Isabel's Baptism

Okay, Easter weekend in Minnesota for a vagabond who's obsessed with spring may not make sense to you. There was, however, an event to sweeten the pot, and I do mean sweeten. That was an invitation to the baptism of the newest little doll in our family, Princess Isabel, the youngest grandchild of my dear sister Jan, who is no longer with us.

My nephew and niece have a lovely house on a lake -- but then, I think the lake's truly spectacular moments don't occur in March. Here's the view during a snowstorm.

And here's the view a few hours later, similar, but whiter and wetter.

For the first picture, I stood outdoors. After several more inches of snow I decided a picture through the window would get the message across just fine.

Here's the view the next morning when it has stopped snowing, but the sun is not making a very good stand (she says, with memories of California's warm sun and brilliant blue skies). You may notice the common theme here: bleak, grey, cold-looking.

But hey, I didn't come for the frozen lake. Here's what I came for. A concert by this tiny musician who delights in making her own music.

Isabel is one of the happiest babies I have met. Every moment of life is fun for this little sweetie. She won me over with her favorite game, peek-a-boo, which never got old or boring to her.

Here she is with some of her favorite people who dote on her.

This is Cuz Xave and she knows that she can look up to him with her gorgeous blue eyes and get picked up in a second.

Aunty Tatey is always willing to play and make her laugh.

Mommy adores her.

And Daddy sneaks a little kiss.

She simply has fun with life. Who would have thought eating lunch could crack somebody up this way?

And of course a bath is supposed to settle her down.

Isabel was baptized on Saturday evening in a church that uses flowers to remind us that Easter is about new life. Doesn't that make a beautiful backdrop for this little princess?

What a great family. I know my sister would be very very proud to see this happy threesome and undoubtedly was there with us in spirit.

I felt very fortunate to participate in their celebration, and I suspect that it will not be long before I venture back to Minnesota to check in with this part of my family again.

In the meantime, I'm flying back to California where my RV and wandering wonder dog await me.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Chorro and CeCe Go to the Coast

Chorro's cousin CeCe invited us to drive over to the coast with them for the weekend!



CeCe is my sister's Polish Sheepdog and she and Chorro met for the first time last month.

You know Chorro, he definitely wants to be in the driver's seat.



We were very excited to go over to the ocean. It's about a four-hour drive and takes us over the Coastal Mountains, so we not only were going to see the ocean but lots of beautiful scenery along the way.

About halfway through our drive, we could see Clearlake, a very large lake in central California. Its length is more than a hundred miles, so we caught many glimpses of it.


Behind it are mountains high enough to be snow-capped.



And to top if off, we drove through tall redwoods flanking the highway.


Midmorning, we came across a team of wild turkeys practicing precision dancing. They reminded me of Native American fan dancers. Hmm, maybe Native American fan dancers were reminded of wild turkeys?



We arrived at the coast where Cheryl had a beautiful suite reserved for us at a country inn. Here's the view from our deck.



Across from us is a very rugged coast access with steep trails to scramble down.


Farther north on the coastline was this very dog-friendly white sand beach, where the dogs explored and played for hours.



I watched the waves and tried to capture them at their peaks as they crashed into the rocks.



My sister Cheryl walked with the dogs.


And she relaxed with the dogs.


It was a great beach for strolling.


Back at our inn, we relaxed and I captured a couple of sunset pictures from the deck.


We had a great time in the fresh air, crashing waves, and golden California sunshine.

And tomorrow is a new day.

Bok Kai Parade

The Bok Kai Festival in Marysville honors the Chinese god of water each year at Chinese New Year's and many think this festival is the reason that Marysville has not been flooded in over 100 years, although much surrounding area has been. (Others think an elaborate system of dykes and berms surrounding the city may be responsible. Who knows?)

The Bok Kai Parade is the highlight of the festival for Marysville and has about 10,000 people lining the streets to view it. It is the oldest annual parade in California. Chorro and I planned our visit here this year to allow us to see this historic event. And yes, this is the parade that had Miss Lilly dressed in her Sunday best.


The parade begins and ends with a Chinese emphasis, but the middle is filled with Americanized parade standards -- the dignitaries in sleek new models of cars that don't belong to them, the high school bands that are a delight no matter where one hears them, and assorted floats with excited children waving both hands while riding on them.


The Bok Kai parade begins with firecrackers and the sounding of the gong,

followed by the carrying of a banner which is symbolic for the Chinese community.

Although the "Parade Marshall" was a local non-Chinese man, the Bok Kai Hostess also had her own car and spot near the front of the parade.



For the Chinese, this is the Year of the Rat. This float acknowledged that with a cute take-off on "Ratatouille."



The Spanish appropriately claimed a few spots of significance, considering their ancestors have been here longer than either the Chinese or the Americans.



There were several entries representing schools of the martial arts, and this two and a half foot tall black-belt-to-be charmed everyone. Note the precision in his stance (compare him to the young lady on the upper right). This group held the stance motionlessly for perhaps a half minute or longer.



The lion dancers are a traditional part of the parade and they prepare the way for the dragon, the true star of the parade.



Here's the lion and the lion-hearted.



Of course, here was our little Lilly, sweetheart of the parade.



Oddly, there appeared four Scottish pipers. These guys brought a tear to my eye as I remembered the many parades I watched with my mother when she was still alive. The Fourth of July parade route passed in front of her house and we watched it together every year. Her father was Scottish and she eagerly waited for the several Scottish pipebands that came to the parade.


And here are more lion dancers. Their costumes are very elaborate and carefully made to withstand the very active performances of the lion dancers along the parade route.



And finally, with firecrackers set off in rhythmic blasts, the dragon comes racing in. The grey smoke you see in the center of this picture was created by the firecrackers. The dragon not only twists and turns but occasionally coils up and then uncoils. He not only looks fierce, but is fast moving and accompanied by lots of noise. The young men who are his "feet" are basically running in precision the whole route of the parade.



I must say that he made all other dragons in my memory pale in comparison.



Here is my favorite Bok Kai supporter wearing his Bok Kai bandana.

That is his little head at the lower center of the picture as he bravely protects us from this particularly fierce dragon.


Bok Kai was an exciting day.



And tomorrow is a new day.