They are the grandchildren of Nelson and Margaret (Quinn) Smith. Their parents were John Nelson (Jack) and Idella Smith.

Anne Ward and Julie Bannerman. Anne and Julie are the daughters of Charlotte Quinn Bomke and the granddaughters of John R Quinn, who was the Tax Collector of LA County and ran for Governor of California

Anne's daughter Colleen

Anne's daughter Katie and Katie's son

Colleen's son with Katie's daughter

Michele, Rocco and Colleen

Here is a photo of Katheryn Quinn Richardson, daughter of Barney and Mary Richardson, granddaughter of Pink and Midge (Quinn) Richardson. I didn't get a photo of her at the meeting.

2006-10-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

More from Camp Nelson...

It's a 5 mile hike to the Needles Lookout and back. It took us about 4 hours to including rest stops and lunch at the Lookout. It's an easy to moderate hike according to the guidebooks. There were some up hill parts that seemed to go on forever but just when I thought I couldn't go on anymore, the trail flattened out and allowed me to catch my breath and enjoy the view again.

This is a view of the Needles Lookout from the trail.

The view from the Lookout

US Forest Service Ranger Margee inside the Lookout. She lives there during fire season. There is a stove and refrigerator but no running water.

6 Degrees of Separation Dept, part one...

While talking with Margee, I mentioned that my grandfather, Wes Snider had been a District Ranger in the USFS. Margee knew the name and pointed to a photograph hanging on the wall. She asked if the man in the photograph was him. It looks alot like him to me and I took a photo of the photo to send to Aunt Marge for confirmation. She couldn't be sure but thinks it might be. David and Uncle Tom, however, think the hat is wrong. I think it's Grampa Wes.

Dome Rock from the Lookout Tower

The Needles.
Although you can't see it on this photo, there were a couple of climbers on the face of the rock. We could just barely see them moving up the rock from the tower.

Looking down the stairs that we climbed up to the tower.

Quaking Aspens

We got back to Nancy's cabin and had a great dinner to celebrate her birthday and officially christen her cabin/garage.

Katy & Kathy helping Nancy blow out the candles

Linda and Katy

6 Degrees of Separation Dept, part two...

Katy gave Nancy a book on the early days of Camp Nelson writen by Porterville local Jeff Edwards. Among the typos and historical inaccuracies in the book is an uncredited photograph of three kids on Dome Rock with the caption that reads "This view of Kern Canyon is an impressive sight as these children are enjoying". This photograph was taken by Bill Rodgers and the children enjoying the view are David Richardson and Mary Kay and Susan Rodgers. Bill Rodgers was mayor of Porterville in the 60's and was the owner/editor of the Farm Tribune. When Bill died, Susan and Mary Kay gave Jeff Edwards his archives. Bill was Mayor of Porterville when the Hell's Angels came to town in 1963. He led a group of locals who turned the firehoses on the bikers and ran them out of town. Author Hunter S. Thompson wrote about it in his book "Hell's Angel's" Anyway, my point was thatJeff should have credited the photo and named the kids....

l to r, David Richardson, Mary Kay and Susan Rodgers; photo by Bill Rodgers

6 Degrees of Separation Dept, part three...

After Nancy's Party, Annie, Katy and I went to Pierpoint to check out the nightlife. The Dukes of Rhthym were playing and the joint was a rockin'

This nice old gentleman comes up and asks Annie to dance. Since we had just finished a 5 mile hike she declined but we started chatting with him. Turns out he is a grape farmer from the Delano area...Katy and I look at each other and I start asking him if he knows, the Perelli Minetti's and of course he does. He says his name is Dick Kramer and that he is from an old family in Delano. Well, Katy and I come from an old Delano family named Quinn (more about the Quinns in the next chapter). Now I knew that the Quinns and Kramers were old friends so I asked him if he had heard of the Quinns and he said of course he had, one of his relatives had married one of the relatives of Nelson Smith who was a relative of Harry Quinn. Nelson Smith is the father of Katy's and my 2nd cousin Lonon Smith. Then Dick says he remembers many years ago attending an Edison Company Christmas party with his first wife. She worked as a receptionist at the Edison Company Substation in Delano. Anyway, he remembered meeting another a man at the party who was also related to the Quinn Family of Delano...turns out it was my Dad, who worked at as a Service Planner for the Edison Company.

The Stagg Tree

The next day we hiked out to the Stagg Tree. The Stagg Tree is either the 4th largest or 6th largest tree in the world depending on who you talk to. Either way it is a pretty spectacular hike to the tree and the tree itself is awesome.

More Quaking Aspen

We had such a great time we didn't want to go home...

2006-10-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Weekend in Camp Nelson

Just back from a long weekend in Camp Nelson. We hiked up to the Needles Lookout on Saturday and then went to a birthday/housewarming party for Nancy Pallanes. I'm way too tired to post much tonight but here are a few photos for now...

