San Diego and a visit to Balboa Park

     Our visit to San Diego continues with regular meetings with Joanne, Ben, and Jamo, as we work around our visiting schedule and their working schedule. Naturally Debbie complains that we're not seeing enough of them, but I remember those days when I was working the midnight shift, and my body never really understood what it was doing. So we eagerly anticipate Ben's morning visits when he's on his way home. Mom gets to cook "little Benny Booters" as MAE calls him, a breakfast, and then he's on his way home for a few hours sleep before Joanne gets home.

And through it all, Jamo quietly guards the front door. And that absolutely amazes me. As much as that dog needs to be touched by someone, anyone, he leaves Ben alone when he shuts the bedroom door.
     Prior to Easter, the Princess and her mother upheld the family tradition of coloring eggs, and spread out across the picnic table, completely monopolizing the lounge area.  And even though the coloring concoction had been meticulously formulated at least 26 times previously, they still managed to screw up the ingredients.  Amazingly though, they were completely successful in coloring the eggs, and the egg salad sandwiches that resulted from this scientific paradigm, were delicious.  Easter Sunday, we had a delicious ham dinner up at Ben and Joanne's, made almost exclusively in a crock-pot.

  Everyone, including Jamo, joined in for a family picture, and I really think that dog enjoys getting his picture taken.  Is he smiling or what???
     On Wednesday night, MAE experienced an extremely frightening plane ride from San Diego to Philly, as they pushed through a pretty good storm taking aim on the east coast.  The Princess didn't get the sleep she anticipated flying the "red eye", and mom had to do some fancy talking just to get her to get on the next flight for Syracuse.  But our brave little traveler stepped up, and the flight home from Philly was uneventful.  Although it may be a while before she steps onto an airplane again.   As we paused on the shoreline of San Diego Bay overlooking downtown, Ben and I made several attempts at capturing the many colored lights.  I guess I've got to get a little better camera lense if I want to get fancy.

   
     This past Sunday, Debbie and I ventured over to Balboa Park to take in the organ concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.  In 1914, John and Adolph Spreckels donated the Spreckels Organs, one of the worlds largest outdoor pipe organs, to the city of San Diego for the Panama-California Exposition.

     This unique organ includes nearly 5000 pipes, ranging in size from a pencil to over 32' in height. The organ and pipes are housed in a magnificent building and stage in Balboa Park.  The city of San Diego has had an organist since 1917, and there have been free Sunday concerts for nearly 100 years!  There is a 20 horsepower motor which provides the necessary wind for the pipes, and the volume of the organ is controlled completely by louvers that open and close in front of the pipes.

  As you can see, there were colored umbrellas available for rent for $2, which I would highly recommend, to shield you from the San Diego sunshine.  And although it does limit your view of the organist, it certainly doesn't diminish the magnificent sounds of this 100 year old pipe organ.  

The artwork along the gables of the of the pavilion certainly don't show their age, as the San Diego climate has been very accommodating to the organ and the structure.  There are several more museums in Balboa Park that we intend on visiting before we depart San Diego.  The Air and Space Museum is close by, along with the Museum of Man.  I was hoping for a Museum of Woman, but alas, there isn't one.  

     The weather has made our stay very enjoyable, and we're even seeing that the temps at home are starting to normalize,  We still see a strange white powder on the ground as we view photos on Facebook, but it seems that people are starting to wash their cars and open up their porches in anticipation of Spring's arrival.  We have a few more weeks here, as we agreed to help Ben and Joanne move into their new house.  Baby Doo and mom are doing well, and "Grammie" is busting with anticipation.  All the Doody men are proceeding ahead calmly, knowing that complete chaos could explode at any time.   

     We continue to master the fine art of ice cube making.  We thank Uncle Bob for advising us of those handy little ice cube makers.  Those globes of ice fit perfectly in our Rondacker glasses, and if we drink quickly enough, they will last for more than one!  We hope all our friends have survived this wild winter, and look forward to seeing them upon our return.