Making a Memory

"Mistakes have consequences, but they shouldn’t tank our joy for each other in the long run."

I know—I totally scored getting an easygoing partner. But during often-literally-crap-filled times, couples have a choice: We can blame the other person for the unpleasant situation in which we find ourselves, or we can solve the problem at hand. When we dwell on mistakes, the stress can linger and set the tone for the rest of the day. So after we've figured out a solution, realized that we're safe, and that like most things, This too shall pass, we'll announce our favorite phrase: "Making a memory!"

This is not to say that we are a perfect couple without tensions or problems—making a memory doesn't solve everything. But it does redirect the frustration from one another onto getting through the unpleasantness at hand. This is true even when someone is "at fault."

I didn't write this but assume most couple who learn to live together get this.  The bad times will come and you can either work them out together or tear up the relationship.  

DACA

We attended the lunch and learn program at our church today. The meal was chili and cornbread with salad and plenty of deserts. The "learn" part of the day was centered on U.S. immigration policy and more specifically DACA. Elmer Rodriguez, Dream Program Coordinator at Mt. San Antonio College was the moderator. I came home still thinking about the young people who shared their stories and some of the "after the program" discussions I had with those sticking around to talk. Of course, I went directly to the computer when I had a few minutes to browse. I found this speech Four Questions About American Greatness by Bret Stephens who writes about foreign policy and domestic politics. Stephens cited these very interesting set of statistics about immigrants to the United States: 

Did you know that immigrants account for 35 percent of all U.S. Nobel Prize winners? Did you know that 83 percent of the finalists in the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search - widely known as the junior Nobel — are the children of immigrants? Did you know that 40 percent of all Fortune 500 companies — accounting for $4.8 trillion in revenues and 19 million employees — had founders who were immigrants or the children of immigrants? Did you know that immigrants start businesses at about twice the rate of other Americans? Did you know that without immigrants we would have had no population growth whatsoever since 1970, putting us on a path to a Japanese-style demographic death spiral? "

 Also from Bret Stephens (His response to the President's "alleged" remarks in a meeting to discuss immigration policy last week. Proud to Live in a Nation of Holers : Also obvious is that immigrants don’t steal jobs. They fill jobs Americans won’t do or create those that haven’t been invented. They don’t bring crime to cities. They drive out crime by starting businesses and families in shrinking cities or underserved neighborhoods. They don’t undermine American culture. They feed, enrich and reinvent it, not least through their educational ambitions for themselves and their children.This is true of most immigrants, but perhaps more so of the so-called “holers.” As Michelle Mittelstadt of the Migration Policy Institute notes, sub-Saharan Africans have “among the highest college-completion rates of any immigrant group.” As for Haitians, MPI found they had a higher labor participation rate than the overall workforce, and had median household incomes of $47,200 — lower than the overall U.S. median, but robust by any developed nation standard.

 What people who are so afraid of the immigrants seeking a chance in America have forgotten is that we have always attracted people who found life more difficult in their country of origin. They came here because there was no food to eat, or there were mountains tumbling down, or there was a war that took their home, their work and perhaps their family. They came because they could not practice their faith, or worse yet they were killed because in some way they were different. They arrive on our shores with a determination to live the "American Dream". They teach their children that the dream is real and anything is possible. Immigrants see things that those of us born here sometimes have difficulty seeing. We are often distracted by the holes torn in the fabric of opportunity by systemic racism, income inequality, a broken health care system, partisan bickering, the school to prison pipeline and a shredded safety net. Immigrants are often the shining lights in our community who prove the "dream" can be realized, in spite of the potholes in the road.

The Terrifying Aedes Species Mosquito

I was at the travel clinic this morning to discuss where I would be traveling the next two months and what I could do to protect myself from disease. The suggestions were immunizations against Hepatitis B, Typhoid and Yellow Fever.  A prescription for pills to protect myself against Malaria.

