. . . FINALLY . . .

The fires are not completely out here in Northern California, but moving closer to that -- at least for now. The three days of rain have succeeded in a major assist.

Of course, there are thousands of other concerns as well related to this horrible event. Thousands of folks who like most of us usually enjoyed Thanksgiving around a well-set table and the warmth and comfort of friends and family were forced to spend this holiday at shelters and even tent cities.

The rains began here on Wednesday, the 21st of November. They lasted through Friday, but today, Saturday, it is bright and sunny -- at least in Healdsburg.

It is predicted that we will receive more rain next week beginning on Tuesday -- what a real "Thanksgiving"! We have an amazing gardener -- he showed up today along with the sun. We have had the same person -- Rafael --  for almost twenty years and he has only missed one week and that due to a heart attack.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we had a great time spent with some of our loved ones (Gail, Dino and me) and enjoyed the complete dinner traditionally served on that day.

As a matter of fact, we had the exact same dinner last night as well substituting corn for green beans and adding a small dinner roll and cranberry sauce for Gail.

And guess what -- it was sooo good the last two nights we will repeat it once more tonight -- but that will be it for this year.

Helping the traditional day's activities, we watched part of three NFL games -- speeding through each so that we saw all the action plays in about an hour per game instead of the usual three hours per game. What a deal -- and we napped later in the afternoon . . .

This year it happened that while perusing the "Nextdoor" app for Healdsburg I came across an ad for gutter cleaning (which we really needed) and by the way putting up Christmas lights was available too.

We felt lucky that we got our gutters cleaned out just one day before the rain came. And the lights are up and on too.


We had the outline of the roof lighted along the gutter lines and when I took this picture at dusk, the full moon appeared off in the western sky. We have taken to turning off the lights when we retire and then they come back on the next evening at dusk. So far, so good -- no burnt out bulbs . . .

We have a few more decorations to put up in the coming days but who knows we may just be "okay" with the new lights . . .

And we haven't just been doing "nothing" in terms of puzzles -- we finished the one off to the right on Monday the 19th.

Besides being varied and fun-to-do, there were many nostalgic symbols displayed which made it interesting to do.

However, Gail hates to take down a puzzle after struggling to complete it -- so what we do after a day or so is to carefully slide it onto another board and start a new puzzle.

And that is what we have done -- one that is very similar to the above -- a lot of variations and color and interesting to work on.

What is currently on-our-nightstand you might ask -- the book off to the left -- "Becoming" by Michelle Obama.

We have been reading in that book for three nights and are enjoying it a lot.

The pages are full, smallish type and interesting. The details about a city that I know somewhat is good.

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, and even though I never lived in the city, I have some sense of living there.

Michelle describes city living well, especially the city on the South side as she saw it and I have only read about it.

This book will take "some time" to read and that is a good thing because it is well written -- I am always amazed when a writer can remember so much detail of things that happened years

before. We look forward each night to read and learn from this book. I'll most likely reference it again.

Lastly, and this is so often the case these days, I am finding out way after the fact about someone in our tree:

My paternal first cousin, Leslie passed away earlier this year -- March. He was 86 years old.

I'm not sure if I ever really met Leslie, but I sure did hear about some of his life, that is for sure. He is the son of my father's brother, Lloyd Jr.

One of the things that I always heard was that he was a champion swimmer in high school and was maybe destined for bigger things in that arena. But as sometimes happens that did not occur.

Just in doing research over the years I have gleaned some facts about Leslie, one being that he had joined the Marines after High School and that he married while in the service and had at least one son, Robert Hiles.

Robert Hiles, also my paternal first cousin but one time removed, has four children, my first cousins two times removed. I have been in contact over the years with two of Leslie's granddaughters.

Thinking about how it would be that I would have heard earlier about Leslie's passing, I'm not sure how it would happen since his grandkids were not in touch with him for years and so I found out while searching "Hiles" records in newspapers. Sad, in a way, for sure.

