It was 38 degrees Fahrenheit when I arrived, but warming up in the sun and moving water helped to warm us all up as we enjoyed a glorious morning on the waters of Carquinez Strait.
20231209 Whaleboat Row
All posts by jah
Dinner with friends at Buttercup
Vallejo has a Buttercup restaurant which we love. I find the booth dining charming and there’s a large variety on the menu.
Sadly, today would have been my mother’s 81st birthday.
Xmas Decor 2023
From the outside:
Repurposing Community Board Stand
Our Glen Cove Community Association installed this lovely community board up by the shopping center that one sees as one enters our neighborhood. The intention is to keep the public aware of our goings-on. The first sign that was shipped to us was damaged on top, so GCCA brought me the old stand. They figured that since I had offered to save on storage costs for the organization by using space in my garage, I’d take this extra piece as well. Using my garage as storage also saves me time when we get the microphone equipment ready for the community meetings. So instead of putting this weather-friendly post outside, I found a place to repurpose it IMMEDIATELY, and I love the results. This makes for a very stable plant holder!
Glen Cove Community Association Holiday Party
Here in Vallejo, there’s a fabulous restaurant called Provisions that we rented out for our holiday party. Many of our current Board members/development representatives were able to attend with their plus ones.
Most of us who attended are featured in these pictures, but after two attendees left I remembered to start taking pictures.
Fifth Wedding Anniversary
Having been together almost ten years, five of those years have been as husbands. We ended up dining at Bella Siena in Benicia. It was surprisingly busy for the middle of the week.
Rain Rabbit
Sort of by happenstance, I put these two figurines together, but now I can’t imagine moving them anywhere separate from one another. The little fairy angel girl was rusted and I painted it a while back with some black Rustoleum and have loved how it looks now. The patio cover on which this pony wall exists was covered less than a year ago. I’m still getting used to having a wonderful outdoor space adjacent to our family room where I can walk out and hear the rain even when it falls intensely. These figurines are there for each other, so I am glad they’re together. There’s plenty of room under the rabbit’s umbrella for the little girl.
Big Step towards Kayaking
I figured it was about time I got my own. Now I have to figure out the various contraptions to transport this thing with my car. Thank you to all my kayaking friends who inspired me over the past few years. I’ll be joining you with this behemoth soon when I’m not whaleboat rowing with Solano Rowing Club!
Union City Call to Action for Tobacco Retail License in
I’m returning to my old stomping grounds on Tuesday, December 12, to speak about a timely Tobacco Retail License update for that city. My alma mater, James Logan High School is there (the only high school in town still), so many formidable years of my life were shaped by Union City, where I also lived.
Cumulatively I also lived in the adjacent cities of Hayward and Fremont for decades. The goal is to thwart Big Tobacco from continuing to sell poison to youth illegally.
Even if one child is spared the addiction of nicotine addiction for his or her life, this journey to the East Bay will be worthwhile.
Unless one’s looking for it, one cannot imagine what branding is being used to market to kids, becoming environmental waste clogging our waterways, manufactured with cheap metals, plastics, battery acid, and other toxic, carcinogenic, leaking substances, including containers that will take thousands of years to decompose. Even if one child is spared the addiction of nicotine addiction for his or her life, this journey to the East Bay will be worthwhile.
Rowing to the Metal House on Water
We wanted to check out the Crockett house on the piers dangling over the water. We imagined how intolerable the many trains that pass by daily on the adjacent tracks must be for the residents, especially since the home appears to have metal siding.
I cherish the low hum of the trains from my bedroom across the strait and up the hill. It’s got to be far different for that location.
