Ponder Post: Gang Attire

A few days ago I was making the rounds of several Jo-Ann's Fabric and Craft Stores in order to accumulate enough yardage of a discontinued fabric that I wanted for drapes.  One of them was located in a sketchy neighborhood so Frank came along. As we were on our way I glanced over as he was driving and noticed he was wearing his Disneyland sweatshirt. I said, "Is that really the right thing to wear into a tough neighborhood?"

Frank answered, "What you do not want to do in a tough neighborhood is inadvertently wear the colors or mascot of the rival gang. I am pretty certain that there is no Micky Mouse gang."

I conceded he had a point.  We got my fabric with no problems.

Ponder Post: Three Authors, Three Books

If I only post about books I'd recommend then one might get the impression that I am batting 1000 for my selections. Not so! This post is about three books that were well written by highly acclaimed authors but that I would not want to be responsible for recommending because they were such downers. These were not bad books and I finished each of them; but, just as one cannot judge a book by its cover, neither should one judge potential enjoyment of a book by its author.

I would not recommend Summer Island by Kristin Hannah.

I usually love Kristin Hannah's works. I have read On Mystic Lake, Distant Shores, Home Front, Firefly Lane and liked them all. Maybe it is because I resented that the book reviews on Summer Island were misleading. Per Tulsa World – A fascinating story of love, healing, forgiveness, and renewal...certain to strike a chord in the hearts of mothers and daughters everywhere. Well, the chord it struck with me was discordant. It involves a dysfunctional family where a mother walks out on her two daughters and achieves a successful career. There is a bit of a mystery in why she does this and so I kept reading to see what the extenuating circumstances were; but I did not enjoy the unpleasant interactons between the mother and her two adult daughters. Characters were somewhat realistic but I did not like them.

Although I am not quite as harsh about this one, I also would not recommend Mercy by Jodi Picoult because it made me feel strangely ill at ease.

For me, Jodi Picoult is an uneven author but her books make you think. I liked My Sister's Keeper and Change of Heart but disliked a couple others by her. Her books typically address a controversial topic. In this book the topic was mercy killing but that was not forefront in my mind while reading. Mercy had a second underlying question, a bit of a twist on the commonly touted theme that in a successful marriage each person contributes more than 50% effort. Mercy claims in a marriage that love is not equal – that one partner loves the other one more. This made me uncomfortable in sort of a lose/lose way. I did not want to be the person who was loved less. Then I again I would feel guilty if I were the partner who loved less. This internal conflict nagged me throughout the book, distracting me from the euthanasia question at hand. I was uncomfortable while reading Mercy and for this reason would not recommend it. I will admit though... the opening chapter is GREAT!

I completed The Glass Castle a memoir by Jeannette Walls. This book was a page turner but I would not recommend it because the environment is so depressing.

The author grew up extremely poor with well-meaning, highly intelligent, but somewhat mentally imbalanced, parents. She overcame her impoverished conditions to become a well-known author and I kept reading to find out, "however did she do it?". Knowing she triumphs over her adversities is uplifting in one sense, but being bombarded page after page with the hardships she endured because of not necessarily ill-spirited, but certainly incompetent, parents did not make for enjoyable reading. Her writing style was great and riveting and I am going to check out her other two books Half-Broke Horses and The Silver Star.

Happy Birthday, Frank!

This past Monday, November 10th was Frank's 66th birthday. On Sunday, November 9th, we got a dozen donuts and, after bowling and dinner, celebrated with Alex .

Singing a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday to You brings a smile to everyone's face.

We had to count to three twice to be sure the time was perfect to blow out that candle.

Yay! Applause! Applause! Happy Birthday! Yay!

On his birthday phone call from Robin, Jeremy, and Autumn, Jeremy pointed out to Frank that he shared a birthday with the birthday of the United States Marine Corps. In all of Frank's 66 years he had never known that bit of trivia. This year was the Marines' 239th birthday. The Marines' celebration and cake cutting ceremony were formalized, standardized, and recorded in their drill manual in 1956. Per Wikipedia, 

By tradition, the first slice of cake is given to the oldest Marine present, who in turn hands it off to the youngest Marine present, symbolizing the old and experienced Marines passing on their knowledge to the new generation of Marines.

I guess in the Chambers family, the parallel tradition to this is Alex and Frank sharing the blowing out of a candle on a donut.

