There and Back, to California- a photo essay
First off, happy new year to everyone. Thanks for reading this There and Back, to California, report.
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Susan and I spent three weeks in California over the holidays, seeing our children and their wives, relatives, and friends, and watching rain fall. And a few other things. And I hate flying coach. Almost hope I never do it again.
I went fishing one day when I got back.
And Jeff Beck died on Wednesday. Guess I’ll start with that.
I have loved Jeff Beck’s music since I was in high school. Truth. Beck-Ola. Rough and Ready. The Orange Album. Blow by Blow. Wired. So many more. He just kept getting better, reaching heights of guitar virtuosity most of us can’t even dream of, no matter what we do.
Fortunately for all of us, he’s left a large collection of audio and video recordings. Here’s a personal favorite-
If you want to blow your brains out, plug a set of headphones into your computer, put them on, turn up the volume, and play this- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL17nxvBtBY
Mr. Beck, thanks for providing me with so much listening pleasure. I hope you’re still rocking it, wherever you now are.
OK, soggy California!
Our boys wanted us to come out for the holidays. We and the Briolas watched Maxx and Catalina get married on our phones during COVID. They renewed their vows with all of us there.
It was WAY better in person!
The happy couple and parents of the bride, Mike and Rosa.
Cat, rocking some bling!
Master of Ceremonies, Brian Jaye, and the younger Jaye, Tripp.
Brother and sister-in-law of the groom.
Christmas presents!
More Christmas presents!
Yours truly with more Christmas presents!
The gang went mini-golfing.
We went to Lake Chabot Park and the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden during breaks in the rain. And we watched it rain!
The nightmare that is California highways.
Lake Chabot. Chabot, an engineer, invented hydraulic mining.
There are fish, and fishermen, there.
Rosa and Cat.
Agave at the gardens.
Manzanita tree, botanical garden.
We went to the Winchester House.
One of many exquisite windows there.
We went to wineries, of course.
We went for a walk at Turtle Bay Park and the Sundial Bridge.
Sundial Bridge. Not sun dialing this day.
Alex, Susan, and I, on the bridge
One view from the bridge. That’s the Sacramento River.
Another view from the bridge. The fish he had was a rainbow/steelhead, easily two feet long.
Alex and I were going to go steelhead fishing- rained out. So the reader has an idea of the rainfall amount, Lake Shasta, which was quite low prior to the current rain event, went up 21 feet while we were there. Yeah, it rained.
We got home Tuesday night. Thursday I took the kayak to Mosquito Lagoon. The water was clear- not as clean as I’ve ever seen it, but clear like it’s supposed to be. Fishing was good, all blind-casting, too. Hope it stays like that for a while!
That’s the There and Back, to California, report. Thanks for reading!
Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! Go paddling! Take a walk! Stay active!
John Kumiski
www.johnkumiski.com
www.spottedtail.com
www.spottedtail.com/blog
All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2023. All rights are reserved.
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