The Griswold Cabin

The view from the kitchen.
On Friday night we saw a herd of deer run up through the meadow.

Coco and her daddy, Trace

The view from the trail to Needles Lookout

The Needles

The hikers...Me, Coco, Annie, Nancy and Linda. Kathy took the photo. Coco is a real mountain doggie, she was amazing on the trail. She loved every minute of the hike and she sniffed every rock along the way.

Who are these people? All will be revealed....

More later...

2006-09-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

Kind of a quiet weekend here in the south bay....Coco has recovered nicely from her surgery last week...here she is on the chair given to me by Janice Pober, who was given the chair by my grampa Wes Snider way back in the Carmel Valley days, when we were all so much younger and listening to CSNY, James Taylor, Elton John and Carole King. Janice recovered the chair in material used to decorate the room for a dinner given by Sony Pictures in honor of Nelson Mandela. Coco has taken to resting on the chair after our walks.

Coco by the fence by the high school.

here she is with her favorite squeaky bone and Mr Lobster...

We bought new tires for the bad boy (a big thank you to big Nate for not only pointing out we needed new tires but following up to make sure we bought them) It's amazing what a difference they make!

Today we walked down to the pier and up the esplanade. Along the way we saw a heron resting by the pond at one of the condominium's along the way. A crowd had gathered around and it quickly became obvious that the heron was very sick and was in it's final hours. It was a very solemn moment. We stayed for awhile then left the heron in the company of the residents who were telling tales of heron chicks and hope for the future...

Sunset on Sunday night...

2006-09-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Coco went to see Dr Potts for a check up and also to get spayed. She came through surgery with no problems and had a very quiet evening recovering at home.

Before surgery with Vet Tech Vincent

Resting with Mr Lobster at home after surgery

She is feeling better this morning but is still very quiet.

Last week was the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It is estimated that over 235,000 animals were killed during the Gulf Coast Hurricanes in 2005. It is also unknown how many people died as result of not evacuating or reentering unsafe areas for their pets and livestock

The California Assembly has approved legislation(AB 450) introduced by Speaker Pro Tem Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/Daly City) requiring the Department of Agriculture, the Office of Emergency Services and other agencies involved in disaster preparedness to develop a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or plan that includes the needs of service animals, livestock, equines and individuals with household pets following a major disaster or emergency. Click here to learn more. Click here to email Governor Schwarzenegger to ask him to sign the bill.

I know I'm not going anywhere without Coco and she's not going anywhere without Mr Lobster!

Dinner anyone?

2006-09-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

Labor Day, September 2006

Where did the summer go....we headed north then east towards the Sierras early Saturday morning...

Lots of reunions this weekend...

Coco and Maggie

Coco and Queen Ida Luna

Mom and Dad

Big Brother Willie

Coco and Willie look alot alike

Jane and Coco, Trace and Sis

Daybreak on Sunday, September 3rd...

Camp Nelson

The Needles from Dome Rock

Katy, Linda and Coco on Dome Rock

Another view from Dome Rock

Coming home on Monday was no fun, lots of traffic and 2 forest fires on the grapevine caused intermittant lane closures. It took us 5 hours to get home...

These photos are of the fire by Lake Pyramid. It is called the Day fire because it began about 2 pm on Labor Day. Five days later it has burned over 13,000 acres and is still burning out of control. Note to Teedee: photos were taken while in stop and go traffic on I5 so no danger of crashing.

2006-09-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

Coco and her friends...

Here is a photo of Coco and her next door neighbor Pebbles taken today in the front yard.

This photo of an 8 week old Coco and Pebbles was taken in April 2006 when Coco first came home. Pebbles is a 9 year old Maltese and a very sweet dog. She lives next door with Dawna.

This is Coco and her new friend Buster, a Jack Russel Terrier and Chihuahua mix. We met Buster today in the park by King Harbor.

Last Tuesday the Black Pearl sailed off into the sunset...

Coco and I went up to Palos Verdes and watched her head towards uncharted waters. The views from the hiking trail are pretty spectacular.

2006-08-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

The Search for Captain Jack Continues....

Day 3 of the search for Captain Jack Sparrow started out inauspiciously this morning as we walked to the harbor and saw the Black Pearl making her way south towards Palos Verdes. We could just barely make out her big black sail in the early morning fog. Maybe we would have better luck on our evening walk....

Coco and I set out for King Harbor about 6 PM. We got to the park by the pier and we could see the Black Pearl as just a teeny tiny dot anchored off the coastline of Palos Verdes....

Soon however, we began to see a small boat making it's way towards King Harbor. Finally, it docked and a lone figure emerged...could it be the elusive Captain Jack?