Frank got multiple cards from me hidden about the house, two pet themed cards from Vickie, and a humorous but annoying phone tree card from my sister. The retirement card from me was to celebrate him about to get his first Social Security check on December 1st. 

Frank is a stout Harry Potter fan and I am a stout Frank fan.

The retirement card was to congratulating Frank on successfully negotiating the Social Security maze
for himself and with all its intertwined implications for Alex.
The phone tree card from my sister was cute... and a bit exasperating.

Inside the left card reads, "Older yes... but wiser, not so much."
Inside the right card reads, "Happy birthday and and many s'mores."

Frank's request was that his birthday dinner include sweet potatoes. He did not care what else, but whatever it was, to had to be served with sweet potatoes. We had ham. Instead of cake for dessert, we had his favorite, pumpkin pie.

One candle is enough! It is the thought that counts. Having fewer candles increases
the odds of 100% extinguishment and subsequent wish fulfillment.

Frank gets mentally prepared.

Frank takes a deep breath.

Success! Happy Birthday!

Frank and Vickie relaxed in front of the TV with Monday Night Football in a lopsided game where the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Carolina Panthers 45 to 21. Frank's best birthday present was that his fantasy football team TheSteamers (with a previous record of 2-7) beat Dan's fantasy football team, TheOneAndOnlyDan (with a previous 8-1 record).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FRANK!

Day 3 - Disneyland

On the third day of our Park Hopper ticket, we went to Disneyland for a second time. As it turns out we did not need to spend the surcharge for park hopping privileges since we stayed entirely in one park each day. My Halloween post described the fall ambience in Disneyland on our Thursday visit. This post will narrate the attractions we rode there both on Thursday, October 23rd and Sunday, October 26th. We'd spent a full day at California Adventure on Friday, October 24th.

We have to do the not-so-tame rides because they are the ones Alex loves best. Splash Mountain has a lovely bucolic scenic tour through the land of Brer Rabbit in a log hewn boat. At the end there is a 45° plunge over a 53 foot drop. I once said to Frank, "Why do they ruin a perfectly good ride with that awful cliff at the end?" Obviously Alex thinks differently. We rode it once on Thursday and again on Sunday. In retrospect I wish we had done it at least one more time but soggy clothes and falling evening temperatures dictated we hold off. I'd worn jeans on the Thursday ride in the early afternoon and they did not dry readily. Back at the hotel late that evening, I peeled wet underpants off my still ice cold butt. It was like I'd worn a wet bathing suit all day.

This is our Sunday plunge. In photos from previous years Alex's expression is a bit more apprehensive.

Alex also loves the Indiana Jones Adventure. A rickety jeep jolted and careened us through ancient temple ruins where we encountered snakes, bugs, flames, decaying bridges, and boulder booby traps. With every sharp turn and sudden drop off Alex squealed with glee, the dark and foreboding environs not bothering him one bit. This one we rode many, many times on both days!

 As we wait to enter Indiana Jones Adventure our clothes are still wet from Splash Mountain.
Our jeep sputtered and stalled while crossing this rickety bridge
 but the flames still did not dry us off!

Frank and Alex rode the Astro Orbiters in Tomorrowland. We had never done this one before and Alex seemed to enjoy it, displaying no fear of heights. I decided to forego the dizzying, circular motion and watch instead.

This year was our first time riding these circling rockets.

Frank and Alex each rode individual rocket ships.

While I waited for Frank and Alex, I looked at the control panel. It did not seem very high tech especially for a land touting to be of the future - basically up, down, start, and stop. I was somewhat more impressed with the instructions on the operator's seat, though. They seemed more complicated than the control panel with multiple heights and multiple angle adjustments. I wonder, does the operator get trained on both?

I compared the control panel for the ride with the operation instructions for the chair.

We also had our quiet waterway rides. One of Frank's favorites is the narrated Storybook Land Canal Boats where we drifted through the mouth of a whale and exited into a landscape of miniature versions of houses and castles of storybook characters: the Three Little Pigs, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Toad Hall, Cinderella, Ariel, Pinocchio, just to name a few.

Alex liked the part when our boat tour guide pointed out where Alice went down the rabbit hole.

It is rare for the Sailing Ship Columbia to be in operation on the Rivers of America in Frontierland. It is usually the Mark Twain paddle wheeler that carries passengers around Tom Sawyer's Island. Frank had always wanted to be aboard the Columbia and we got our chance. We went below decks to the maritime museum and saw the living conditions of 18th century sailors. One of its cannon was fired during our voyage. We got to gaze up at the azure blue skies through the rigging and sit up close to the extensive ropes and dowel pins involved in the sailing operations of such a ship.

