Pineapple Express -- Umbrella Down

All week we were being warned of the pending storm to hit Northern California. After many days of "nothing" to speak of in terms of weather -- it arrived on Friday:

Apparently this weather has a definite channel right from Hawaii to us here in California. Actually we felt the warm breezes a bit -- the thermometer was a few degrees warmer right before the rains began.

For practical reasons we usually set up a large umbrella at one of the back doors and then one stationed near a front door. While watching TV we did notice the sounds of heavier than normal winds.

When we went to go outside this morning to take Dino on his "business trip" we did not realize how much the wind had interacted with our back-deck umbrella. Walking down the stairs I was immediately presented with a submerged umbrella in the shallow end of the pool.

Dino found it a curiosity but quickly ignored it enough to complete his mission. We just laughed at how that umbrella must have struggled with the wind as we had somewhat secured it between the porch gliders.

Thinking back to our previous residence (under several oaks) we are really glad to not have the worry of falling branches and/or limbs when experiencing winds. We see plenty of that happening on the local news.

Memories of the Super Bowl

Thoughts of the Super Bowl are still lingering with us almost a week later -- but for some -- those lingering thoughts will be there for a long long time.

When we open the fridge there is a small amount of leftover Super Bowl treats still there which as of today will be gone.

We had "Philly Cheese Steak Dip" and a generous bowl of guacamole with chips.

Dino enjoyed one of his favorite treats -- ice cubes . . . go figure.

We managed to put away a fair amount of the above, enough so that dinner was not required after the game.

Next Super Bowl will be played in Levi Stadium, right here in Northern California and maybe we'll recognize a team or two.



Webinars This Week

This week it seemed that I had more webinars than ever to watch -- and I did. It is so nice to be able to enjoy these events:

I learn something from each webinar even when it may sound that it couldn't apply to our genealogy.

For example, finding Confederate Soldiers, the methodology very much applies to finding Union Soldiers as well -- but we do have both in our tree.

There are a couple coming next week -- but the real attention will be on the largest genealogical event of the year:

I will be attending as many of the available presentations as possible. This is a great chance to see what is happening in the genealogy world.

One day maybe I'll even attend in person, though it is kind of like attending large sporting events -- I often find it more beneficial to attend via TV or online.

Research Results This Week

Off to the right you can view a screen shot from the Hiles Website.

This one features Elma Ann Green, a second cousin of mine (ours).

Her Grandmother is the sister to our Grandfather, Lloyd Hampton Hiles.

Her mother, Dorothy, married Carl Green. And together they had two children, Elma Ann and
John Allen Green.

Up to this week I did not have a photo of Elma Ann -- but I found one from her high school senior picture from Arcadia High School.

I never had the opportunity met Elma Ann, John Allen or their parents -- but I could have!

Since I was familiar with Arcadia, California, having lived there for several years, I looked up the 1968-1969 Arcadia City Directory and found the Green family.

And guess what -- they lived about two blocks away from where I lived in those years:

To me that is amazing that I was living with my wife and two children just two blocks from a first cousin, Dorothy and her husband and two second cousins, their kids. We may have been together in a supermarket or a doctor's office or even at Santa Anita Race Track . . .

How many other situations like the above will we uncover . . . who knows.

And Finally -- What is on our Nightstand?

Tonight we will begin reading a new book. We just finished reading James Garner (Bumgarner). The book was a memoir of sorts and it really verified that James Bumgarner was a truly nice person.

Everyone who wrote testimonies to Jim spoke highly of him and we are glad to hear that the way we always felt about him was shared by so many others.

We look forward to reading "Carl Reiner -- I Remember Me".

Just this week we saw Carl Reiner appearing on the "Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon".

At almost 92 years old, he was absolutely as funny and humorous as ever.

He apparently is the only entertainer to have been on "all" the
"Tonight Show" iterations since it began.

And the foreword of the book was written by another favorite of ours -- Billy Crystal.

It is a book I am sure that we will enjoy.




And, since it is Saturday, we will be having burgers fish for dinner . . .  see you all in a few!