Another rainy outing with the Ogiers! Regardless,
we still took to the trails of Griffith Park. Our
first attempt resulted in a mad dash back to the cars to
avoid the heavy downpour - along with the thunder and
lightning and lots of mud! Our second
attempt we started for Bee Rock, only to find that the
last third of the way was blocked due to fire damage
from last year. Jeeezzz!!
Our third attempt was a smashing success: Mexican
food and Margaritas at Viva's Mexican Restaurant. Yay!
Nov 8th - Parkinson's Diagnosis hits Home
Truthfully, I'd never really thought about this disease
much. But all it took was a single email from my
step-dad Steve, who bravely informed the family of his
diagnosis. Now Parkinson's is very much on my
radar. Apparently, Steve's medications are having
a positive effect - so this is some good news. As
well, it seems that this disease will have vastly
different outcomes for each individual. Some end
up with a very limited lifestyle. And
others go on to have a very normal lifestyle - without
many restrictions.
So, I keep Gail and Steve in my thoughts, and wish them
luck and love moving forward. There will be
many trips to see his doctors,
tests, lots of waiting for results, more meds, and
treatments. So, to Steve I say GOOD LUCK and try
to have a positive outlook. Virginia and I will be
looking forward to see how things are going for you!
Nov 9th - KK's new home: Gibson Ranch, Sunland CA
There were many reasons for Virginia to move her horse
(KK) to a new stable. Monthly cost, better amenities,
larger stalls among them. So early on Sunday
morning a truck and horse trailer met Virginia at the
old barn near Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Considerable conversation
took place before hand about being
able to actually get KK into a trailer. She's an
old mare and can be very fussy. However, Virginia
reported that KK went in very easily.
Once KK was in her new stall, we worked the rest of the
day to get all the horse equipment
(tack) from the old tack closet to the new one. We
built and installed some nice shelves for the amazing
amount of shampoo, fly spray, medical stuff, treats,
supplements etc.
Gibson Ranch is really nice. I'm not much of an
expert, but I can tell the difference. The
horses have more room in each stall. There are
lots of places to let them out - little 'sunning pens'
and some other open areas. The old place was
really tight - everything was sort of
cramped. Gibson is wide open. The
people around are really friendly. It's not far
from my house in Tujunga, and is also adjacent to the
mountains that make up Big Tujunga Canyon - so the views
(and hopefully the horse trails) are spectacular.
Nov 14th - A visit to Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena
Thanks to my friend Al (who works on the JPL campus), a
few of us were invited to visit the main JPL assembly
room. You know, the super white clean room with
workers dressed in bunny suites. What's being assembled?
The new MARS Rover! Launch date
was scheduled for
October 2009, but just recently has been pushed back
to 2011. After 10 months travelling in space to
the red planet, the
latest, greatest, largest, first nuclear powered rover
will make its landing. The buzz around JPL is that
this is one of the biggest projects the lab has ever
been involved with.
Also, I must give a shout-out to my fellow Friday night mountain biker Brian. He also works at
JPL and
is part of this rover project - designing a super
accurate radar system to help the rover touch down safe
and sound. Dude - fear not - it's going to work
perfectly!
I suggest viewing this NASA animation to show how the
new rover will enter the MARS atmosphere and descend to
the surface. It will help make sense of the
different components shown above, and the new way
this rover will land.
Nov 15th - Firestorm Weekend: The Sayre Fire
Yet another fire raged nearby - this one very close to
where Virginia's Mom lives. She was ok, but
reported lots of smoke and ash in her apartment. I
could see this fire easily from my morning mt bike
trail.
The worst of this fire ripped through a mobile home
community and burned (to the ground!) 484 of the
600 homes at Oakridge Mobile Home park. That's a
whopping number - and EVERYONE evacuated safely - during
the hours of 3AM - till dawn. That's roughly 1200
people. Horrible way to wake up.
Emily Johnson, Danielle Ogier, Hanna
Johnson & Drew Ogier enjoy marshmallows and campfire in my back yard,
2002.
To outlive your child is a horrible tragedy for any parent. My friend Sheryl (in
Colorado) was thrown in to that dark abiss today when her daughter Emily
passed away this afternoon.
All of about 16 years old, Emily was in an ATV accident
(as a passenger) and suffered a brain stem injury then
put into a drug induced coma by her doctors. Eventually
she was determined that her brain would not survive. A
harrowing
decision was made to end her life-support, and have her
organs donated to others that would need them to live.
Emily lives on in those lucky recipients.
Emily Johnson is survived by her Mom, Dad, sister Hanna
and countless friends both near and far. You may
read Sheryl's thoughts here:
http://emilyupdates5.blogspot.com/ .
Nov 27th Thanksgiving
Well, another holiday weekend come and gone. Poof!
They go fast, especially if you're having a good time.
Tommy G. hosted the family Thanksgiving gathering this
year. Special guest Candy visited from Missouri,
and did most of the cooking - very delicious!
