A Hole By Any Other Name...t

Hello Fellow Travelers!

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My Son''s Guitar and the "Hole" - You Know, It's Where The Sound Comes Out!

One of the "arts" that the PS and I share is an endless appreciation for music.  The PS plays the guitar and I'm appreciative.  Last weekend we went to my in-laws in Chico and after an amazing dinner, the family gathered around a firepit, "Game of Thrones" style, but much fancier.

Around an O'Reilly firepit there is no mud or swords.  There was a river and a bat and there were S'Mores,   Which always works for me!  Anyway, my in-laws built a fragrant fire (I think I detected French oak) and the PS and our son played a set.

A few days ago the PS asked me to "sniff his hole".  He seriously said this!  To ME!

Many hours later, when I stopped laughing (and let's face it, I've never  entirely stopped.  Just thinking about anyone seriously asking that question puts me in hysterics!

I am a woman who respects words.  Most percussion instruments have a "hole" so I did some research into the parts of orchestral instruments and their names.  Turns out every violin, cello and pretty much any stringed instrument has a hollow body and at least one orifice.    Guess what the musically elegant, visually lovely part is called!  Give up?   The round hole is called a "sound hole" !  The carved, beautiful, F-shape is called "the F-hole"!  I kid you not.

I found it oddly disconcerting that the mechanism for distributing and sharing the magic of Beethoven and The Beatles possessed such inelegant nomenclature!

An "F-hole"?  Oh Lordy!  And he wants me to sniff it? (Peals of laughter!  Sorry!  Excuse me, I have to stop for a minute to giggle.  OK,   Better now.)  The word "hole" shouldn't be attached to any artistic endeavor!

I know what a fash-hole, a show-hole and a black hole are.  I even remember where "Derek Jeter's Taco Hole" is (outside Sedona, AZ).  Instruments with a hole?  Didn't know about, blissfully unaware, you might say.

When I realized this "hole" thing probably wasn't some flatulence joke gone horribly wrong  (I don't think toilet humor is remotely funny!) I sniffed the guitars and I was instantly transported to a firepit in Chico!  Or a French chateau!  Maybe I was at a French firepit, it was beautiful!  A bat did a fly-by!

 The guitar bodies smelled like burned French Oak like they use in cabernet barrels in Sonoma!  It was wonderful!

The smoky/oaky scent captured in those guitars was magical and unexpected!

Knowing my in-laws they were probably burning some specially cut oak roots from France because it was fragrant and vaguely reminiscent of Bordeaux but who cares?  Thanks to the "soundholes" I was able, for a wonderful moment anyway, to revisit the fire.

Mendocino In 2016 - A New Spine Tingling Adventure!

Hello Fellow Travelers!
Me and the PS took a little trip to Mendocino/Ft. Bragg.  Inland has been pretty warm

3.5 Ton Fresnel Lens at Point Cabrillo Lighthouse Built in 1909

The Staircase at our hotel- I had to navigate this bad-boy many times!

so being near the ocean sounded like a good idea and let's face it being near the ocean always sounds like a pretty great idea to me anyway.  Mendocino was cool, ocean-swept and lovely.  We stayed at a historic inn with spectacular views and I had fresh shellfish.  Mendocino has a lot of art and hand-blown glass hanging about and, as an added bonus, it was the date of their annual film festival, so there were added flowers and wine around town.

Mendocino was foggy, sunny, sumptuous, and eye candy.  In a word, perfect!  The hotel's back patio looked at the ocean.

This should have been a scenic piece of heaven, right?

It's a little bit different in 2016.

Prior to 2011 the PS and I would explore the coastline, going wherever the winds took us, staying at beach houses that cropped up along the way.

Going anyplace now requires the second by second planning  Seal Team Six used on Bin Laden! 

 Every item I will use has to be planned, pulled, multi purposed and cleaned.

This little "getaway" had less spontaneity than a bank heist!

Constant vertigo makes even the most beautiful winding staircase dangerous and taking a shower lethal.  Restrooms are death traps.

Any mishap can potentially result in some annoying injury now, so I've become very risk-averse.

To be able to successfully ingest bite-sized, pieces of protein-rich seafood I look at menus online and make all my decisions before I go.  Where should we go?  What will I order?  Will I order anything? (The PS says it's "weird" not to eat, so I always order)  Where will we sit?  I now treat dining out like a D-Day plan with food!

Mendocino has woods on one side of the road and spectacular, rugged ocean views on the other side.  Consequently, artists and local art  abound.  There are hundreds of ocean/tree/coastal paintings in every restaurant.  I was surrounded by hand blown, glass sculptures in any restaurant we went to.

  In Ft. Bragg I had fresh scallops which was a perfect choice for me, they were bite-sized, round and had no sauce.  As mess-free as food can come!  And delicious!

Scampering along the shore is not currently in my skill set but I was bound and determined to check out the Pt. Cabrillo  Lighthouse - I read it had a 2+ ton lens.  2 TONS OF BLOWN GLASS!  I had to see it!

This is where the years of running (the  PS)  and working out come in handy - to get to this lighthouse, I had to wheel over a mile to get to it!

I was laughing so much (and it was truly hilarious!), it took me a few minutes to realize that there were cars going past us.  Turns out you can drive the entire way!

Good thing I'm always prepared for an adventure.