The three masted Columbia in the background is quite regal looking.
My two guys in from aren't so bad either.

The sky was a beautiful backdrop to the very impressive rigging.

The ropes were neatly knotted and braided in their resting places. The woodwork was highly varnished.

There are many small, tame attractions in Fantasyland and we took a turn or two on each. Alex and I like Peter Pan's Flight where, in a gondola car similar to the Columbia sailing ship, we flew over Never Never Land and the town of London amidst twinkling stars at night. We checked the box by riding other minimum wait attractions there – Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White's Scary Adventures and the Casey Junior's Circus Train. Then we moved on to a roller coaster speed ride Alex loves, the Matterhorn Bobsleds. As we zipped past a roaring abominable snowman, beneath waterfalls, and into pitch black winding cave pathways, Alex took it all in stride. For speed rides, I do OK on this one but Frank, not so much. Alex just laughed and laughed and clapped. We could hear his voice and applause echoing through the dark caverns as we careened along.

Our bobsled makes a bit of a splash for fun at the very end.
But the Matterhorn is more about the high speed journey and not the about the end. 

After the Matterhorn Bobsleds we headed off on the Monorail to Downtown Disney for a mid-afternoon lunch and some recovery time at the Rainforest Cafe.

As we waited in the monorail station, I snapped this image of the Matterhorn.

Alex was Joe Cool as he settled back to enjoy his monorail trip to Downtown Disney.

The meal took longer that we anticipated but the food at the Rainforest Cafe was very tasty.
Besides, it was good to take a bit of needed rest and to recharge for the remainder of the day.

After lunch we returned to Disneyland and  repeated some attractions we'd liked in New Orleans Square –  Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. We journeyed through the Hundred Acre Wood aboard our oversized beehive shaped vehicle enjoying  The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in Critter Country. We did not repeat Splash Mountain after lunch, though. As the sun was setting, on our way to ride the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, we were serendipitously diverted by a parade. We skipped looking for Nemo and instead watched the parade under the glowing lights of Main Street, USA. The evening was upon us and we were all contentedly willing to tarry a bit. We decided a parade was a good memory on which to end our third day at the Disney Parks.

Alex had a front row seat for Mickey's Soundsational Parade
as can be seen by the white traffic control cord just above his head

At the parade's conclusion we headed back toward our two room suite on the 5th floor of the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites. Frank got Alex settled in and I make a quick detour to bring back a gourmet meal of McDonald's for our in-room dining pleasure. The roof of our hotel had a viewing area with seats where guests could watch the fireworks at Disneyland in comfort. We had just a short walk around the corner and up one flight of stairs and we were there. Enjoying them that last night was a great pre-bedtime activity and a we could say we ended our visit with a bang!

We had a great rooftop view of the fireworks from the comfort of our hotel.

The next morning we headed to the airport for our flight home. It had been a really awesome trip.

Day 2 - California Adventure

We soaked up the ambience at Disneyland our first day there but we also did the fast rides that day and on our next two days at the parks. Friday, October 24th, our second day, we spent at California Adventure. Alex has three favorite attractions there each with its own range of appeal: Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land,  Grizzly River Run at Grizzly Peak, and Ariel's Undersea Adventure at Paradise Pier.

For speed and thrills we rode the Radiator Springs Racers at Cars Land. It starts out slow with a Sunday afternoon type ride through scenic mountain passes, continues with a journey through auto shops getting prepped for a race, and ends in a heart pounding speed contest against another car.  I get car sick but I do this for Alex. At one point the car speeds over three rolling hills in quick succession. My stomach drops out on the third one but I say I can take it. Except it is followed by a hard bank to the right which jolts my clinging stomach over the left side door of the race car and deposits it somewhere splayed back there on the side of the race track... every @#$%#@ time... even though I know it is coming and I prepare for it. Alex loves every minute. We did this attraction three times, twice during the day and once with the evening lighting.  I guess I am a glutton for punishment.

This is our second of three rides on the racers. I was determined to smile for the photo
but I guess those hills and steeply banked curves got to me. Alex loved it all!

The evening illumination at the Radiators Springs Racers is just gorgeous. Here are Frank and Alex on our way to our third race of the day. We had dinner at Flo's V-8 Cafe in Cars Land... after the race of course!

