Blue Skies, Palm Trees, West Coast Air And Lizard Tails ...Continued from yesterday:  Although it took a couple of visits to Los Angeles for the place to grow on me after my first trip to L. A. close to decade-and-a-half ago, in truth I've always been, and continue to be, enchanted by the palm trees and bright blue skies that grace that part of the country,   ...and can make even a supermarket parking lot or strip mall look rather idyllic.     And I never tire of that first moment of stepping outside of the Los Angeles airport and catching my first glimpse of the palms off in the distance,  ...and realizing that the enchantment has not yet worn off.  And I still swear that West Coast air smells differently from East Coast air - in a good way - though I can't exactly describe how. After our arrival at LAX we Ubered - Los Angeles having caved to the might of the Uber behemoth and now allows Ubers, along with taxis, to ply their service at the airport, which is fine by moi - to my daughter and son-in-law's house.    Their house also smells to me like the West Coast, mayhaps because here one can keep the doors open all day without any bugs flying in,  ...though they do get an occasional visit from a small lizard, or an occasional still-moving lizard's tail - when a predator grabs one of these L.A. lizards by the tail the tail detaches and continues wriggling for some time, probably to convince the predator that it has the critter, rather than just the critter's tail, in its mouth - brought in by their cat Yajou, here showing her excitement at her human family's arrival back home. 
  In truth we were all a little tired-out from the trip, 
 ...and a brief once around the back yard to take in some sunshine, good-smelling fresh air,  
 Their nectarine tree  ...Tom and I set out for our most frequented L.A. destination,  ....from which we brought home, among other items, corn on the cob, mainly because our grand daughters like to peel it, 
      After dinner my grand daughters put on a show,    ...while I provided the musical accompaniment.  The show was much enjoyed by all,  
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Check out my open mic book talk on "Equal and Opposite Reactions" and the writing life at the Authors at the Loft event in Columbus, Ohio
Going To Claire's With Claire  ...Continued from yesterday: My two grand daughters, having discovered during a visit to Easton a few days earlier the wonders of that girly, sparkly-pink-doodad emporium called Claire's (See post from 8/23/2018),  
 
 However, Tia Claire was game, and so Friday morning, a few hours before she had to catch her flight home to for Chicago, Claire (and I) took the girls on their second shopping trip to Claire's.  ...which they greatly enjoyed.    The girls requested a little time to play with their new purchases, 
 ...to meet their mom, dad, and grandpa for lunch at First Watch in Gahanna,   ...where the Chicago and Los Angeles out-of-towners had so enjoyed their lunches there two days previously (see post from 8/24/2018) that they requested a repeat performance of the yummy First Watch food.
 The Veggie Burger 
   After lunch we took Claire to the airport and saw her off to her flight home. Later that evening when dinner time rolled around we drove downtown to meet Tommy and Emily at their apartment in the Brewery District, from whence we walked several blocks to German village,     
  ...where, along with the yummy deli food,     ...including potato latkes, 
    After dinner we walked back Emily and Tommy's apartment, where we had a sing-along,  ...and dance-along,  ...and Uncle Tommy gave the girls a little guitar lesson.   We left as the sun was setting beautifully over downtown Columbus.  On Sunday, the last day of Maria, Justin, and the girls' visit, Tommy came over for some artwork,  ...and Anusha and Randy came over to say hello. I invited them to come out for dinner with us,  ...but they could only stay long enough to watch the talent show.    On Sunday evening we went out for dinner at Chuy's a Mexican Restaurant across from Easton Town Center (see post from 8/23/2018), 
    ...and great food.     After dinner we returned home for dessert and a picture. 
 ...and Tom and I with them, as, happily, we were returning with them to Los Angeles for a week's visit. 
 ...we had our gummy bears.   ...and each other.  ...Continued from 8/24/2018: As the weather forecast for Thursday during my children's and grand children's visit was rain all day, we decided to visit the Columbus Museum of Art for the afternoon,  ...or as much of the afternoon as the children would abide.  However a visit to the art museum turned out to be a more splendid idea than I'd imagined, as, unbeknownst to me, (and unlike during the era when my children were very young) the museum now offers a variety of fun and interesting children's exhibits and activities designed to keep even young children engaged, as were ours, for hours. We decided to start with lunch at the Schokko Cafe, the museum restaurant,  ...named after the painting "Shokko With Red Hat," by Alexej von Jawlensky, one of the museum's permanent holdings. 
