THURSDAY& FRIDAY, JULY 9 & 10

THURSDAY & FRIDAY, JULY 9 & 10:

      Fabulous days (and nights)! We drove up to Westminster, to Steve & Loretta's home. We left around 10:00 and dropped Pappy off, and by the time we headed north on I-5, clouds were rapidly breaking up. By noontime, was a glorious sunny day with bright blue skies. Loretta had a nice lunch ready for us. Shortly afterwards, Steve again played the role of chauffeur, this time driving down PCH (Pacific Coast Hwy) through fun and picturesque beach towns like Newport until we reached Laguna Beach.

       Easily found a parking spot, which Loretta deemed a miracle. Strolled through the charming town,

 

                                                            

 

 

 

                                                                 

 

 

 

 

while periodically gawking at the homes on top of the cliffs looking down on us riff-raff. 

                                                                           

 

 

 

       Went to one of the more popular and larger venues for the summer-long Arts Festival here. Laguna is a well-known artists' enclave, and for years (decades, actually), the town has hosted a world-famous arts festival (all of the participants must be Laguna residents). It's comprised of several components, the most celebrated of which is the Pageant of the Masters, which we'll see tonight. But during these afternoon hours, we poked around the Sawdust Art Festival (so-named because of all of the sawdust covering the grounds). There were at least a couple of hundred artists' and crafters' booths, with eye candy of all varieties – jewelry, sculpture, pottery, photography, and of course all kinds of painting. There were also a couple of music venues, which Bill enjoyed while Loretta & I got way-laid watching a glass-blower demonstrate his craft for a while. Bill & I splurged on an early anniversary present to each other – some metalic prints of underwater sea life taken with an underwater digital camera and then processed onto a metal image. They were so vibrant and colorful, I just couldn't resist. Plan to hang them in the downstairs bath. Will always remind us of this beautiful area (all of the photos are taken in the protected Laguna Cove area.) 

 

 

                                                        

 

 

 

                                                                          

 

 

   Then we walked across the street to where the Pageant of the Masters is produced - an outdoor ampitheatre .

                                                                     

 

 

 

The outdoor surrounding grounds have nice grassy areas for picnickers, more displayed visual art, and a small stage for musical entertainment. Atmosphere remiscent of the MUNY in the hour or two prior to the performance. We all ate a casual meal there, and then, while Loretta & I walked back across the street to retrieve our binoculars from the car, Bill meandered over to where a small ensemble was playing cross-over stuff – folk, rock, jazz, blues. When we got back, he was ecstatic over this group – said he'd hardly ever heard or seen such virtuoso guitar playing. And his (the lead guitarist) compositons were highly original, said Bill. He talked to the guitarist after they completed their set, highly complimented him, and purchaed 2 of their CD's.

 

                                                                         

 

 

 

 

                                                      

 

 

This is at least the second time we've encountered highly talented musical groups at local events, which Bill has raved about . . . last year, we saw one at Butchart Gardens in Victoria .

 

 

 

 

 

      Then, as dark was approaching, we went inside the ampitheater to get our seats for the main event. This pageant has been part of the Laguna Festival of the Arts for well over 50 years now, and is unlike anything we've ever experienced of heard of. It's known for its tableaux vivants, or “living pictures,” in which classical and contemporary works of art are recreated by real people who are made to look nearly identical to the originals through the clever and precise application of costumes, makeup, headdresses, lighting, props, and backdrops.

 

 

                                      Outside the theatre:  in the live pageant, the boys would all be live people:

 

 

 

Each re-creation is held for a number of minutes – long enough for you to gaze at it through your binoculars and dare to detect any slightest movement of the participants. It is truly astonishing. Most of the 50 representations were paintings, but there were also depictions of bronze sculputres, and even one of porcelain. All accompanied by a first-class orchestra. Truly phenomenal. And the grand finale tableau is always DaVinci's The Last Supper.  Like the Rose Parade – everyone who's in Southern California ought to treat themselves to this at least once! To make this evening even more delightful, the weather was perfect. The warmth of the afternoon sun lingered until about intermission time, when we all put on the sweaters or sweatshirts we'd brought in anticipation of the cool evening ocean breezes.

        Had a nice ride home to Loretta & Steve's, and we were all shortly in bed.

 

       Woke up to a gorgeous sunny morning. I think that summer has arrived in Southern California!

        Loretta fixed us a lovely breakfast, and after visiting a while longer, we were on our way.

 

                                                                     

 
 
                                      Steve showing Caryn how the palm tree , sprouting new sharp needles, is a hazardous pain to trim:

 

 

 

  It was sad saying good-bye to those two, as we always have a great time with them. Bill & Steve seem to find much in common, and of course Loretta & I go way back to our college days. Summer session of either 1969 or 1970 Long Beach State. Jeptha Evans (from Joplin MO!!) teaching Advanced Comp. Through nearly half a century of marriages, divorces, children, career changes, returning to school, more career changes, re-marriages, and now we're both on Social Security and Medicare! How can that be??! So great to have re-connected in peson in these recent years, and to have fulfilled our tradition of seeing each other once a year (only missed last year).

       Since it was such a perfectly gorgeous day, we decided to stop at Laguna Beach on the way back to Santee/San Diego. The beach itself. It's known for its rocky, cliffside coastline, and there are walking paths up above the beach which afford fantastic views. We thought we'd probably spend an hour or two. 4 hours later . . . well, the pictures tell the story!

 

                                                                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                             

                                                                         

 

 

We walked south down the path for as far as it would go, relaxed on a bench next to a fellow who was playing a guitar & singing, who was quite good and very affable. (He's from Minnesota, travels the country as he gets gigs, but spends most of his time here in So. Cal now. Sadly says that the live music industry is dying, including, interestingly enouigh, Branson). After a while, moseyed on back up the same path, further on north this time. Then decided we were hungry, so walked back down to where we were a couple of hours earlier (we'd noticed a couple of sandiwch places across the street), grabbed a sub, and parked ourselves on a bench next to our musician friend, who was still there strumming away. So is anything missing from this picture? Ocean view, sunny blue skies, perfect temperature, slight ocean breeze, serenaded as we ate. No, I can't think of a thing.

      Well, all good and even perfect things must come to an end. So we walked back the 20 minutes to the car, soaking up the last views and the lush landscaping along the way. 

 

                                                         

 

 

 

 

       Our dreamy afternoon ended as we fought traffic going back first to Rachel & Eric's in Carmel Valley (just north or LaJolla) to pick up Pappy, then on to Santee. Rush hour – the price we paid for lingering at Laguna. It was worth it, though!

         Got “home” just in time for the kids & families to arrive. Rachel fixed dinner (spaghetti) so I could join Hannah and Eric & kids up at the pool. Lupe, Autumn, and Eli were like 3 fish! Then all 12 of us ate. And then thoroughly enjoyed a campfire (Bill had run up to Lowes to pick up a portable fire ring) and s'mores. A really, really nice way to spend this evening with the family. So grateful we're able to do this, as at this stage, none of the kids are really in a position to come visit us in St. Louis.