2013 - 2014

Greetings!

I never finished my Christmas cards for 2013, anddidn’t produce a generic letter at all. My apologies! And once the holidays were past, I couldn’t get in the mood. Now I’ll try to skim the two years.

2013: The main events were the usual trips to San Francisco and Santa Barbara, but also a bigger trip--to Seattle in August, to see its opera’s production of Wagner’s Ring cycle (4 operas). I’d been told they were the only ones doing a “traditional” Ring these days, and that I must see it. I’d never been to Seattle.

Went by train-- an all-day, all-night ride, in “coach” -- but a very comfortable part thereof--lower level, meantprimarily for people with infirmities, in my case bad knee, arthritis -- thus not having to climb up & down stairs in a moving train. Large seats, with leg supports and lots of leg room, and the seat backs in front of you have tray flaps. And you get food service at your seat! Very good and tasty food! An attendant takes your order from a menu and brings themeal to you. They have electric outlets at each seat so you can use a computer or charge your cell phone, etc. So with all this plus my own large yak-wool shawl to use as a blanket, my own seat cushion and a folded sweater as lumbar cushion, I was very comfortable.

This sounds like a plug for Amtrak. I must say it was indefinitely nicer than the unpleasantries of current-day airplane travel.

I’d never gone that far north by land, so the vast forests we went through were an amazing sight. And Seattle itself was a surprise. What a grand old railway station! Huge, allwhite interior, high-ceilinged (moulded ceilings), marble floors, and very efficient organization. A busy travel hub. The city turned out to be lively, with lots of boutiques, shops and all kinds of foreign restaurants. But I didn’t try them, as I’d immediately become enamored with the Metropolitan Market right near my hotel, with a delicious variety of hot and cold food cafeteria style (to eat there or take away), plus great pastries, ice creams, groceries and even gift items.

There were a few lectures in conjunction with the operas and one of the singers took part in a lunchtime Q&A while we ate box lunches.

The Ring production itself turned out to be too “prettypretty” for my taste, and the Götterdämmerung absolutely wishy-washy instead of the overpowering end-of-the-world you expect. So that was disappointing

During a free day I took a sightseeing tour of the city, and was pleased to see the “fish ladder” constructed on the river to enable fish to make their spawning runs upstream and back.

The guide pointed out the gigantic construction to create Amazon’s new headquarters. We passed a “sculpture  garden” of sorts, which included a large circular object with a slight handle and a brush as the tail. He said Bill Gates sponsored it at the wishes of his mother, since his computers had enhanced its obsolescence. He asked “Can anyone identify that?” The van contained several other “retirement vintage” passengers, but I was the only one who raised my hand and said “A typewriter eraser!” Younger passengers had no idea, and the older ones weren’t admitting it if they knew.

We passed an old building which he said had been the headquarters of the L. C. Smith company. “Anyone know what they made?” he asked. My hand shot up again: “Typewriters!”

In October I attended a Stanford homecoming (4 days), though this was not the year for my class’ 5-year reunion. Once you reach a certain level of antiquity, the University lumps you together with survivors from other long-ago classes, as the “Cardinal Society.” If you pay for even one of the events you are entitled to attend all the “classes without quizzes,” lectures, roundtable, etc., and can also opt (for another fee) for a first-class luncheon in the Alumni Building, with linen, silver, china, crystal, wine, etc., where you’re seated with a handful of people from your class or ones near it.

I particularly enjoy the “classes without quizzes.” There are so many intriguing topics offered in each time slot that it’s hard to choose, but I picked the following:

“Spytainment: How Fake Spies are Influencing Real Intelligence Policy” (Amy Segart, Senior Fellow, Hoover Inst., Co-Director of Center for International Security & Cooperation)

The government’s counter-terrorism building was designed by Disney Engineers, because their old building looked too ordinary and un-spylike!

Fictional characters influence policymakers!

The Pentagon has a liaison in Hollywood for spy stuff! “Seeing Roman Slavery” (Classics Assoc. Prof. Jennifer Trimble).

(The very visible crucifixion of 5000 survivors of the Spartacus Rebellion on the Via Appia--an excellent warning to others!

Slaves wore collars saying: “Stop me and return me to my master”!

“Landscape as Autobiography: Writers and Painters in America” (Prof. Bryan Wolf, American Art & Culture)

Over the past two centuries they have turned to the landscape to record not just what they see, but what they dream and desire.

“The Monotony of Modernity” (Asst. Prof. Saikat Majumdar, English)

Literary modernity is distinguished by a radical preoccupation with the monotonous, the marginal and the trivial! The modern novel celebrates the banalities of life!

“A Life of Contemplation or Action? Debates in Western Literature and Philosophy”  (Assoc. Prof. Blakey Vermeule, English)

What kind of life is best? Can we ever achieve a balance between them?

As at previous reunions, I managed a few long walks but utilized the golf cart transport for most of the longer distances between campus venues, and to get back to the train station. (I stay in San Francisco and run down to Palo Alto on the commuter trains.)

In December I was in San Francisco again for the Wagner Society’s Christmas party (officially called the “Cosima Birthday Party,” since Wagner’s wife was born on Christmas day). This was a grand feast with a duo-piano concert (is that the word?) - two pianists playing transcriptions of Wagner numbers on a single piano. They shared a bench, and each -- rather short people-- was seated on a pile of telephone books arranged to elevate him and her to a suitable height.

Back in Morro Bay, the new Rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church--who had already had a 20-year career as professional actor/director/producer--produced a staged reading of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with a few customers, props and sound effects, and a number of his young relatives taking various roles. (The church got extra value in hiring him!)