   ...the food was delicious edible art, 
 Mushroom quiche 
 ...and the staff was super-friendly.  After lunch I went to the ticket counter to buy tickets. I asked, as Tom and I always do at every cultural or entertainment venue we patronize, if there was a discounted price for retired military. Turned out that there was, not only for Tom and me but for our whole family - admission was free for us all. And, because we'd eaten at the museum restaurant, we were entitled to free parking as well. We entered the museum and immediately found ourselves in a hallway lined with children's activities,
  ...supplies and instructions for making a moving picture,  ...and a zoetrope in which one could place one's drawings to make them "move." 
 ...and one for making Post-it Note art,  ...where there were some pretty impressive Post-it Note creations on display.     There was also a station for drawing whatever one felt like drawing. 
  ...and a table at which one could make an alien mask.  But the best of the children's exhibits was a textiles display with an amazing yarn environment,         ....where we made some pipe cleaner critters,  ...to add to the critter display.  We spent a some time strolling around the museum looking at the other art.      Then we headed back home, where the girls were in the mood to do some more art.  ...until it was time for dinner, which included mini-raviolis, tomatoes from our garden,  ...and my Cherry Almond Streusel Pie (See post from 12/12/2016), 
 Then after dinner we all took a rest.  Check out my open mic book talk on "Equal and Opposite Reactions" and the writing life at the Authors at the Loft event in Columbus, Ohio
 ...Continued from posts from 8/6, 8/8, and 8/9/2018:
 ....Ohio State's winningest football coach in forty years, architect of a national championship team whose winning streak brought glory to to Columbus, Ohio and $7 million per game to the university, a man who was loved and respected by team members and fans alike, a man held up as a paragon of morality, honesty and sportsmanship, a man considered ethically beyond reproach, a man who wrote a book about his personal philosophy that he entitled "Above the Line."  Coach Meyer was suspended - with pay - over his possible mishandling of allegations of domestic violence against his wide receivers coach, Zach Smith, whom Meyer fired this past July (see posts from 8/6, 8/8, and 8/9).  For days after the story broke the suspension of Urban Meyer dominated the news, talk radio shows and conversation in Central Ohio. The main points of discussion and argument among the citizenry of Buckeye Nation were whether it was fair to hold Coach Meyer responsible for the behavior of a subordinate and, amidst rumors, speculation, and Zach Smith's denial of any wrongdoing, whether both Urban Meyer and Zach Smith might not in fact be the innocent victims of false accusations by Courtney Smith, who, it was speculated, could well be nothing more than a jealous, scheming, emotionally unhinged woman posing as a victim of domestic abuse. The Ohio State University administration subsequently hired an independent panel of investigators to determine the truth of Courtney Smith's allegations against her ex-husband as well as what Urban Meyer knew and did about the allegations. And so the local media coverage of and public preoccupation with the fate of Urban Meyer calmed while Buckeye Nation waited patiently for the findings of the panel's investigation. Two days ago those findings were published and revealed that during his time as Urban Meyer's assistant coach 34-year-old Zach Smith had a history of gross misuse of university funds, including maxing out credit cards and spending $600 one night with a high school coach in a Florida strip club; of missing meetings, blowing off recruiting trips, and arriving late to practices; of drug use, of having a sexual relationship with a secretary on the football staff and having sex toys delivered to his Ohio State office; of erratic behavior and inappropriate sexual behavior, of unreliability and overall poor job performance. And, according to Courtney Smith and a number of police reports, of violence, harassment, and threats against Ms. Smith,  The Meyers, as well as Zach Smith's family and Courtney Smith's own mother, continually pressed Courtney not to bring charges against her abusive husband. And so, for as long as they were married, she didn't. Urban Meyer's consistent response to Zach Smith's crimes and transgressions was to cover up for or turn a blind eye to his young assistant's misdeeds and to continually arrange for whopping pay raises for Zach Smith - sometimes not long after Smith had committed some offense that would be more than grounds for firing if committed by anyone else - until Smith's yearly salary reached $340,000. It was only last month, when Urban Meyer's hand was finally forced, that he fired Zach Smith. All this Urban did for Zach Smith because Smith was the grandson of another legendary Ohio State football coach, Earle Bruce, here with his grandson.  It was Earle Bruce who gave Urban Meyer his first assistant coaching job and who mentored Meyer throughout his career. Urban Meyer has referred to Earle Bruce as a second father. And so it was out of devotion to this second father that Urban Meyer protected a wayward grandson. The investigators also discovered that when Urban Meyer learned that Courtney Smith took out an order of protection against her ex-husband last July Meyer immediately consulted with a university administrator over how to delete old texts on his cellphone. Upon examination of Meyer's cellphone the investigators found that a number of texts from over a year ago were missing. Urban Meyer has not been fired for his cover-up of Zach Smith's violence against Courtney Smith and offenses against the Ohio State University.
