"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out,
shouting "holy shit.....what a ride!"
The month of March had many fun activities. Individual blogs were published on each of the following bucket-list activities: the month began with a fun trip to Julian, then on to San Diego to visit Bob & Laurie, and Owen and Scarlett. Next I went on an enjoyable Harley Day-Ride in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, then Art and I went to Big Bear for our final ski trip for this winter. Next we did a Family Visit to a local Event Center to watch Sheepdog Herding Competition (Bev entered Ev in these Trials and it was fun watching him in action), then I went on a great hike with Harry in the San Gabriel Mountains to Orchard Camp. The final activity for March was a fun tennis match with Al at his home court in Woodland Hills. We drove to Mesquite at the end of the month for the 2018 Mini-Zonk which will be a published activity in April.
In addition to the above activities, I published blogs recognizing March Birthdays, Favorite Family Photos (Bonnie this month), an Updated Planning Schedule, and Personal Memorial Observations for Merlin and Lenore. A planned Family Tour of Angels Flight was rained out and will now be done on April 15th.
This blog summarizes other "non bucket-list activities" during the month of March in the category of Activities and Visiting With Friends & Family and Miscellaneous Other.
Activities With Family-
A Brunch: We had planned a Family Tour of Angels Flight followed by lunch at Olvera Street, in downtown Los Angeles for Saturday March 10th. A rain storm moved into Los Angeles that day and we had to defer this tour to another day. Since many of the family already had the time blocked off on their calendar, we went to a local favorite restaurant, T-Burgers, for brunch. Curran happened to be in town, and Tracy's friend Jen was in town, so it was great that they could join us. Griffin is kind of hidden in the photo, but he was there for sure!
A Memorial: On March 26th Bonnie & I attended a memorial for Mike's Grandma, Vida Stillman, at the Lutheran Church in Arcadia. In addition to all the rituals by the Pastor, interesting talks including memories of Grandma Vida were given by Mike, his sister Carla, and the family's longtime pastor and friend, Rev. Sonnenberg. My fond recollection of Grandma Vida was dancing with her at Mike's brother Danny's wedding reception. She was an excellent dancer. Probably the best follower of a man's lead of anyone I've ever danced with (maybe I had better say except for Bonnie).
Griffin: Periodically we get a chance to tend (and visit) with Griffin when Heather and Sean have other parental duties. We love to have Griffin visit us - it's clear that Bonnie is Griffin's favorite playmate at our house. On March 5th I picked Griffin up at home and took him to school, getting a short visit on the way. On March 27th Heather brought Griffin to our house mid-day, spent some time with him doing homework, then we (Bonnie) played with him for several hours that afternoon.
Activities With Friends-
While in Big Bear skiing early March, Art W and I had a good visit with Art H. He had a variety of things going on, including arranging for an alternative place to live (his current arrangement is ending), attending a memorial for a friend, and some entertainment gigs. I'm trying to talk Art H into doing a trail bike ride in the mountains surrounding Big Bear Valley during May. He seems reluctant so we'll see what happens.
I attended the regular monthly Poke-In Meeting at Gary B's house mid-March. There were 8 or 9 of us attending (Art W, Mike A, John B, Gary B, Steve H, Steve L, Don R, and Tye) and over objections by a few of us we were coerced into playing the various crazy Omaha games (Slider, 8-way, 12-way, 52-way, etc)
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). I attach an explanatory note to a 5-dollar bill and a 2-dollar bill.
While on a March Harley Day-Ride visiting many local mountain communities, I stopped for lunch at the Grizzly Cafe in Wrightwood. The atmosphere was really nice and the staff were all friendly and helpful. Jenny was my waitress and she was so efficient and had such a great personality that I decided to give her my March $7 gift. She had noticed the 7-Pin that I was wearing, and was interested in my story. She said she was also born on the 7th, although not July 7th. Anyway, she was very appreciative of the small gift.
Miscellaneous Other-
This is not a personal activity, but I think the "March For Our Lives" was the most important thing that happened during March. The "March" was a huge demonstration (hundreds of thousands of people) held in cities across this country (and around the globe) as a plea by young people for our leaders to address violence in our schools. It is a complicated and emotional issue, but the young people, motivated primarily by the recent killings at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, are organizing to bring attention to this subject and to motivate our leaders to grow up and take some action. There is no easy answer, but the present "do nothing approach" is unacceptable. I listened to many of the speeches and interviews of the young people on March 24th and I am heartened by their enthusiasm, their dedication, and the fact that they recognize it will be a long difficult struggle to get Congress to take any action. But I believe they are up to it. They know that one big march is not the answer. They know they cannot write new laws themselves. They never mentioned or blamed a specific political party. They know that there are many aspects to the problem, including our culture, mental health, a variety of issues relating to guns, school security, and on and on. They have initiated programs to promote the young people to register to vote, including programs at high schools for those turning 18 while in school. The young people between the age of 18 and 35 represent a sizable voting block. I hope all of us in the older generations, who have not been able to make progress against taming violence at our schools, will give our full support to this movement.
March was an active, fun and interesting month. I'm looking forward to an active and fun month in April.
