The Aliens did it...

Well, it does make sense. On a hot Friday evening, four lovely RETIRED ladies headed over to the outdoor
Turtle Bay Cafe to enjoy some music and libation. Coincidentally, this particular evening was also the introduction to a new museum exhibit on
extraterrestrials. So, when the outdoors light show began we joined over 200 other people on the north side of the Sundial Bridge to watch. We carved out our spots on the lawn and breathlessly awaited the big show! What a huge disappointment! A third grader could have put on that light show, and the music could have been good, but it was poorly executed with lots of starts and stops. The sad thing was that some people were from out of town and had been expecting something special. However, on the way back across the bridge, due to the numerous people on it, we had (as Patty said) an “E” ride. It swayed so much that no one was able to walk straight, we were practically falling over. (And we’d only had one glass of wine). Anyway, the next morning I awoke to find my right rear tire flat! Therefore, it must have been the aliens! So goes life in Redding.

thought of the week:
Boldly going nowhere.

A Taste of Redding

Yes, food and drink, but for me it was the music! What a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The venue was the Civic Center (new City Hall) sculpture garden.
There were twenty seven food tents with samples. Also, a wine and beer area. Unfortunately, (or maybe as a Godsend) I lost my food ticket after only a few samples. The wine area was near the country music, so I opted to forget that and head directly to the jazz. What a pleasant time, great music, a beautiful day and with a gently cooling breeze and young girls could be seen dancing and twirling in their summer dresses on the lawn. Two of my favorite groups performed: Allison Skull and Victor Martin (I even met Allison’s twin sister, who was here celebrating their birthday) and Montuno Salad Latin Jazz, who kept us rocking!

As I wandered among the tents I saw a Charlie Chaplin character and a balloon man. There was a magician, but I missed seeing him. The area was full of interesting diverse sculpture and beautiful flowers. I did run into some friends of mine and some friends of Chris’. You Redding folks need to do this next year -- so much fun!

Three More Join the Flock


Yea!! Two down and one to go, well that is retirement parties! Yes, this past week two good friends had great retirement parties. Mary is leaving town, so her party will not be until sometime later. Donna’s party was lovely and held at a local golf club with nice dinner, a lot of praise and much roasting!! Which she took well. I enjoyed seeing some friends from my past.
Patty’s party was a total SURPRISE to her, which really made it fun! Another nice dinner at a fellow teacher’s house with so many friends to visit with. After dinner, they even had a magic show...(not dorky) this guy was amazing and funny. He had previously been in the class of two of the teachers there.

Memorial Day 2007

As it was indeed Memorial Day (or the day chosen to celebrate it) I went to visit my late husband’s grave, he was a Viet Nam vet. Then I decided to head out to see the new National Cemetery which is near Redding. It was a long drive (I didn’t figure out the shorter way until coming home), but well worth it. The cemetery sits on the top of a hill with gorgeous green trees and surrounding hills which seem to touch the blue sky. It was an impressive and emotional sight as the numerous flags waved in the breeze. I thought of my father, grandfather, husband and all the brave men and women who are or have ever served in the military. The families of the fallen, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, loved ones and children. I hope someday that there will be no more wars in which to loose or maim our young, strong, bright people.
The day ended with a fun barbecue at Vicky and Ken's.

More weekend activity.

Sunday, May 27th, I decided to go see the Titanic Artifact Exhibit at the Turtle Bay Museum. Since it was a holiday weekend and the day before the exhibit closed, I was accompanied by a throng of people. It was very interesting to see and learn more about the real Titanic. One of the most interesting things was a fake glacier that you could touch to get the idea of how cold it and the waters were. There were characters dressed in period costumes who would tell you in “first person” about their job on the ship and other information. When you begin the tour you are given a boarding pass with the name of a real passenger and as you depart you find out if you live or died. I was a young 14 year old girl and I survived.