2014:In January (birthday month) I renewed my driver’s license, with splendid eyesight and getting nearly all the written questions right! Though I haven’t owned a car for years, I keep the license in case I need to rent one, or if I should be riding with someone who collapses, I can legally seize the wheel and haul them off to the nearest Emergency Room

In March,the usual San Francisco trip to see my tax preparer, and of course to spend a few extra days to see old friends for lunch. A nice bonus to the tax prep--the accountant had an extra ticket to take me to a concert by Schola Cantorum, an auditioned group of amateurs, celebrating its 50th anniversary. They specialize in sacred music, and it was a lovely concert, with one piece specially composed just for the occasion.

In Augustthe Stanford Alumni Club of this Central Coast area held a barbecue in a rustic park in San Luis Obispo, to honor young students just accepted for admission to the University, with proud parents basking in their reflected glory,

End of August-early September,Santa Barbara again, for the Pacific Coast Open Polo Finals--the top rated players always an exciting game to watch, with gorgeous horses and handsome riders!

Also in September, the City of Morro Bay celebrated the anniversary of its attaining cityhood with a parade, the PRes. of the Historical Society roped me into riding in a trolley with other old-timers. With bells clanging, the exuberant driver exhorted us to shout greetings at various notable spectators. I think there were more people marching and riding in the parade than there were spectators, but everyone seemed to be having a good time at it.

In early December, my trip to San Francisco was challenging, since it coincided with storms and long-hopedfor rain. (You have heard of our drought-plagued state.) The day after my arrival I’d planned to ride the ferryboat over to Larkspur to lunch with friends. The storm, wind, rain and rough seas were so bad that per the TV weather announcements, the ferries were not running. Abrupt change in plans.

When I headed out from my motel seeking a hearty, hot breakfast, both places, I use had sustained electric power failure. The first was closed altogether. The second was open but had nothing but fruit and pieces of cake, so all I could get was a banana, to eat in the darkened cafe. It was seriously difficult to walk in this storm-- the wind nearly knocked me over, and my umbrella turned inside out, with all its ribs sticking up and out in all directions like a sculpture of an abstract spider--and no cover for me. I thought I’d have to throw it away and buy a new one. Later I was able to gently get all the spokes back into place and fold it in its normal way.

What else to do? Check out some stores! Bloomingdale’s, then Nordstrom’s: both places still had full electric power. Stores have a supply of plastic bags just inside the entrance for customers to stuff their dripping umbrellas-- and not drip on the merchandise. Nice Crab Louis lunch at the latter--watching the rain running down the large windows, and pouring down outside. An anomalous “summery” lunch in a winter rain

The Wagner Society’s Christmas party was again held in the grand Marines’ Memorial Club, with a young bassbaritone singing to us. (Mostly Mahler--?!--but one proper Wagner number, in which Wotan asks his wife to follow him into Valhalla! Now that’s more like it!)

My other lunch appointments worked out all right, with just rain and no gales--two in Palo Alto, and one in the East Bay, riding BART [U.S. subway, U.K. underground to Walnut Creek and visiting an old friend in Alamo. On the day of the big storm a neighbor’s tree had crashed through her garage roof (luckily not hitting the car), and she’d been without electricity for four days, with neighbors bringing her hot meals. (She’d been “interviewed” on one of the TV channels about this disaster, but I’d apparently been watching a different channel and missed this.)

Back in Morro Bay - the Rector again staged his Christmas Carol, this time using parishioners for the cast. My candidate for the Oscar would be the man who played the Ghost of Jacob Marley, draped in heavy chains (fake) with heavy chain (real) sound effects from nearby, and his agonized wailing struck fear into one and all.

ANIMAL NOTES:

It’s been years since I had frogs soaking themselves in my “rain barrels” or the cats’ water dish. I’ve missed them.

The cats, Jazz (B&W Tuxedo, Longhair) and Butterball, nicknamed BB (orange stripes, Shorthair) are now both 13 years old, which the vet says corresponds roughly to 60 in humans. Jazz is still in fine fettle, and thinks he’s young. BB has developed hyperthyroidism, which we treat with a “transdermal gel” medication specially compounded by a pharmacy in the city of Templeton, northeast of here, for veterinary specifications. (No layman can get a pill into a cat, so this gel is the way to go -- just apply it to the inside of the ear flap and it’s absorbed into the cat’s system through the skin.)

For our first batch of syringes, a friend happened to be going over that way so he stopped to pick it up for me. He reported that his asking for the prescription for a cat named Butterball Knott (!) in an ostensibly human pharmacy caused some merriment among the other customers!

My cats still catch gophers on occasion, but given the size of the yard, it’s too big a job for two cats. To avoid sinking and tripping in gopher tunnels and hoes, I use a cane in my own yard. (Not needed on hard, paved surfaces!)

Squirrels again provided me with Christmas decoration for my front door--they chew off small pine bough tips from a tree across the street (normal dental hygiene procedure of squirrels). (My tree has died.) I attach large red ribbons to the pine--perfect decor for this architecture.

The cats would not hold an interesting pose long enough for me to take some good pictures of them for this letter. What else can I come up with?

This holiday season’s gluttony, fueled by a delectable array of gift cheeses, cookies, shortbread, fruit cake, and chocolates, is inimical to waistline maintenance: I feel the pinch around the waist already

Again my apologies for the tardiness-- I HOPE I can get these mailed at least within the Twelve Days of Christmas… So, belated Merry Christmas, and best wishes for the New Year!