GOOD MEMORIES, BAD REALITY...

Us, you ask? Ha, we wish!

The year was 2009. 

 It was a beautiful 

sun filled, San Diego, California,
 day in January.

  We were there on vacation

 without a care in the world. 

 We had just finished

 a delicious bowl of fresh clam chowder and 

was then scheduled 

to take a short boat ride 

around San Diego harbor.

I grew up in Santa Cruz,

 around the ocean and beaches. 

 It is a beautiful place 

with a lot of wonderful sights 

but San Diego 

gives it a run for its money. 

 The waters of the harbor 

are filled with

 everything imaginable...

...sail boats

 with colorful sails,

 tour boats

 loaded with sightseers...

...security boats

 piloted by naval personnel
 along side 
recreational activities... 

...restaurants 
lining the shores and
 sun bathers 
in all shapes and sizes..

...and territory occupied 

by the U.S. Navy. 

 There are pads 

along the water 

for helicopters, and 

ships in dry dock 

that are being

 rebuilt and refurbished.

The USS Midway, 

now a naval museum, 

is a popular attraction...

...and you can see 

the famous sculpture of 

the nurse and the midshipman, 

kissing in the street, 

celebrating the end of World War 11.

 The Captain says

 he is just standing there 

to show the size 

of the sculpture!

There are so many wonderful things

 to see in San Diego

 but there was one sight

 that I never dreamed

 we would see again.

The USSN Mercy,

 was in dry dock at that time,

 but is now anchored 

in the Los Angeles harbor 

awaiting to be filled 

with patients from local hospitals

 so that their beds

 can be freed up

 for the COVID-19 pandemic patients. 

 (I remembered 

taking a photo of a hospital ship 

while there and 

when I looked back 

through my pictures - 

sure enough there it was. 

 I hadn't paid any attention, 

at the time, 

to the name of the vessel - 

I was intrigued by 

the large red cross.)

This is such a sad time. 

 I pray that all the medical heroes 

on the front lines 

can get what they need 

to keep them, and their patients,

 safe. 

 In my lifetime,

 I have never seen 

a situation such as this. 

 We all thought 

that there could never be 

any time worse 

then what happened on 9-11 

but we are being put 

to a hard test again and 
today I heard 
that the death toll 
has exceeded that 
of 9-11.

"We are all in this together and

 he says

 he is practicing social distance

 but I know he just wants to steal 

my breakfast"

We all need 

to find something 

to occupy our time and our thoughts. 

 We need to watch the news,

 sometime like looking at a train wreck, 

but it is important to know

 what is happening 

even though we can only watch so much. 

 As you have undoubtedly heard by now,

 The Tiger King, streaming on Netflix,

 is a really good show 

to take our minds to

 a different place for a short while. 

 It is about 

big cats, murder and mayhem. 

 Another entertaining series

 is Good Girls,

 about three moms 

trying to better their soccer mom lives and

 we have just finished watching 

Unorthodox,

 about a young Jewish girl 

out in the world 

after her faith is being tested.

 We enjoyed it and 

thought it was well worth our time. 

 The Hallmark Channel

 has started airing 

Christmas movies also,

 another form of escape.

I am enjoying

 watercolor painting now, 

so am practicing as I go.  

I think I am getting a better handle

 on painting leaves and 

am trying to perfect the technique

 of using less paint and 

building on that.

 Some things

 end up better than others, 

but it is something to keep me busy and 

after we are back to normal,

 I'm hoping I can justify 

buying better

 paints and brushes.

Practice, practice, practice...
Makes perfect??

All my daffodils 

have bloomed now and 

I picked them 

so the rain and snow 

wouldn't bend them over. 

 We have had 

a little more

 of both.

The kids 

came up to shop for us again 

in their pretty new car. 

 I am so grateful to them

 for doing this. 

 I had to go 

to CVS to pick up meds the other day and,

 I don't mind saying, 

I was freaked out

 to leave the house and 

of being in the store.

 I will leave you with

 some much needed beauty 

of a San Diego sunset,

 a memory from

 better days...

Stay home and stay well.

...Judy...


P.S.
 Have you noticed 
that my photos are larger than usual? 
I don't know what happened. 
I didn't do anything different
 than I normally do 
but I had to move 
the right column over 
to fit everything in.
 I, personally, 
don't mind it, 
as old eyes kind of enjoy bigger things,
 but if they annoy you
 let me know.
 Everything 
seems to be out of our control
 these days!

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