We arrived in Los Angeles on Friday January 5, and on Sunday, January 7 we left L.A. and headed south, ...to the town of Fallbrook, located in the dry, mountainous region 50 miles north of San Diego. We were visiting my sister, Romaine, who now lives in Fallbrook, ...in a bright, airy house, The guest room ...with a lovely backyard. Romaine lives is a small, quiet community surrounded by breath-taking vistas, such as these views from her front patio: Soon after we arrived Romaine took us for a stroll around her scenic, hilly neighborhood. We walked down to the community club house, which looked like an old Spanish mission, ...and past a little church. We concluded that one could definitely keep in shape just walking around the block every day a time or two. When dinnertime rolled around Romaine took us to the nearby town of Bonsall to a delightful spot called Z Cafe, ...where the ambiance was cozy, ...the service friendly and fast, and the food great. We started with an appetizer of roasted balsamic brussels sprouts, which were delicious (and which I now have a hankering to try and replicate at home). Romaine and I had the veggie sandwich with crispy, tasty fries, ...and Tom had the Hawaiian Salmon Bowl, which he proclaimed delicious. For dessert Tom had a yummy chocolate concoction called a Mud Pie, while I had this heavenly slice of carrot cake with ice cream. After dinner we returned to Fallbrook and took another brief walk. And as we strode the rugged terrain, taking in the sight of mountains and palm trees, I compared this to the landscape of the Midwest where I live and pondered the wonderful geographic - as well as human - diversity of this country.
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On Friday we returned our granddaughters to the balmy blue skies and palm trees of Los Angeles. On Saturday evening, by popular request, I fixed a batch of spaghetti and meatballs, ...pizza, ...and my famous chocolate brownies, ...which we served for some friends to nosh on when they came over that night for a card night. The following morning, after I fixed a breakfast buffet for the family and a few of the girls' friends who spent the night, ...Tom and I headed out from Los Angeles, ...south towards San Diego then east, to our next destination...
On New Year’s Eve we rang out 2023 at Tommy's and Emily’s house with a few of their friends. Some of the group rustled up a card game, a fast-moving and entertaining game called Spoons, …which actually involved using spoons. Meanwhile others of us were happy to chat, ...or to play with Ronan. And we all enjoyed the yummy snacks that Emily fixed for us: A choice of cider- or champagne-soaked grapes Cream cheese and chocolate bars Tasty Impossible Meat meat balls Apple, basil, and brie skewers ...and "2024"mozzarella-stuffed pull-apart rolls. The following day was the beginning not only of the new year but of a new adventure of sorts for my mate, Tom, and me, as well as for our grandchildren: Their parents returned to Los Angeles and, for the first time, left them here in Ohio with Tom and me. Though their visit was to last only four days, still I stressed over whether we'd succeed in keeping them entertained and happy enough to avoid boredom and homesickness. We needn't have worried. These California girls reveled in the novelty of being outside in the Ohio winter on “Grandpa’s Farm,” as they call our suburban Columbus backyard, and being put to work on some outdoor chores, such as raking leaves, ...spreading manure around the blueberry plants, ...taking down the Christmas lights, ...and, of course, occasionally taking a break to play, ...or to come inside to warm up by the fire. They also helped with taking down the indoor decorations, ...and with the shopping. Not that it was all work for the girls. We took trips to the mall, ...where one day we saw the movie "Migration," a hilarious flick about a cute but hapless family of ducks braving their first flight south for the winter. And there was plenty of time for biking, ...artwork, ...as well as playing "Exploding Kittens" and other games with their Aunt Theresa, who, like her nieces, is also a an afficionado of card games. And then, too quickly, the days were up, our adventure, such as it was, was over, and we were at the Columbus airport, ...and soon onboard our flight, ...to deliver the girls back to their home.
Books by Patti Liszkay |
"Tropical Depression"
by Patti Liszkay Buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTPN7NYY "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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April 2024
I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
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