Sunday, June 30, 2013

The Merry Month of June

This blog has been checked by Grammarly: http://www.grammarly.com/ 'cause what the heck. We all need help, and I need more than most.

After hurrying like a madwoman (not difficult, given the state of my sanity at the best of times) in order to get all my work done, I left New Mexico for my home state of California on June 19! The purpose of this visit was threefold:

1.    2013 is the fiftieth anniversary of my graduation (along with approximately 999 other kids) from John Muir High School in Pasadena, California, and I wanted to attend the reunion.
2.    I wanted to see my younger daughter, Robin; my younger grandson, Riki; Robin’s husband, Gilbert; and several of my old Pasadena buddies.
3.    I wanted to EAT! You can’t get good food in Roswell unless you make it yourself. I wanted to dine on Japanese, Middle Eastern, and East Indian food. And I did!

Therefore, the trip was a rousing success. Missions accomplished. Here’s a picture of John Muir High School, the school of my youth, which doesn’t seem so all-fired long ago, although everyone who attended the reunion looked terribly old:


At the reunion I also touched base with a woman with whom I played flute at the Eliot Junior High School Band. Janet Levine was her name back then. She’s Janet Levine Goldberg now, and it was mega-fun to see her again. Here are Mary Ray Cate (now a physician in Santa Fe, with whom I’ve been in touch for years), Janet and me in the Muir Auditorium. Hey, I played a Winkie in The Wizard of Oz in that auditorium! I think they left the Winkies out of the movie. Story of my life.



I got a ticket coming home from California. I deserved it, too. I was going eighty-five in a seventy-five mile-per-hour zone. However, since the ticket was given to me by a Laguna Pueblo Police Officer, it won’t go on my permanent driving record. It’s treated more or less like a parking ticket. I don’t understand why that is, but I’m grateful my insurance rates won’t suffer.

Then, when I came home again, much to the delight of my dogs and the kind people who cared for them while I was away (Ann and Barry Lasky), I participated in a Concert of American Music on June 30. It was so much fun! The only problem with singing in choruses, etc., is that I have a very low voice for a female and, therefore, sing with the tenors. I’m five feet tall. All the rest of the tenors are a lot taller than I am. Ergo, since I sat at the end of the second row for this concert, I had to take a giant step to my right in order to be seen and heard by the audience. What the heck. I guess we all use the talents we’ve been given. If I was meant to have been a soprano, I guess I’d have been born one, huh? Anyway, that was fun.

Altogether, June was a much more enjoyable month than May was. Here’s hoping good things for July.

If you’d like to enter my contest, this month I’ll be giving away a couple of copies of PECOS VALLEY RAINBOW, Book #3 in my Pecos Valley series. To enter, all you have to do is send me your name and home address in an e-mail to alice@aliceduncan.net . Also, please visit my web site: www.aliceduncan.net and join me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925





11 comments:

Cecelia Dowdy said...

Wow! I love good food, too! Too bad you're not able to get good food everywhere...

Caroline Clemmons said...

Alice, your visit to California sounds as if you had fun. That's great, since you had a difficult past year. I remember living in places where there were no good restaurants. Bummer, because I love eating out. Actually, what I like is eating something someone else cooked. LOL

Alice Duncan said...

Thanks, Cecelia! Yes. Roswell is kind of a . . . dumpy place. No good restaurants. Sniffle.

It was a great, if short, visit, Caroline. Every time I go to California, I eat everything in sight :-)

Samantha Greenlaw said...

85 MPH? Geez woman, I bet not many of your fellow classmates celebrating their 50 year reunion received a ticket on their way home going EIGHTY FIVE MILES an hour! haha! Glad you had a wonderful time :)

Alice Duncan said...

Oh, heck, Sam, I'm still 17 at heart :-) Besides, I grew up in Southern California. It has a life-long effect on people :-)

Bonnie Vanak said...

So glad you had a good time in CA!!!

Bonnie Vanak said...

So glad you had a good time in CA!!!

Debby said...

What a great visit. Time sure does fly.

Norah Wilson said...

Alice, sounds like June was LOTS of fun! And you look so gorgeous and happy in that reunion photo. Love the strappy red sandals. :)

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Hi, Alice,

It does sound like you had a great trip! You don't look old to me in the photo. Hope you didn't gain too much weight with all that good eating.

Alice Duncan said...

Time flies like a rocket, Debby, whether you're having fun or not :-)

Thanks, Norah! Yeah, I like those sandals. I have some cute blue ones too. I may not be able to wear heels any longer, but I like pretty sandals. Oh, and I went to get a pedicure and got my toenails painted red, too :-)

Thanks, Jacquie! I did gain weight. Sigh. After the back operation I had in September, I lost six pounds. Recently I've gained EIGHT. Not fair.