California - There and Back Again

Guess where I am?

So yeah, I took a few days off. Felt guilty at first, got over it rather quickly. Especially as Beans, Juvat, and Tuna covered my absence very well.

Officially we came out here to witness the senior granddaughter's First Communion. It was an impressive affair, she looked angelic as did all the young ladies and gentlemen. Lovely and solemn, I was in the moment until The Naviguesser tapped my arm and asked, "Does this make us Papists?"

I assured him, it did not.

It's not the first time I've attended Mass, probably won't be the last as well. The WSO converted to Catholicism some years back as Big Time (being very Catholic as he is mostly Italian with a bit of French thrown in for good measure) wanted his kids raised in the Catholic faith. When asked by my youngest if I had any problems with that, I assured her that I did not.

Paternal grandfather was Catholic, converted to marry my grandmother. Dad's second oldest brother, Uncle Charlie, converted to Catholicism to marry my aunt. Like I told The WSO -

"Pretty sure we worship the same God, just the techniques and traditions are a "bit" different."

(That "bit" can cover a lot of ground.)

At any rate, that's why we flew to California.

Said flight was rather long, PVD to EWR to LAX to FAT. (As an exercise for the reader, I'll let you look those up.) We had a rather nice meal in LAX, expensive but very tasty. If you're ever stranded in LAX's Terminal 8, check out Engine Co. No. 28, awfully damned pricey, but very tasty. Bring an appetite, bring your wallet. You'll need both.

We were actually able to see the mountains while we were out there, some days are so hazy that seeing what's in the distance is not possible. As you can see above, the snow-topped mountains were pretty clear. (We were on out way to Visalia to see Avengers: Endgame, which while rather long, was rather entertaining. I was not disappointed.)

The Taco Guys

The afternoon of First Communion we were all invited over to one of The WSO's friends for a most excellent party. Those two guys in the photo above make some of the best tacos I've ever had. Which all of the many Mexican-Americans at the party pronounced very authentic. As did Big Time's brother, The Godfather, who has traveled extensively in Old Mexico on business and has probably eaten in every taco place down there.

We laughed when he said, "I'll be the judge of whether or not the tacos are authentic."

Heh, you tell them gringo. Truth be told, he did judge them authentic. He wasn't wrong.

Senior Dog Aurora

Met The WSO's dogs and cat for the first time. I had heard much about them and they turned out to be rather awesome pets.

Junior Dog Brownie

Brownie is just a pup, six months old and is still a little hyper, but once you get to know her she is very sweet.

Elsa, the Cat

Elsa gets along fine with Aurora, can't abide Brownie at all. She and Aurora will touch noses and sleep together. Brownie, for all her youthful exuberance, gets a swat and a hiss. She doesn't know why, so she keeps poking her nose in. Elsa lets her know that that is rather an unwise course of action. Aurora tries to keep her younger sister in line, but it's a full time job.

For her part, Elsa gets along with people just fine, very personable, very friendly.

So by the time you read all this, we should be back on the ground in Little Rhody. The lads did a fine job of covering the first few days away. As I type this it's Monday afternoon, The Missus Herself is cooking bulgogi, The Nuke, The WSO, Tuttle*, and L'il Sweetie are telling "sea stories." Big Time is at work and Little Bit is at tumbling practice. I can't wait to see if I convince LUSH to post while I'm out here. (Which if you see something on Wednesday she did, otherwise, she did not.)

We shall see...




* You shall learn who Tuttle is in due course.