 As for Courtney Smith, a young single mother and survivor of domestic abuse whose well-being was sacrificed by high-ranking members of a wealthy and powerful organization in order to protect their own and the organization's interests, she'll likely continue to be vilified by Zach Smith's family, Urban Meyer's adoring fans and supporters, and both men's lawyers. Neither Urban Meyer nor Ohio State University has given Courtney Smith a meaningful apology. But then Courtney Smith doesn't bring Ohio State $7 million a weekend. References:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/sports/urban-meyer-zach-smith-ohio-state.html http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180824/ohio-state-investigation-urban-meyer-apologizes-to-courtney-smith-in-statement http://www.buckeyextra.com/news/20180823/ohio-state-investigation-gene-smiths-lawyer-says-client-urban-meyer-were-sacrificed https://sports.yahoo.com/urban-meyer-misses-mark-buckeye-nation-apology-declining-address-courtney-smith-033236516.html https://sports.yahoo.com/urban-meyer-misses-mark-buckeye-nation-apology-declining-address-courtney-smith-033236516.html https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/08/22/urban-meyer-suspension-apology-ohio-state-courtney-smith https://sports.yahoo.com/report-mother-zach-courtney-smith-claim-ex-ohio-state-assistant-victim-retaliatory-plot-ex-wife-223132593.html
The Family That Eats And Karaoke's Together ...Continued from yesterday: With all of my children living in different cities across three time zones it's rare that we're ever all together. But over the course of Maria and Justin's week-long visit from Los Angeles we came close.
 Maria and the girls were at a play date that morning with the children of one of Maria's grade school friends, and I suggested that, for those of us who were available, lunch at First Watch would be the very thing,  ...not the least reason being that I, for one, was craving the First Watch Avocado Toast: "thick-cut whole grain toast topped with fresh smashed avocado, EVOO, lemon and Maldon sea salt. Served with two basted eggs." First Watch Avocado Toast is one of my favorite edibles on the planet, 
 ...and the custard-filled pancakes that Theresa ordered were so good - she generously offered me a taste - that I'm sure could easily develop an addiction to those pancakes, too. 
 ...which we all took turns joining in. 
   ......and somehow karaoke in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon,  ...just felt right,  ...until Theresa had to leave for her drive back to Cincinnati,  ...and I had to start dinner  It had been requested that I make the family favorite that everyone just calls "Linguine" - as in "Mom, can you make Linguine?" - even though the dish is actually made from fettuccini.
 Here's the recipe: LINGUINE 2 packages Knorr Vegetable Soup 3 tablespoons flour 1/2 cup butter or margarine 3 cups milk 1 bunch cooked broccoli 1 lb cooked fettuccine Mix the soup and flour. Whisk the milk into the soup and flour mix. Melt the butter in a large pot over the stove. Stir the soup, flour and milk mix into the butter and, over low to medium heat, stir the mixture constantly until it just boils. Simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cooked broccoli. Pour over the cooked fettuccine. Enjoy!  
 ...topped with ice cream, strawberries and cool whip. 
 ...even when eaten with stickers stuck on one's face.  
