It is December 23rd, 2011 and in keeping with our budget we have procured no gifts for each other.It sounds a bit harsh when I write it on paper, but this entire year is a gift and we are lacking nothing. In fact, unemployed and homeless as we are, it is by far our richest year yet.The richness I believe comes in being and learning together. It's not easy living on top of each other in a confined space, moving constantly, packing up, setting up, on a budget, mea...

With my morning hair and a coffee in hand, I took a leisurely stroll through the desert park with my wonderful husband (who also had morning hair - but who could tell!).Had we been in synchronized apparel and walking a little yappy dog we would have looked like all the other senior citizens doing exactly the same thing except that it was probably their second lap around... We decided to go to Salton Sea - an accidentally man made sea 227 feet below sea leve...

After a great church experience at Everyday Church, we spent our last day at Pismo Beach with Uncle Sam and Aunt Sandy. We checked on the Monarchs and learned another reason they snuggle right now is that they don't eat until spring! For once I'm glad I'm not a butterfly. We went for a long walk on a boardwalk over a lake, through the dunes, and to the ocean. Then we drove around the Santa Maria Valley and crossed the Santa Maria River which was bone dry! Un...

Had a wonderful visit with Tim's Uncle Sam and Aunt Sandy at their home in Santa Maria. It's amazing what you can learn about a family from a different perspective... Sam is Grandma Annabel's baby brother by 11 years and we were well informed and entertained this evening by his tales of family history. The weather is warm enough that the monarchs venture further and further from their cuddling clusters. We sat on the rocks overlooking the ocean with the sun ...

We were honoured to help celebrate Kathy and Wilbert's 45th Anniversary, for which they came on this little getaway to Pismo Beach. I hope I have as much energy as Kathy when I'm 65 and a grandmother of 19! She was boogie boarding in the freezing cold ocean in a dress! I do have excellent video footage though. Yesterday in the early afternoon we went to the Monarch Butterfly Grove and were astounded at how these graceful little creatures survive such phenome...