It looked like him but we couldn't be sure. Crowds had gathered down by the screened off walk way...We decided to take a closer look. We couldn't see thru the fence so we stood on a sandbag and held the camera overhead and snapped the first person we heard walking past...

Could it be???? Was it possible???? Still we were not sure. The crowds got bigger and louder and Coco was getting nervous so we decided to find a bit of space to chill out and figure out our next move. We walked down to the entrance to the parking lot where there is a nice piece of grass and we waited....

Soon we heard the screams of the crowd and saw the flashing lights of a police escorted black SUV...

We quickly jumped up and waited for it to pass by...

It's him! Captain Jack Sparrow, masquerading as Johnny Depp!

"Cute dog", says Captain Jack as he waves and passes by!

Coco is overcome with excitment and joy! Whatever will tomorrow bring...

2006-08-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

Coco of the Caribbean!

The Black Pearl has dropped anchor in King Harbor and filming has resumed on Pirates of the Caribbean III.

Coco thinks she would be perfect for the role of Captain Jack Sparrow's loyal pup...afterall they both have perfect eyeliner.

Linda and Coco looking for Captain Jack Sparrow

Rumour has it that they will be filming over the next couple of weeks. Check back often as Coco plans to stalk the harbor until she finds Captain Jack...

Meanwhile, Alice and Coco enjoyed a happy reunion when Alice returned from her New York vacation.

Coco charms Alice's friend David

Alice's last day in her groovy sublet apartment before she moved back into the dorms at college.

Linda and Alice on campus

Coco and her friend Taj playing. Taj is a puggle and a really sweet doggy.

King Harbor...

Coco back on the trail of....

The Captain of the Black Pearl....

...to be continued! Arrrgh!!

2006-08-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 19th - Jack's First Show, Irvine California

Teedee, Doreen and I went to see a concert sponsored by Jack FM 103.1. On the bill were The Violent Femmes, Cheap Trick, Billy Idol, Journey and Def Leppard. Teedee and I have loved Cheap Trick since we were kids and have seen them many, many times. They totally rocked.

Teedee at the show on Saturday wearing her old-school Cheap Trick t-shirt that she has had since 1979.

Doreen works with Teedee and had never been to an all day festival style concert. Since Sarah and I are the veterans of many a festival, we were happy to show her the ropes.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, the beer was cold, the bands rocked and the show was a blast. Photos courtesy of Teedee's camera phone because I stupidly left mine in the car.

Miss Coco couldn't go to the show and she wasn't happy about that one bit.

2006-08-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

August 2006

I had to go to Charleston WV for business so my brother came to stay with Coco. These are some photos he took to send to me while I was gone.

Layover at Detroit Airport - to get from terminal A to Terminal B you have to walk thru this groovy tunnel with a pychedelic light show. It was totally cool.

The sun goes down in Detroit

Went to a minor league baseball game while in Charleston, West Virginia Power vs Columbus Catfish...the Power won.

Huntington Beach, CA - Dog Beach

When I returned from WV, we went to the Huntington Beach Dog Beach. It is our new favorite place.

While he was visiting us, my brother painted portraits of Coco and me.

On the way back from taking my brother to the airport, we saw smoke off in the distance. At first we thought it was in Carson because it appeared to be on the east side of the 405 frwy...

but the 405 curves going into the South Bay and it was actually on the west side of the frwy.

The view from Western, near 190.

It turned out to be a structure fire at a recycling center in the Harbor Gateway area. Lots of smoke but no damage to any adjacent buildings. It was very surreal because it looked alot like the images from Iraq and Lebanon that flood the TV news.

2006-08-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

July 2006

4th of July Parade in Huntington Beach, CA

Grand marshalls Shirley Jones & Marty Engles

Skate boarding dog

Teedee and Coco at our fave dockside restaurant in Huntington Harbor.

CSNY in Fresno, July 23th, 2006

My cousin Katy and I went to see CSNY at the Savemart Center in Fresno. It was an amazing show. Here are some photos I took with my trusty cell phone camera.

2006-08-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

June 2006

Coco learns to swim!

June 3rd, 2006 - Bruce Springsteen at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

2006-08-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day 2006

Houseboating on Lake Success

2006-08-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Coco

The Beginning...

Coco was born at 1:30 am on February 24, 2006. Her parents are Annie and Trace and they live with my cousin Jane in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Coco was one of 3 puppies born that day. She is a Papillon.

Mom and 2 day old puppies

Coco (on the right) and her brother and sister, 2 days old

2 day old Coco

This is Coco at 4 weeks old.

Mom and Dad

Playing with Dad

Coco at 8 weeks, playing with her dad and sister.

With her brother and parents

Coco came home to the big city on Easter Sunday, April 16th, 2006.

She quickly settled in on the couch

At the Laundry with David

Sleeping in her bed...

Sleeping on the couch...

Sleeping with her feet up...

One ear up...

Both ears up!