All Around The Town  As my grand children live over 2,200 miles away it's a sad fact of life that I normally see them fewer than half-a-dozen times a year. 
To this end, after we returned from our trip to the Berlin Resort in Amish Country (see previous post) we spent the next six days searching out interesting and fun things to do in Columbus, Ohio, of which there are a plethora,
 ...an upscale shopping mall that is like a little city within the city, a miniature New York or Paris;     ...that is to say, a miniature New York or Paris where they took out everything except the stores, restaurants, and a movie theater. We ended up taking a couple of trips to Easton, as even if one cannot afford to patronize the upscale establishments,  
 ...and, of course, it doesn't cost a cent to spend time strolling around the streets of Easton, window shopping, enjoying the pretty scenery,  
 ...all of which we did on Tuesday, the day after we returned from Amish Country. However before heading to Easton we first did our serious shopping at Walmart, of course (See post from 7/28/2018),  ...where he girls shopped for school clothes.     We picked up a few groceries as well, one-stop-shopping being one of the perks of patronizing Walmart.  Next we swung by Old Navy, where the girls also had luck finding a few nice pieces.    Then, the school clothes shopping done, we headed to Easton for lunch at Bibibop,     .and then out to play in the fountain.  Afterwards we returned to the indoor area of the mall where the girls discovered, among other wonders, the joys of Claire's.   
 ...and so we stopped for a reading break before heading home.  Now, I had invited Tommy and Emily over for dinner that evening, but we'd ended up spending so much time out on the town that by the time we arrived home it was 6:30 pm, too late to make dinner, so we all went out to Olive Garden instead.  
 ...which rounded out the day nicely. 
Off To Amish Country, Part 2 ...Continued from yesterday:
 The following morning, Monday morning, we started the day with breakfast in the dining room,    ...where, among the other standard offerings of a well-stocked breakfast buffet, which this one was, can always be found my favorite Berlin Resort breakfast goodie, the iced cinnamon rolls.  After breakfast we packed up and checked out, by which time the girls decided they were hungry for some of the East of Chicago pizza we'd brought home the night before (see yesterday's post), our friendly waitress having offered to pack us a box of pizza from the pizza bar to take with us, and so we relaxed while the girls ate their pizza,  ...played a game of chess with their dad, 
 We then headed down the path, 
 ...to feed the fish,  ...after which we headed back to the Children's Village,      ...for one more round of make-believe.     Then we left the Berlin Resort, 
 ...to visit the farm's petting barn,           ...to ride the ponies,   ...and the big horses,   ...and to play in the rock box,   ...and snap some nice shots of the scenery.    
  ...to have lunch at the Charm Family Restaurant,  ...outside of which was a rather fascinating fountain, 
   ...and the food down-home and yummy.
 The Prime Rib Wrap. 
 Macaroni and Cheese with Glazed Carrots. 
 Ice Cream Sundae  After lunch, it being well with our bodies and souls, we left charming Charm, Ohio,   ...and headed back to Columbus. 
Off To Amish Country, Part 1 
 ...my living room looked like this.  When I returned home several hours later, it looked like this:  ...and my family room looked like this,  ...which was a good thing; because it meant that my daughter, son-in-law, and two grand children had arrived from Los Angeles, and that for the next week my house would be a beautiful mess full of beautiful noise. 
 ...received a brief respite from all the fun when we left the following day for an over-night visit to Amish Country,
 ...the main attraction for the children being the resort's Children's Village, a miniature town with play shops and a wonderful playground.  And so on Sunday morning we picked up U.S. Route 62 and drove northeast, where we were soon out in farm country, Columbus, Ohio being in essence a provincial capital surrounded by rural country side, 
 ...and farmland.  We stopped along way for lunch in Utica, Ohio, at a place called The River's Edge Grill.     In truth the food there wasn't great - my grilled cheese, for example, was constructed of one slice of orange cheesesque product between slices of white bread - however it sufficed to fuel us through the afternoon, until we reached Holmes County,  ...the heart of Ohio Amish Country,   ...and the Berlin Resort.   
 Views from our balcony.   We settled into our rooms, then, the children being divided on what they wanted to do first, half of us headed for the pool, while the rest of us headed for the Children's Village.  
