A week ago last Friday, on the 19th, Tom and I left for for San Francisco to morph ourselves into woodshop elves to help Dylan meet an important deadline. We do this from time to time. It's fun. And we hope that our "help" doesn't set the project back too much.
On the way, we dropped by the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield to observe by what magic all those little flavor-bombs are made. Turns out there's a lot of cornstarch involved. And who knew that licorice is the third most popular flavor? Astonishing information ("buttered popcorn" is one or two. I forget the other one, but I vote for coconut). I hate black licorice (the "liver" of candy), but Tom loves it, of course. It's better than throwing mine away, I guess. In the gift shop at the end of the tour, we bought fudge, naturally. Because when you have a choice, really...
Meanwhile, in our absence, a giant storm was raging in the mountains. We've had a few, already this season, and our rainfall totals are twice the average. But this one was packing. First snow, at our elevation, several weeks earlier than "normal". I thought I had prepared the front patio...
So, back in SF that Friday, we got to meet Rachel, Dylan's Most Capable Administrative Assistant, which was cool. She's great at quite a few things where Dylan is, well, needing help. Tom and I got very busy sanding solid walnut table pieces. Later, Rachel, the Amazing Sister, came by and helped, too.
Weekend over,Tom had to return home to work, so he left Monday morning, whilst I stayed on for a few days. The table--a gorgeous dining masterpiece with three leaves--had some innovative design elements that needed a bit of extra time to smooth out. I hoped to provide a little support along the way.
The table got finished and delivered Wed. morning, looking fabulous set in Jessica and Alejandro's dining room, ready for Thanksgiving. Dylan and Roomie/Woodshop Assistant, Stephanos then dropped me off at the nearest BART station. I, then found my way to Richmond, and from there hopped the Amtrak to Sacramento, where Tom picked me up mid-afternoon. I love the train!
At home, I had time to shower, roast some yams, eat dinner (frozen DiGiorno--just the ticket, in a pinch) and run off to choir practice. I could hardly help but notice that a., the Subaru was perched at a jaunty angle off the driveway in the snow, b., the patio umbrella was snapped in two, and, c., my little bonsai trees were frozen into the drifts, the table they had been sitting on having collapsed in the storm. As for the Suby, Tom had slid right off the side of the snowy driveway as he arrived home around noon on Monday. There's a bad pitch to the pavement, there, and just maybe the tires have a little less traction than they should. A tow truck saved the situation. Chains, next time.
Come morning, I made the roasted-sweet-potato cheesecake and hummus appetizer I'd promised, packed, and we were off to Diana and Dick's home in Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. The dinner would be on Friday, thankfully.
It was an easy, uneventful (no trucks on I-5!) 8-hour trip to SB (Dylan and Rachel were, by that time, out of state for their holidays). We spent a wonderful, quiet Thursday evening with Diana, Dick and Tom's mom, Ruth. On Friday, Eric, Rachel, Grace and Lilly, Lisa, Carl, Ben, Luke and Joel, Katherine and Jean came to liven things up for the day. First meetings with 9-month-old Lilly and somewhat older, Carl (Special Friend to Lisa), made the occasion even more fun.
Saturday morning, Diana had arranged a special service for the five of us (D & D, Mom, T & me) to bury Ken's ashes under a little oak tree in their yard--he passed away a little over a year ago, now. It was truly lovely and meaningful and, appropriately, took place on what would have been Ken's 55th birthday.
Afterward, we, loaded down with a big box of home-grown Granny Smiths, started our way back home, though the rain. Indoors, at our house, the temp was 49 when we arrived. Winter is here, for sure. Patchy snow is everywhere and not in any hurry to melt. Fine with me.
Next posts will expand a bit, if you're interested...