While in Cars Land we also rode Luigi's Flying Tires, huge tires that floated on a field of air and were steered by which way we leaned. Frank and Alex took a turn at Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, jaunty square dancing tractors that swing your partner round and round.

For bumps, twists, and wetness, all three of us rode Grizzly River Run. It started out serene enough with a gentle float along a waterway, followed by a steady chugga-chugga climb up a wood slatted inclined belt power by a waterwheel where a few sprinkles of wayward water drops is the most thrill you can expect. Then our big circular raft was unceremoniously dumped into a raging turbulent downhill flash flood where we spun and dipped and lurched while huge sloshes of water drenched just about every bit of us. Alex squealed with glee and kept proclaiming "Wet! Wet!" Somehow the cool water negated my nausea sufficiently that I could survive this ride also. We rode this one twice, but not in a row. There was recovery time in between.

Well, what do you think Alex. Are you ready to get wet?

This photo was take from a helicopter 500 feet up.
I snatched it from a Disney website to illustrate how "calm" a ride it was.

Not far from Grizzly Peak is Condor Flats where we rode Soarin' Over California. We experienced the wind blowing in our face, the smell of orange groves, the splash of water from nearly dunking our feet as we flew over various areas of California just as if we were in our very own our hang-gliding craft. We made a stop at Hollywood Land for a hot dog lunch and to experience a ride through Monstropolis aboard the attraction Monsters, Inc. Mike & Scully to the Rescue.

We also had a brief foray into a bug's land where Frank and Alex shared a bumper car in Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies. Part of the fun of that ride for me was watching them fit their two butts side by side in that bug-sized seat. We saw a 3-D It's Tough  to Be a Bug theatre show and Frank and Alex rode Heimlich's Chew Chew Train; it "maneuvered" among and about large scaled partially eaten watermelons slices, cupcakes, and other food tidbits that bugs would find gourmet pleasure in discovering abandoned on the ground. Alex also hung out amidst the shooting jets of water that arced their way randomly at Princess Dot's Puddle Park. I marveled at what a beautiful day it was as I looked up at the sky from under the large foliage scaled to give me an insect's perspective. 

Bumper cars are always fun, especially these rubber baby buggy bumpers.

Beautiful blue sky peeks in between the huge leaf coverage. 

For romantic Disney magic we rode the Ariel's Undersea Adventure at Paradise Pier. This attraction has clamshell shaped carts that take you smoothly and slowly "under the sea" and retells the story of The Little Mermaid Disney movie classic. The music is lovely and lively, the colors are soothingly serene at times, calypso cheery at others. I think Alex has a bit of a crush on Ariel so he likes this ride. It is more my speed. We rode it three times. Frank and Alex also rode the nearby mini-rollercoaster called Goofy's Sky School.  

The Little Mermaid is a favorite movie of mine and Alex's and this tame attraction really captures the mood, spirit and colors of the story. We could just relax and enjoy being under the sea for a few minutes.

We watched a parade in the late afternoon after which torrents of bubbles were pumped out over the path of the parade. Who doesn't love bubbles? Alex is a huge fan even at his age. But just remember, Lawrence Welk liked bubbles too and his TV variety show with its bubble theme was popular for over three decades.

So many bubbles to pop and so little time...

We finished the evening with the 28 minute long show World of Color. In order to get a spot where Alex had good view while seated we had to be there at 7:40pm for a 9:00pm show to stake out a place in the front row of a slightly elevated area. We just hung out for that time. Alex chilled while Frank and I played the 7 Little Words game on our cell phones. Images of clips from movies were projected on a screen formed by sprays of water. It was pretty neat seeing Alex recognize and point out the gargantuan sized images of his favorites, Belle, Beast, Ariel, Woody and Buzz Lightyear. There were also fire, fog, fountain, and laser special effects. We were so close we really, really, felt the heat from the flames, even being outside the wet zone from the sky high fountains that spouted upward and swayed to and fro in time to the music. When the show finished we exited the park, shuffling among the throngs of guests and catching glimpses of the fireworks from Disneyland across the way. It was close to 10:30 pm before we arrived back at our hotel room and collapsed. Our fun-filled day at California Adventure had begun at 8:20am!

We had great seats. We were right up against the knobbed railing that's barely visible in the foreground.
At some points those fountains would shoot up six or more times that height and lean sideways 45° or so.