Hi from SoCal

I'm at my mother-in-law's house in San Bernardino, California. We have driven around our old environs quite a bit - and it made us both a little sad: we miss it and it's gone and changed and gotten less familiar. There are two primary changes in my mind: first of all, many of the houses here burned down a few years ago. Most have been replaced with all kinds of styles of houses, but it certainly looks different. Seconly, the city, especially the business districts, has been getting gradually more run-down, and we are always surprised when we visit to see dead shopping centers and businesses and more bars on the windows of residences than before. Still, it is just gorgeous here - very hot during the day but cool in the evenings and the mornings with a bright blue sky and wispy clouds. We have the brown foothills to look at, and more distant mountains, and bouganvillea in bloom, and the whole landscape dotted with Q-tip palm trees.

The house where we were married has a dead lawn, in fact, no surviving landscaping at all. The front lawn tree is a large, branched stump. It sits in a lovely neighborhood, a forlorn rental among nicely-kept homes. We drove to our last house, which we adored and has a wonderful view of the whole valley. It's surrounded by rosebushes and well-kept. We stopped to visit our dear neighbor to find that he's been ill, has split from his wife, and has caregivers. Things change, especially when it's years and not months. It was great to visit with him, though, and enjoy his upbeat, fun personality.

John is having a try at fixing his mom's broken sewing machine, and I'm on their dial-up internet. This neighborhood isn't wired for DSL. In fact, I was browsing the internet on the Kindle a while ago, that's what an addict I am! I edited two videos yesterday and am just not sure they're what I want, but I might upload them when I get to a good connection. I need to look at them again with a fresh perspective. It's a challenge to put the right information into the videos.

My MIL Barbara and SIL Laura have all kinds of adorable pets, including one of the most gorgeous dog's I've even seen, but also the most fearful and standoffish. She arrived starved and hairless and Barbara and Laura brought her back from the brink. She turned out to be a stunning blonde, some sort of golden retriever mix, spectacular and teddy-bear-like even after being clipped for the weather. It took a day for me to persuade her to let me rub her neck. She let us walk her last night, and I just can't get over what a beauty she is, and so sweet-natured.

I had a comment on YouTube from a knitter who has had a tough time knitting the back of the V-neck child's raglan. I hope it's going better for her! My dream is that people are working the lessons one at a time and feeling some genuine mastery.

On to more adventures.