Is Anyone Listening?

Auditioned and became a volunteer in 2004.

A chance to read.

Out loud.

On air.

With buttons to push and a headset with attached microphone.

My idea of a good time.

For a very worthy organization.

The KPBS Radio Reading Service broadcasts the readings of newspapers, books and magazines to those with low vision, blindness and other print impairments. Airing 24 hours a day over a private audio channel, the Reading Service is accessible to qualified recipients in San Diego through a specialized radio, and online via audio webstream. All readings are produced by volunteers.

Over the years I have been partnered with a variety of readers including a local weather person who was immaculately dressed and coiffed. For the sound booth.

I assumed that all of us, were to some extent...

(what is the word I am searching for)

Hams.

Who enjoyed performing.

And then my current reading partner shared the following: A colleague at her work mentioned that he had gone to the website, listened to the broadcast and heard her on air.

She was taken aback and slightly horrified. "I can do this because I assume that no one is listening."

How interesting is that.

I am motivated to go back to the station on a regular basis because I assume everyone is listening! 

Rusty Sculpture Trail

Sunday we went on a hike to see if water was overflowing Lake Hodges Dam.

When it does, it is quite spectacular.

It is a rare occurrence.

San Diego is usually dealing with drought conditions.

On our block, we have more than a handful of neighbors who have already ripped up their lawns and gone xeriscape to limit water use.

The weather person presents our rainfall numbers in one hundredths of a percent, as in ‘today we had .07 percent rain fall at Lindbergh Field’.

In 2010, it rained and rained and then rained some more so it wasn’t unreasonable to think it might be overflowing the dam.

We started out at the southern point of the Del Dios Gorge Trail.

At eight in the morning it was quiet, except for birds, and still a bit muddy.

Lots of green so it was easy to forget about the wild fires that passed through here…until you happened upon a charred tree.

 Made it to the dam.

The water level was high but no,

...it hadn’t reached the top.

What was surprising was the number of rusty ‘sculptures’ along the trail.

The bed frame.

The bicycle.

The vehicle.

Expected an abundance of water and came across a collection of rust...

Blast from the Past

Can’t believe this restaurant is still around.

Went to Bob’s Big Boy when I was a kid.

It was in Glendale.

Found out that there is one in Temecula.

Here is the statue of Bob out front.

He really is a BIG BOY. 

There is an expression ‘you can’t go home again’.

Okay.

But you can go back to Bob’s Big Boy and re-live a childhood meal.

Because they still serve milk shakes along with the silver canister containing the ‘extra’.

And they still shred the lettuce and put special sauce on their Original Double Decker Burger.

There were no cell phones when Bob (and I) were little, so it’s no surprise to see a phone booth out front.

So much fun taking a trip down memory lane!

Even though it is quite an extensive menu, I don’t need to go back

…it’s just nice to know that some things don’t change.

Film Festival

It is 124 miles from our home to Palm Springs.

A bit of a drive to see a movie.

Especially if you take the scenic route.

Considering the last part of the trip (looking down on the curvy mountain pass to the city) was a bit brown…

We had hoped to catch an 11:00 film called I am Sindhutai Sapkal.

“The journey of a poor village girl who grew up tending buffaloes while craving an education…. she was able to make the leap from intense poverty to becoming an effective speaker, raising enough funds to build three ashrams, educating two thousand children and sheltering one thousand orphans.”

It sounded fascinating and was based on a true story.

And no doubt the audience enjoyed it...

But we were running late, hungry, and it was bright and sunny. 

Too nice a day to be stuck inside.

Just yet.

So we walked around town.

Had lunch on a patio overlooking a fountain.

Picked up a brochure describing all the films and eventually hit the ticket booth to snag anything that hadn’t sold out.

Tickets in hand, we got in a long line to enter the theatre.

45 MINUTES BEFORE IT STARTED

Looks like some folks take this film festival experience quite seriously.

The gals in front of us were festival veterans. They now see 4 films a day because they found that trying to squeeze in 5 or 6 was just too much. They had seen a terrifically funny movie the night before (which was now sold out) and recommended that we try to RUSH IT (festival lingo for being in the standby line just as the movie starts).

We did RUSH our second movie. Hurried in, sat in the third row from the front (which I guess is better than the first or second row from the screen) and missed the very beginning.

As ‘newbies’, with apparently no stamina for sitting all day, we ended up seeing just two films on Saturday.

One drama with subtitles, For 80 Days, and a comedy, Thanks.

The first was poignant and memorable and the second was laugh-out-loud funny.

With no advance tickets and making decisions on the fly, we were 2 for 2.

Time to hit the road.

We took the faster route home.

Perhaps I am Sindhutai Sapkal will make it to our local theatre or Netflix…

Off Route 371

If you happen to be driving from San Diego to Palm Springs.

Taking the scenic route.

From the 56 to the 15 to the 79 to the 371 to the 74 to the 111.

And you want to get out and stretch your legs at the halfway point, then here is the perfect spot to do so.

Just before the mailbox, down a dirt road, is the Temecula Olive Oil Company Ranch. 

With buckets of freshly picked olives,

olive oils,

an olive oil bar,

a stone path,

and a brick courtyard.

We decided it would be inappropriate to hang around since:

a)    a scheduled private tour was about to begin

b)    we were not invited

c)    we were the only two people not wearing a name tag

Had we thought to pack a sharpie and a sticky label in our car, there would have been more to this story.

I did however have a brief chat with an attendee from the Rare Fruit Club.

She assured me that tours were also held for ‘regular’ people.

Giddy Up

I have passed this place a bazillion times.

It is next to the Del Mar Horse Park and across the street from the Polo Grounds (which makes sense).

Assumed it was full of hay or oats or whatever else horses eat.

Not sure what tack is.

I’ve only been horseback riding twice.

Not counting merry-go-rounds.

Horsey stuff is rather foreign to me.

On a whim, I stepped into Mary’s the other day and was faced with the enormity of what is needed to become a serious rider.

There are saddles for dressage and western. Blankets and pads for the horses. Hair nets and helmets for the riders. Rows of pants, shirts, and other items to be tailored. Crops and whips in a variety of lengths. A rack of stirrups.  Bridles and bits.

It is a two-story building.

Without a single bale of hay.

But they sure seem to have everything else...

Easing into 2011

Monday is back to...

Work. Gym. Schedules.

Back to real life.

So instead of opening our brand new Ansel Adams calendar this weekend, I chose to savor...tree lights, holiday stories from the last of our visitors, a roaring fire.

And a horoscope that I came across this morning over pancakes and a week's worth of news that had stacked up:

"Part of the reason you love to travel

is that the unfamiliar environment

makes you feel brand new."