“The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning
and does not stop until you get into the office.”
~Robert Frost
The month of October was a fun month. It began with a family tour of Rubel Castle in Glendora (Jenny, Tracy, Heather and Griffin joined me), Tracy, Art and I hiked to The Bridge to Nowhere, Jenny rode sissy with me on a Harley Day-Ride to Mt Baldy Village, and Bonnie and I, along with Grant & Finch, had a great time celebrating our 56th Wedding Anniversary (and their 50th Wedding Anniversary) on Catalina Island. Individual blogs were published on each of these activities. In addition I posted blogs recognizing October birthdays, some favorite family photos, the history of my sports cars and other collector cars, memories of running full and half marathons, some financial observations relating to our retirement years, and a personal memorial observance for some old friends, the Boyles.
This blog summarizes other activities during the month in the category of Visiting Friends & Family and Miscellaneous Other.
Planning with friends-
Bonnie & I met with Steve & Karan at Rudy's Mexican Restaurant in Monrovia on Wednesday, October 18th to discuss some of the details of the November Golf Outing that they are organizing (note that Rudy has joined in the planning). It looks like we will have about 18 people playing golf, with about 9 people attending as spectators. Steve & Karan have developed an interesting set of rules which should result in an interesting and fun game for all (except maybe the most serious of the golfers).
A day at the races with old friends-
Grant and Finch were in town after our anniversary trip to Catalina and on Saturday, October 28th they, and Bonnie & I, went to Santa Anita to bet on the ponies. Spending a day at the race track is always a lot of fun, but since this was during my Year 77 I decided I had to make it extra special. I shouldn't even admit what I did, but since I wasn't alone I'm sure the story would eventually come out. To carry on my fixation with the number seven, I decided to bet on the number 7 horse in every race. The number 7 horses in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd races were Cynthiana, Lipster, and Cool Munnings respectively, and I bet them to Win. Not only did they not win, none of them placed. So I decided if I wanted to go to the window maybe I should bet the horses to Show instead of Win. The number 7 horses in the 4th, 5th and 6th races were Private Prospect, Avanti Bello, and Lake Time respectively, and none of them placed. I don't think any of them came in last, but they were closer to last than to first. Okay! So now comes the 7th race and I haven't yet been to the window. In the 7th race there were nine horses. I bet all nine to Win! Hallelujah! I was finally able to go to the window with a winning ticket (the number 6 horse won).
After the races we went to The Derby, a favorite restaurant in Arcadia, for a great dinner (and to spend my winnings from the track). It's always a good experience at The Derby (food, drink and atmosphere) and Barbara served up a special desert (Baked Alaska) since we had mentioned to her that both couples were celebrating wedding anniversaries. It was a great evening in every way, including watching the Dodgers win Game 4 after dinner.
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Miscellaneous Other-
Poker - I'm a member of a poker club (Poke-In) that meets the second Wednesday of each month at one of the members homes for dinner, drinks and poker. The club also purports to be an investment club and has a sizeable investment portfolio. While we regularly discussed investments in the past, it is currently primarily a social club, and is always a fun gathering. We currently have thirteen members. I attended this month's meeting at the home of Mike A (with Joan preparing a wonderful dinner) and also in attendance were Art W, Don R, Gary B, Gary N, Jarrett, John B and Steve.
Big Bear - Mid-month Bonnie & I drove to Big Bear Lake to spend a few days in the mountains at our Cabin. Since it's October we planned to visit the Big Bear Oktoberfest. Since we acquired our cabin in 1977 the Big Bear Oktoberfest has always been a big attraction during September and October (this is their 47th year!). It features live music, a huge dance floor, German food, games, and contests such as stein holding, lag sawing competitions, and stein carrying to determine the Queen of Oktoberfest. In the early days they had beer chugging contests, but eliminated those a few years ago. Outside the venue you can stroll along the Budenstrasse (avenue of the Booths) and shop for handmade arts, crafts and collectibles. And of course there is plenty of beer. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Convention Center the line to enter was so long we decided the wait would not be worth it. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to go to one of the restaurants on the lake shore, enjoy the weather and the view, and have a glass of wine. First stop was the Poop Deck - closed due to loss of license. Next was Vintage - no reason posted, but it was also closed. The Evergreen is not on the lake shore, but has a deck with a great lake view so we drove to that location. No reason posted, but they were also closed. This was a Saturday - the village, Oktoberfest at the Convention Center, and the streets generally, were just packed with people. We couldn't believe these places were closed. So we decided to have a glass of wine on the patio at Paoli's Italian Restaurant and were finally successful. Never had so much difficulty trying to relax and have a libation.
Photos from the left: The line to get in Oktoberfest; the exit - i.e. no one was leaving; success on Paoli's patio.
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Family Visiting - While Grant & Finch were in town for our trip to Catalina our daughters wanted to visit them. On Friday night, after our return from the Island, Tracy, Heather, and Sean came to the house for dinner and a visit. On Saturday morning before we went to Santa Anita, Jenny came by for a visit. And on Saturday night, after we came home from dinner, Heather and Griffin came by for a visit. Unfortunately, the only photo I got was the Friday night visit.
Halloween- Halloween activities by our grand-kids are pretty much limited to Griffin these days. He turned 11 this year and his newest activity is karate. He's shown below at one of his Karate classes when he earned his yellow belt and at Library Park on Halloween evening giving a demonstration with his Karate Group. The 2nd row shows him carving his pumpkin, and in his Halloween outfit.
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The photos below are just some of the many "Trick or Treaters" that came to our home during the Halloween evening. They probably didn't realize they were interrupting the Dodger's win of the 6th World Series game.
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Our first generation has varying degrees of interest in Halloween. This year Heather has gone all out with a pumpkin top, Jenny is displaying pumpkin bottoms (her Halloween LuluRoe), and Tracy, who says she's a Grinch, is displaying a Halloween head-dress belonging to one of her work associates.
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Surprise a Stranger- Just for fun I've been giving a gift of $7 to a stranger on the 7th day of each month (or another day if the 7th doesn't work) with a brief explanation as to why I'm doing it (I'm sure they think I'm crazy). This month Bonnie & I were ordering a veggie burrito on the 7th at T-Burger in Monrovia and a woman came up and asked about our order. She apparently liked the idea of no meat in the burrito but hadn't realized you could order a veggie. We answered her question and talked for a few minutes. She was so friendly I told her I was going to do her another small favor. I said that I was giving a $7 gift to a stranger today and handed her a $5 bill and a $2 bill with a note attached explaining how the number 7 played into my life. She said, "Thank you -- how sweet!" To my surprise I received an email from her that evening. She thanked me again, said she enjoyed the Year 77 website, and said she was saving the gift for a "pay it forward" situation.
Good Deeds- I have set an objective to be more aware of the opportunities to do good deeds. I'm sure that opportunities are all around me, but I seem to have difficulty recognizing these situations - but I'll keep trying. None of my October activities could qualify as good deeds.
October was an interesting month, with fun activities and visits with friends and family members. I'm looking forward to an active and fun month in November.