And that is a bit of our week, hope to see you all "in a few"!👫

SMOKY HALF-MOON NIGHTS

It has been over ten days since the Northern California fires in Butte County have started to ravish communities there. We still -- over 100 miles away -- are reeling from the effects of the smoke.

The half-moon appearing these nights is obscured by the haze. People all over town appear wearing masks including the folks who come to our door for one reason or another.

When my kids were growing up in the Northwest they used to listen anxiously on winter mornings for any word that "today" would be a "snow day" and that there would be no school. In our neighborhoods these days I suppose the kids await word for "smoke-filled days" that will cause the schools to be closed -- and most local schools have been closed because of the smoke.

Not only regular school has been curtailed, but sporting events and other outdoor activities have been canceled due to the fires. We have pretty much stayed inside -- but that is what our norm these days is anyway.

We keep the furnace fans running and that seems to help a bit and we only venture outside when necessary. We definitely do smell the acrid remains of smoke and it may be having an effect on how we feel.

The TV news is almost all about the fires and it is certainly a "downer". We here in Sonoma County just last year had over 6,000 homes burn -- now there are nearly 10,000 homes that have burnt to the ground in and around Butte County -- more in Southern California.

In Sonoma County, there has only been a handful of homes rebuilt and most folks that have lost their homes are still battling the insurance people and other regulatory agencies that seemingly are making it impossible to rebuild.

The word about Butte County folks who have lost their homes is that first there is almost no way that the thousands of folks left homeless will be able to even find temporary housing until they can rebuild. It is truly a dilemma that one has to hope to never have to experience.

Our indoor activities during the day continue to be centered around puzzle management and we have used that to "block" out some of the reminders of smoke-related activities.

We have been taking about two weeks to work the average 1000 piece puzzle -- we usually spend an hour or so at the "grind" and then return maybe for a second session later.  We almost always work on a puzzle during the evening news or a recorded sports event like Monday/Thursday Night Football.

We have discovered though that just because a picture is beautiful -- it does not always make a good puzzle. For example, the puzzle to the left in the collage above is a prime example of a beautiful scene but horrible puzzle material . . .

What is currently on our nightstand?   Actually, it is on "Audible" and we read it on our iPad each night before drifting off to sleep.

Of course, the book is written about the author of "Gone With The Wind", Margaret Mitchell.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               She led a very interesting life and only wrote this one very impressive novel.   Having grown up in the South she had heard tales about the Civil War era her whole life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            We are only about half-way through the book and find ourselves learning a bit of her everyday life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Unfortunately, Margaret died fairly young -- at 49 years of age -- a victim of a speeding driver who struck her in 1949. "Gone With the Wind" was published in 1936 and went on to sell millions of copies and win numerous awards.

Of course, the movie starred Clark Gable and was one of my Mother's favorites as well as the favorite of many many others. After reading this book we might just watch the movie -- one more time.

Just like with puzzles, we have our next book "on its way" and we'll talk about that one soon.                                                                                                                                                                  

A return of a favorite show is coming -- Who Do You Think You Are -- returns on December 3, a Monday.

                                                                                                               This show has been on now for several years and is fun to watch.                                                                                                                  Unfortunately, this season I think there are only four episodes. The episodes are about a known TV or movie personality and the search into their family trees.                                                                                                                                                                                        The show originated in the United Kingdom and still is popular there as well (with their version).                                                                                                                                                                      The show will air on TLC on Mondays at 10 pm -- we will set up a timer to record each episode and then watch them when it is convenient for us.

                                                                                                                                                                   

We are feeling the "holiday" season especially with the arrival of an impressive "edible" gift for the occasion:

Gail is checking out our holiday gift box -- thank you, Aura.

We look forward to enjoying all the goodies shown, from fresh fruit to salami, cookies, candies and other treats.

A nice way to begin the stretch of days coming up.

And lastly, next week is our favorite holiday of the year -- Thanksgiving Day. It again seems impossible that it is so soon and that some parts of the country will have a "white" Thanksgiving.

We wish all a very pleasant day on Thursday next week -- we are even forecast to have rain -- which is a real Thanksgiving this year.

