Monday, April 30, 2018

Weekend

Time goes by.

You can probably guess which family member helped break the record
(and had helped set the previous record). Can you say, "Target audience"?
A lot of the time was spent at Mudd for alumni weekend.

Lots of things sponsored by this company,
which also gave mints in the shape of their logo.


Despite the pies, oiled watermelons, and other games some alums decided to move on.
We had a great walk in the botanic garden,
including checking out the bees, owl pellets, and turtles. 
We finished with dinner out, fond farewells, and a family meeting before getting ready for the week ahead. A. has one more triad (each semester is divided in thirds) and D. has a couple more classes before reading days and finals. Time really does go by!

Monday, April 23, 2018

Fluke

Is there a word for the term when you learn about something you had never heard of and all of a sudden it appears again? That's what happened today.

I heard the radio announcer talking about the LA Yarn Crawl (which I wish I had heard of before) and about collecting all 28 pins from all around the county.


Then I was running errands on my bicycle and right by the rack I saw a pin. I picked it up (hoping it was from CicLAvia), turned it over, and saw a pin that had been given away from Make One in the town to the west.

Maybe I should do a blog post on all the things I find on the side of the road.
Like this, right next to the curb in the left-turn lane on the way home from the grocery store.

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Beyond my expectations

You say SYE-clah-VEE-ah, or maybe sih-CLAH-vee-ah, and I say SEE-clah-VEE-ah.  It doesn't matter because we all have fun! We were so lucky to have CicLAvia come out to the eastern edge of the LA County for the first time.

Despite volunteering at the beginning at end of the Earth Day events at the Claremont hub,
I had time to join D., A., and his friend for a quad ride along the route.
It was the best people watching, bicycle watching, and dog watching event ever.
Dogs
  • dog in a side car of a classic bicycle
  • dog in a handmade basket with its front paws on the shoulders of the cyclist
  • dogs in front baskets, dogs in trailers, dogs in backpacks

People
I think there must have been one of every kind of person. It reminded me of the old Armour hot dog ad, although I hope everyone was healthy.
Fat kids, skinny kids, kids who climb on rocks
Tough kids, sissy kids, even kids with chicken pox
Bicycles (too many pictures to post!)



Not shown - tricycle penny farthing, two-wheeled vehicle with the rear hub off-set from the center (spokes of all different lengths), motorized unicycle, and skateboards being ridden like paddle boards.

(Edited to add that there are much better people, bicycle, and dog pictures other places, like the area newspaper.)

This was my view during a relatively quiet part of the ride.

A. maybe have collected the most freebies since he was riding at the end and people were happily giving away sunglasses, little backpacks, and bike lights, but I liked my loot best.
Collectable stickers seem to be popular for bike rides around here.
I was also happy to get a patch kit (for flat tires) for David
and he earned a tote bag for me by supporting the farmers market.
I don't really wish it happened every year (closing roads and coordinating four cities is a lot of work), but I thoroughly enjoyed my day.

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Entertainment

We aren't empty nesters yet, but that day is on the horizon so we are starting to learn how to fill our evenings.

Originally we were going to see a doo-wop show, but instead we had a chance to see
In the Heights, a musical by the same person who wrote the lyrics to Hamilton

D. was able to make it to the ceremony in which
A. was inducted into the speech and debate society.

Peanuts and Cracker Jacks were included when we went to see Damn Yankees,
which was a fund raiser for a group supporting live theater.

We did not make it to Pomona College's hip-hop,gender-bending version
of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which had only a one-weekend run.

Saturday, April 7, 2018

Distribution

Sometimes I think of errands as taking things from my house and putting them where they belong, like taking a check to the bank or an envelope to the post office. Today was like that.

First up was a stop at a shredding event. I don't need to hold onto
blank checks from a bank that no long exists, along with a few other things.
I always have a bag at home where I collect things to donate.  Today was the day to
drop it off, which was a good choice since I ran into two friends doing the same.

The only thing I left at the Folk Music Center was money.
Lots of good options for birthday presents!
My favorite place to take things and pick things up is the library.

It will be closed for at least six months and I will be so happy when it reopens!

The next step is to avoid bringing too many things into the house.

Friday, April 6, 2018

Supporting a cause

I was grateful for some rain after a dry spring, but I was also grateful for a dry day when outdoor activities were scheduled.


People went to Los Angeles for Bach in Subways, a movement, "to sow the seeds
for future generations of classical music lovers and share their joy
and inspiration for their artform," 

but I enjoyed the small groups in Claremont.

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Spring Break

We didn't go away, but we did have a nice hike and lunch.





You can tell these pictures are old because the
moose head is decorated for St. Patrick's Day.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

America's pastime



I guess we picked the wrong game to attend.

Silver linings include

Two free wall calendars (which already have new homes).
Seeing Shohei Othani's first major league home run.


Watching them change Albert Pujols hits count as he approaches 3000.
I would much rather have missed all that and watched Cleveland win 6-0 and seen an inside-the-park homerun!

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

It will never rain again...

...Because we finally replaced the garage roof.

D. moved bikes and covered other things.


Part of our collection.

Off with the old
On with the new.

Looks good, but we'll know for sure after it rains.

Monday, April 2, 2018

Random pictures from March

Cleaning out the fridge and cabinets. Thanks, hens.

Despite my high school's doubts about my ability, I did judge this contest.

Another shot from volunteering at swim discipline of the pentathlon competition.

Lots of rain means lots of mushrooms

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