April 17th - We go to Jail

Quickly I want to make a correction.  Two posts ago, I posted about my brother and me.  I incorrectly stated the date as the 16th, it was the 15th.

April 17th.  Eliza, Dash, and I went downtown to visit Seaport Village.  The trolley takes about and hour and a half, but it gave us time together to talk.

Downtown across a parking lot which used to be a street is the old San Diego Police Station.  On the other side is Seaport village.  The station was decommissioned in 1994.  It is now a museum.  We walked through it and toured the small group of holding cells.  Some of them are in an outside corridor.  In the back, there are a couple of shops like a Starbucks.

We crossed the parking lot and entered Seaport Village.  Small open shops, garden walkways, a pond, and then the harbor.

We didn't buy much, but it was an old fond memory for Eliza.  At one point, I'm sitting on a bench with Dash, looking at the pond, and I noticed a splotch of white in a tree.  There is a large white bird just hanging around in the branches.  I tried to identify it, and I think it is a snowy egret.  Linda Schafer will let me know if I'm wrong.

Outside on the street is a plaque denoting Dead Men's Point. Here is a link that talks about it. Cool.
https://www.tripfactory.com/places/dead-mans-point-san-diego-ca-92101-san-diego-308035

Wonderful afternoon.  I was able to pick up a geocache, too!

Market Street

Old Police Station

The Cells

Former inmates

Out back. A contrast between historic and modern architecture

Little tourist

Seaport Village pond. There's a geocache here, somewhere.

Snowy Egret?

Eliza and her kids.

Historic plaque

April 16th - Ocean Beach

Of course the kids flew out for the funeral. This day, I took Eliza and little Dash to the beach.  It was great to spend the day just Daddy Daughter time.  We walked and talked a lot.  Dash got his first taste of the beach, sand and water.  A little cloudy and cool.  This makes for amazing sunsets.  There was no one on the pier except birds because it was shut down for repairs after a couple of big storms.

April 16th - My brother and me

After all the events of the first two weeks of this month, It was time to think about how I needed to get the fifth wheel back to North Dakota.  My brother came out from San Diego to help.  Later, we went out searching for geocaches. We drove around and picked up 6 or 7. That was fun showing him how it all works.

April 10th - Laurie Jayne McGlone

Like an old abandoned ferriswheel

Time for me is standin' still

And it's you and me in mid July

Underneath the midway lights

And all our friends are standing there

So I was actin' like I didn't care

When you put your arms around my neck

And I barely even kissed you back

But if I'd have known it was the last time

I'da held on a little longer

And let that moment linger

And never let your fingers slip away from mine

If I'da known there'd never be another day

I'da watched you as you walked away

And kept you in my eyes till you were out of sight

If I, If I'da known it was the last time

Last Time - Lee Ann Womack

This is the post I've been dreading to write.

38 years ago, a little girl with flaming red hair and a personality that could fill a room, stepped out of a orange Fiat, and without knowing who this girl was, I felt my heart, soul, and life would never fulfill the possibilities without her.  For about 6 years or so, I tested that.  Luckily, she came back into my life and I found the one person God put on the earth for me.

We raised a family of two boys and one girl, struggled with finances, faith, teenagers, and sometimes each other.  We moved to North Dakota to get our feet under us.   This beautiful soulw ent back to school at 39 and became an RN, eventually getting her BSN.  She settled into a career of OB nursing and found a calling.  Eventually, she started working for medical travel companies and we traveled the country.

The lowest spot for us was the death of our oldest, Jeremiah in 2006 outside of Baghdad.  Through luck and God's hand we got our way into the TAPS family and it helped.  The travelling helped us spend more time in California with her mom and dad,sisters, our niece, husband, and kids.  Not to mention my family, too.

I got to see the house in New Hampshire where she grew up, We were able to tour NYC and Boston and we were able to take one cruise together.

Watching her with Eliza's five kids was heartwarming beyond belief.  We had friends.  Some came from her and some from me, but she and I were a "We".

In the last year, she was struggling with some health issues, but she seemed to be just looking for a solution.  She saw her doctor regularly and everything.  On April 9th, she finished the last shift of her contract in El Centro.  She started having seizures and died the next night.  I am devastated as are all our family and friends. She was buried in Ramona, Ca next to her son and dad.

Oh, She loved Lilacs.

"May the love be what you remember most" - Darcie Simms

A kid at 16

My Love

Playful

Jeremiah

Eliza

Alexander (just turned 21)  and Kay-Cee

Tom, Susan, Ginny, Laurie, and Laurie's mom, Ruth

Laurie Graduates

Nephew Travis

Her Dad, Ralph

Sister Susan

Then Govenor, now Senator from North Dakota, John Hoevan and wife Mikey

Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Ca

San Diego Wild Animal Park

First trip back for me to San Diego

Helmet diving in St. Maarten

Nappin'

And she loved flowers.

March 2019 - Both Sides Now

For Many reasons, we were not doing much in March.  I did get some shots of some great clouds and the cat.  One of the big cactus by the front entrance decided to let us see it bloom. That was nice.