That is a bit of our week, hope to see you all "in a few"! 👫

EERIE SKY, SMOKEY SUN -- PARADISE LOST

Orangery sunlight filtering throughout our home and neighborhood the last few days. Most local schools were canceled and for sure outside activities discouraged due to the raging wildfires in Northern California.

Officially now, the "Camp Fire" is the worst in California's recorded history. We here in Healdsburg are having to breathe the smoke-filled air and deal with the light ash falling throughout the town.

There is a strangeness to the aura of the light caused by the smoke. The air also is strong with the aroma of the burning matter. Our eyes are itchy and our throats are scratchy. We have kept our windows closed for the last three days but the outside air has a way of seeping through and into our home.

Healdsburg is approximately 160 miles from the town of Paradise, Butte County, California and yet the smoke from that fire is as strong -- if not stronger -- than the fires locally last year.

There is no escaping the smell and the sight and sadly there was no escaping the flames for many folks in Paradise.

Paradise, California is being reported as having been destroyed.
The town had just under 30,000 folks in it and all were evacuated or told to evacuate. Sadly because of the few numbers of escape roads some folks died in their autos trying to get out of the way of the fires.

Wildfires have been a constant battle for the whole time that I have lived in California -- about 45 years -- but only in the last few years have they threatened close to where I lived. Last year was very close and we live with that memory every time we hear a siren during a red-flag warning period.

As a matter of fact, Gail and I started married life being evacuated during our honeymoon in 1992 in Arnold, California from our rented cabin. We spent one night in a Red Cross shelter in the local high school gymnasium.

Since we were "just visiting" the area it was easier for us to pack up everything we brought with us and put it into the car and spend the night (on cots) in the shelter -- the Red Cross was really great and provided all the basics that we needed.

The next day, we drove to the Las Vegas area and stayed the rest of our honeymoon in a hotel there. We really were appreciative though of the services of the Red Cross -- they provided so much to all the folks that were in need and even provided services for the many animals brought in as well.

Our weather -- if it were not for the smokey air -- would be quite pleasant, somewhere in the mid to high 70s. But because the sun is not getting through to us, it is much cooler than the mid-70s.

However, it is shocking to see that where some of my family lives, there is snowfall this week.

Probably a little like the snow that fell in the picture to the left that shows the "Hiles Railroad" in Hiles, Wisconsin in 1923.

Having lived in the Chicago area growing up -- I remember those cold cold days, but it does seem a bit early for that weather -- it could almost have been -- "I dreamt of a white Halloween" . . .

I guess the moral of the story is that every part of the country "has its issues" and we are going through some of them right now -- we just keep our fingers crossed during this red-flag warning weekend (again).

A peek at some Hiles' from our tree -- a ways back . . .

The picture to the right (provided thanks to Teresa Hiles) is of Thomas Hiles and his great-grandson, Donny.

The occasion was on Thomas' 90th birthday and a get-together was held in his honor at the home of his granddaughter, Ethel, who is married to Robert Miles.
(Hiles 2 Miles...)

Thomas is the brother of my Great Grandfather, John Hiles (who was married to Emily Adeline Gillett).

Thomas was a farmer near Sparta, Monroe, Wisconsin and lived to be 92 years of age. His brother David, also a farmer in the same area lived to be 97 years of age.

Both were similar in appearance -- tall and thin -- I wish that I would have met them growing up.

To the left is a group photo of the folks attending the Thomas Hiles 90th birthday celebration. (thanks again to Teresa)

While probably all in the photo are Hiles related, I am not sure of most of the identities.

Since this photo was taken in 1944, I would have been a toddler but then -- I was not in attendance.

Growing up, I can not recall ever hearing any reference to Thomas or his brother (s) at all -- what a shame.

Lastly, is a picture of Donny & Lois Hiles who are great grandkids of Thomas Hiles. (credit to Teresa)

They are 3rd cousins of mine and well could be still living today. I don't know but should know and will research that.

Their parents are Raymond & Lola (Burlingame) Hiles and their grandparents were Frank & Minnie (Thurston) Hiles -- none of whom I had any knowledge of before working on family history.