NOTHING for Ebola, Zika, Dengue or Chikungunya - hummmm.

Protect yourself from mosquito bites the doctor said looking sternly at me over the rims of his glasses.


I came home (instead of shopping for thick long sleeved shirts) and spent a little time on the CDC  site to learn more about how to protect myself from mosquitos. Who ever thought I would be searching the sporting good store for a huge net to go over our bed? How will I keep the net off of our skin?  I obviously cannot carry a netting frame.

Checking on line for Permethrin - the insecticide that kills mosquitos so i can treat my clothes and shoes.  Yep - Amazon sells everything

LA at Night

Clifton's

We had dinner at Clifton's last night.  We both have fond memories of eating in this restaurant when our families brought us here as little children.  The restaurant had a reputation of welcoming all people and our families felt comfortable here.  My friends and I took the bus here to have a celebratory dinner the day we graduated from High School (we thought we were so adult) and I was here in the fall when it first reopened after an extensive renovation.  I was sure Robert would enjoy seeing the old restaurant  - and he did.

The Restaurant has retained some of the decor and fixtures from  the earliest years of operation.   This bench and lamp are downstairs where the telephone booth was located.  (The booth is still there but no telephone)  I imagine people sat on this bench and twiddled their thumbs as they waited for caller ahead of them to finish.

Moose Lodge

Jimmy Angel

Jimmy often performs at the SmokeHouse in Burbank, at least that is where we saw him before, but this time we found him at the Moose Lodge, still in Burbank but so much more intimate.  The fans had a great time, singing along on occasion,  having a drink or two at the bar and jumping up to dance on the tiny little floor.  It was a fun night.

Alaskan Youth Native Dancers

Twenty-five High School students from the only native reservation in the state of Alaska at New Hope Presbyterian Church in Orange, CA .  

Us and Them

Los Angeles City Hall Reflected from the Los Angeles Police Department Building

 I was shooting (you know with the camera) in downtown yesterday.  I walked past the new Los Angeles Police Department building and saw the smiles and hugs of families celebrating a new generation of officers as they were being promoted.  

 I wondered if there were videos of the hundreds of positive interactions between "us" and "them" would that help improve the trust between our citizens and the people who have taken an oath to "protect and serve" or would we simply ignore the positive stories?

I suspect the horror stories we see today are not new to our culture but the "camera in your pocket" phenomenon has brought it to everyone's attention.  I think it is also true that there are many more positive interactions between the police and our citizens everyday but no one is photographing these events and perhaps, if they did, they would not be seen as "news".  What is about the consumers of news that we are always more attracted to the negative?

Night at the Races

Sooo the one thing I have learned is that blogging is no joke.  If one says they are going to post something every week, then the followers you attract EXPECT you to post something every week.

Whew - it's been a while since I posted something here and I am not promising to post something every week - but I do promise to see you every now and then.... Thats enough apologizing.

Night at the Races 

Finally.... Cherry Blossoms in Washington D.C.

I have along list of places to visit, and although I have been in Washington DC several times, I have yet to see the Cherry Trees in blossom around the Tidal Basin.  Last year I was here in April but the weather had been unseasonably warm and by the time I arrived on the 2nd the blossoms were gone.

I was so hopeful they would be in bloom this year, but when I arrived Thursday morning the prospect seemed gloomy.  The trees were bare and it was cold.  But Friday the sun was out and the announcers were projecting peak bloom for the weekend.  We drove down Sunday afternoon and I was in luck -  the Cherry Trees were in bloom.

Not only were the trees in bloom, thousands of people had come out to celebrate at the Cherry Blossom Festival. The whole city was abuzz.  Happy to see the warm days and the pale pink blossoms.

Yep - that me - right in the middle of the celebration

We ran into a crew of documentarians  who were interviewing people who had recently relocated to the area - Yvonne took the mike and explained why she had chosen to make this part of the world her home.

