Here are some images that capture the spirit of our 2017. Keeping with the year-end recap tradition, I’ve presented them in black and white. Oh, and Happy New Year!
(...now that it’s already March)
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Terry waltzes up
Double Dip at Joshua Tree Nat’l Park. Nothing like a crisp, winter day at Josh, where the sun warms the soul.
Meet Toby, aka
der Pudelhund. He’s a standard poodle, born Christmas Day, 2016. We brought him home at nine weeks—around the time this selfie was taken. So now, each weekday morning, Ter goes to work
(to her new job as vice principal!) and I raise her puppy. She keeps saying he’s extremely smart. I tell her swell, he can do our taxes.
Emerald Pools Trail, Zion Nat’l Park. We packed up the van and spent a week here over Ter’s spring break. It was also Toby's first road trip.
High adventures with my sweetheart.
The main reason for going to Zion was to finally bag Lady Mountain via the old Cable Route
(to which there are no longer cables for assist). It's a 2,700-foot ascent. A five-star adventure climb.
Grandkids, Hayden and Logan, are all smiles at Disney’s California Adventure. We took them for Hayden’s fourth birthday.
AND, I might add, Grandma and Grandpa outlasted them. At the end of the day, it was the kids who said they were tired and wanted to go home.
Elsa belts out “Let It Go” during the
Frozen musical at California Adventure. It was a full-on Broadway production, the highlight of Hayden’s day. We had V.I.P. front row seats
(my granddaughter has connections).
Kevin and Randi got married in June. Salute!
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| photo by Kevin Haynes |
Kevin & Randi on the
Llama Trail in Sedona. Kevin had this Salsa tandem mountain bike custom built. Sweet ride.
Logan barrels down a trail on Mammoth Mountain with Grandma in hot pursuit. This was the Loganator’s first time at a mountain bike park, and he took to it like a duck to water.
Hayden and Heather cruise through the campground at Mammoth Lakes. After watching my granddaughter zip around on her little strider bike, it’s clear she’s ready for pedals. Then watch out. Mammoth Mountain is calling.
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| photo by Robert Plumb |
Doug in charge at Over The Hump, a race series that runs over the summer. He placed first in class overall for the series. No stress here: he’s sticking his tongue out at the photographer.
Doug & Brianna with their golden retriever pup, Levi. They celebrated their first wedding anniversary in May.
Allie and boyfriend Brandon
(relaxing on the grass) ham it up backstage with the band Lit at the Driftwood Music Festival, Doheny Beach. Mingling with rock stars, they are.
At the Hollywood Bowl. Allie snagged some great seats for Tom Petty’s last stop of his world tour. Terry couldn’t make the gig, so Brianna was my date. It was an incredible show, TP playing to his home crowd. But one week later, he would pass away: an American treasure gone—but never forgotten.
A placid morning in the San Juan Islands. Terry and I spent five days kayaking through this enchanted archipelago; camping on wooded beaches; sleeping under the stars; beholding magnificent sunsets. Life is good.
On Cypress Island, we be. It's one of the nine islands we explored on our 45-mile passage through the San Juans. And aye, that be Cap’n James lurking behind me, the dauntless guide and navigator of our motley flotilla. There were six of us—including the good cap’n—and rollicking times were had by all.
Seattle in July. We're keen on the Emerald City.
The Jimi Hendrix gravesite in the Seattle suburb of Renton. I was fifteen when his double-album
Electric Ladyland was released: a sonic masterpiece that became the soundtrack to my high school days. Even forty-eight years after his death, there remains a steady stream of fans that stop in to quietly pay their respects, most of them from other parts of the country, and many of them in their twenties. The legend lives on.
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| photo by Randi Haynes |
Randi and Ter in the Central Coast wine country. It was a mother-daughter birthday weekend. Randi turned 30, and Ter... Sorry, I've been sworn to secrecy.
Heather and the grandkids joined us at Joshua Tree for an action-packed day of climbing, hiking and zip-lining with the SCMA gang.
Der Pudelhund at eleven months old. Toby follows me everywhere, my partner in crime. And he's becoming quite the mountaineer. In October-November, he bagged the summits of Baldy, Ontario, Cucamonga, Santiago, Grey Tahquitz, and Baden-Powell. He almost summited San Bernardino Peak, but we turned back 400 feet from the top due to gale-force winds and temperatures in the twenties. But we’ll bag it next time. Right, Mister T?
At Christmas, we were entertained by a sensational new band, Hayden & the Poodles. They kinda sound like Lady Gaga meets the Muppets.
--- Epilogue ---
Two shining lights passed on at the end of the year. Hence I am commemorating this post to them…
Domenico Ernesto “Buddy” Cataldi: 1927-2017. Buddy was Allie and Heather's grandfather, and my father-in-law for twenty years. He was the consummate stand-up guy: a WW2 vet; college athlete; farm-league ball player for the Philadelphia Phillies; a devoted husband; father; grandfather. He set the bar high. The photo was taken at his 90th birthday bash in June.
Dano Nichols: 1963-2017. Dan’s mother and my mother were sisters, and growing up, we saw each other all the time. He was more like a brother to me than a cousin, which made his passing on Christmas Eve all the more painful. He built a successful life with his bare hands: homes; hot rods; vintage motorcycles. He also founded the Dynotones, an Orange County surf band with a faithful following both here and overseas. Dano will always be my guitar hero. The photo was taken at one of his gigs in Germany.
If there is anything at all to learn from Buddy and Dano, it is this: Set the bar high and play your heart out. That’s my mantra for 2018.