 The school house  After a while we walked back across the grounds,  ...to the hotel  Then everyone except me met up at the pool,   ...as I preferred rather to stroll around the building snapping pictures to the hotel,    ...and landings,  ...which, for some reason really appeal to me - I think mayhaps it's because they're all painted in soothing shades of yellow, as are most of the hotel's other charming nooks, crannies, and spaces, such as the gym,    ...manicurist and massage room,  
 ...lounge areas,   
 ...and snack-and-gift shop,  
 has a movie theater in the building). After the swim we headed into downtown Berlin to seek out some dinner only to learn that the town is closed on Sunday night, including all the restaurants except for East of Chicago Pizza, which was fine by us,  ...the deep-dish pizza being fresh, hot, tasty, and having a really nice crust.  After dinner we walked for a bit through the town, 
  
 ...to the Children's Village,   ...where we played in the classroom, 
 ...the pet shop, 
 ...and the movie theater.  Then our day was done, and so we headed back to the hotel and to bed.   To be continued...
The 2018 Mid-Ohio Indie Author Book Expo  ...Continued from yesterday: Just as last year's Mid-Ohio Indie Author Book Expo was my first book event (see yesterday's post), so it was also the maiden voyage of the event itself. The Expo is the brainchild and labor of love of Columbus author Alicia Wiggins,  ....who wanted to give independent and small press Midwestern authors a venue for showcasing their work as well as provide an opportunity for local readers to meet the authors and discover their work. Last year the Expo was a rather small affair with about fifteen authors participating,  ...though there was a pretty good visitor turnout all the same. 
 .with double the number of authors,  ...representing a variety of genres.           
 ...and some beautiful pieces of edible art for sale, courtesy of Carmy's Cakes.  
 ...and author of her memoir, "Unwavering Perseverance: an Olympic Gold Medalist Finds Peace."  Mary was among the half-dozen Expo authors I interviewed for yourbookmybook.com (see yesterday's post).  In her interview Mary spoke eloquently about her struggle to gain confidence in herself, her years of hard work and perseverance to become an Olympian, her post-Olympic career as a second-grade teacher, and her book, in which she chronicles her search for peace and resolution of inner conflicts that rose up in her adulthood from painful events in her childhood. Here is the link to Mary's yourbookmybook.com interview: https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147520085505546/ I also interviewed Daniel Miles, co-author of a series of graphic novels dealing with Japanese historical themes;  https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147556682168553/ ...murder mystery writer Linda Lee Greene,  https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147577378833150/
 https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147598022164419/ ...poet Leo Jones,  https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147612428829645/
 https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147627965494758/
 I joined the book-browsers, 
 ...Mary's memoir, 
 I hope to soon immerse myself in the books. I've already immersed myself in the cookies.
 Exactly one year from yesterday I, with a pile of copies of my newly published book in tow, attended my first author event, the Mid-Ohio Indie Author Book Expo, which took place in the Columbus Suburb of Urbancrest, at the Vaughn E. Hairston YMCA. Since this was my first event as a real, bonafide published author (that is to say, published book author,  - up until now I'd been a mere published short-story author, my book being the expansion of one of my short stories published years ago in "First for Women"),  ...I was soaring with enthusiasm. I really put on the dog, as the saying goes, for the event, 
 ...free bookmarks and cards, 
 ...which I managed to drop on my white blouse and grey pants, but which I tried to be philosophical about, figuring it made me more like one of the characters in my book to whom embarrassing things are always happening.  (However I have since foregone offering messy foods at book-selling events, though I continue to offer the rest of the swag items, and have even added free refrigerator magnets and candies to the giveaways). It was also at my first book event a year ago that I was interviewed for the first time on the book podcast yourbookmybook.com, which was at the event doing author interviews.  As it turned out, I hit it off that day with the yourbookmybook.com media coordinator, Miguel Lopez. 
 ...I wasn't there to sell my book, but to interview other authors who were there selling their books.     Funny how one thing leads to another. To be continued...
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"Equal And Opposite Reactions"
by Patti Liszkay Buy it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa or from The Book Loft of German Village, Columbus, Ohio 
Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
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