Donald is about the age of my brother, and Lois is about the age of my sister. I'll report back on my findings . . .

And finally,

In the scheme of things today, it, of course, is not THAT important -- but it is interesting that the New York Times carried an article about "the hammer" from Healdsburg.

It still remains a mystery and maybe, just maybe it will be uncovered . . .


That is a bit of our week, see you all "in a few"! 👫

It's Time / Change Time

And of course, we are talking clocks. Tonight before heading to bed we might set some of our clocks back by one hour. Some of our clocks will automatically change and others we will one by one manually change.

For some reason, I am SO ready to "fall back". The last few weeks I have found it harder and harder to get up at the usual time -- around 6:30 am  . . . Dino is already making the adjustment as I get up a bit later each day . . .

It is definitely fall around here though the temps a few days were very summerlike (the 90s).  I think that I am not going to like "springing ahead" next year.  In California, this coming election, Proposition 7 is on our ballot -- having to do with either keeping Daylight Saving Time or abandoning it.

It is confusing as to which way would be better, but I do know already that I am not looking forward to "losing" that hour of sleep in the coming spring of 2019 . . .

Speaking of "change", Tuesday is election day for the mid-terms.

We are going to vote this afternoon -- promises, promises. Then we'll drop off the ballots at our local USPS.

For whatever reasons, this year it seems even more important that we take the time to make our selections.

Wednesday will be a very interesting "news" day and probably will determine what to expect in the news in the coming two years. We continually are appreciative of the "fast forward feature" on our DVR -- we record everything that we watch.

Wednesday this week was of course Halloween. It is not a huge deal for us but we do recall our own days of trick and treating.

This year we thought that since we do not receive that many trick and treaters that we would be handing our "full-sized" candy bars.


And so that is what we prepared to do and did. The youngsters began at 5:30 pm -- two little ones dressed as a princess and a pirate happily took their full-sized treats.

The rush came later when we had 8 middle school types coming in one group. Then there were a couple of other small groups and by 7:30 -- that was all there was -- a total of 15.

The kids were appreciative of the large sized candy bars, but one problem for us is that we now have "full-sized" candy leftover and at the above rate, about two more years worth. We'll get through it . . .

We did purchase some of our favorites so that is a good thing, I think.

Football in our neck of the woods has not been so good this year. First, our local high school was not able to keep enough varsity players to continue the program and so look to maybe next year.

Next, the highly anticipated season for the San Francisco 49ers was thrown for a loss when the new quarterback was injured and the season deteriorated into a 1 win 7 loss status . . .

Across the Bay, the Raiders who have for many years been so questionable were expected to do really well with their new head coach, the return of John Gruden -- and they have a 1 win and 6 loss season.

So what could be more exciting than watching what some were calling the "Dog Bowl". But for us San Francisco Niner fans -- it was exciting. The new quarterback, Nick Mullens, starting his first ever NFL game after our second string quarterback was injured last week, turned in a spectacular show.

Niners 34 -- Raiders 3 . . . one thing that spoiled the sense of a "good game" was the pregame behavior of one of the cheer squad who chose to take a knee during the anthem . . . we need to be done with this . . . at least not show it or mention it -- just like they do not show people running on to the field interrupting the play.

We are though, enjoying our new puzzle project -- San Francisco Trolley.

We are about a third of the way to completing it and it does bring back the memories of living in that city for many years.

Once again though the sky colors are tough as they wind up being single pieces with no shapes or forms in them, just varying colors
that takes perseverance.

We made a large pot of chili this week and enjoyed it for three meals.

We also made a batch of cornbread to accompany the main event which turned out to be equally good.

It makes my mouth water just thinking about making another batch and as the weather gets cooler -- so comforting.

It is getting time to replenish the inventory of meat choices for the freezer. We need to make a "Costco" run soon.

Some good news just heard today -- the Trader Joe's that burnt in last October's major fire is hopefully going to reopen in a couple of weeks -- we do like shopping there a lot, except for the parking . . .

That is a bit of our week, hope to see you all "in a few"! 👫