It's time to go and the men consult a map to plan our walking route to Ruth Chris's Steak House.

Why is there never quite enough time to do EVERYTHING I want to do?  Would loved to have time to browse through the National Portrait Gallery.  How can a photographer go to the capital and not see this collection of portraits?  

After dinner we make our way through the darkened streets, find our car and drive back to Haymarket.

Maybe I will return  and bring the girls on An Adventure with Nonnie - there is so much to see and do - I know 

they will love it.

If you would like to see the Cherry Trees in blossom but don't want to fight the crowds you can see these beautiful flowering trees at several other sites around the city

Middleburg, Virginia

We drove through the rolling hills of Loudon County through the hamlet of Aldie and found our way to Middleburg.  A quaint little town with a main street filled with shops and restaurants, beckoning travelers to stop and stay awhile.

 We could see right away we were in horse country - not the western horses we are used to, but those trained for Steeplechase and Fox Hunting..

Robert strikes a pose in front of the Red Fox Inn - the oldest building in town.

We stopped to chat with a man who gave us a great big smile and told us he was the breakfast chef at Market Salamander - it was enough of an introduction for us, so we made our way to the corner of Washington (the main street) and Pickering.

We found Market Salamander to be as charming as the town.  A combination of deli, wine shop and gifts - a wonderful place to eat and then browse.  I had a serving of beets with feta - yummy.


The staff was helpful and friendly. The young lady who brought our drinks told us (after some questioning by us - of course) that there was a "fox hunt" planned for Sunday - and invited us to return.
She also told us about the owner of Salamander Market's new endeavor - The Salamander Resort and Spa - scheduled to open sometime this summer.

We learned that the Salamander Market and the Resort were both the vision of Sheila C. Johnson - co founder of BET.  http://press.salamanderhospitality.com/pr/sh/salamander-resort.aspx  The resort should be spectacular when completed - another reason for us to return to "horse country" in Northern Virginia.

We continued our stroll, past the United Methodist Church, the Post Office and little speciality shops.

I stop to buy tea at this little shop.  Moroccan Mint for Yvonne and Acai Mango Tango for me.
Olio 17 E Washington Street - 540.687.3004
https://www.oliotastingroom.com/AllInfusedOils

Always wishing for more time in the places I visit - I would have loved to taste the olive oils - but....  well you know the story - the people I was driving with wanted to move on to greener pastures.

so long Middleburg - perhaps I will return one day.

A Visit with the President of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

Our committee is charged with the task of developing a program to help students who attend or plan to attend a Historically Black College or University.

These schools have been and continue to be a critical part of our community's educational journey. Until 1954 when Brown vs Board of Education ended "separate but equal" school systems, HBCUs were the number 1 option for most black students who wanted to attend college.  Both my parents and their siblings attended HBCUs, my daughter received her undergraduate degree from an HBCU and my brother received his doctorate from an HBCU.

Today HBCUs, especially the graduate programs, enroll people from all ethnicities and from many different countries, but it is still true that these school serve an important role in the African American community. There are 105 of HBCU schools ( 3% of all  U.S. colleges), "they enroll 12% of black college students, produce 23% of all black college graduates, 40% of the nation's black science graduates, and 60% of blacks holding engineering degrees.   In addition, it is astounding to learn that currently, 50% of all African-American professionals and public school teachers, 75% of African-American Ph.Ds, 80% of black federal judges, and 85 percent of all African-American doctors matriculated through the HBCU system." (The Grio )


Charles R. Drew University a few miles north of us is  a HBCU. It is the only university in the United States that has the dual designation of HBCU and Hispanic Serving Health Professions.  

Charles Drew is best know as a medical school designed to train physicians interested in working in urban environments. They also offer degrees in radiology, pharmacy, and physicians assistants.

Two members of our committee had the opportunity to meet with the President of Charles Drew University, Dr. David M. Carlisle.M.D., Ph.D last week.  We were there to ask if he thought a group like ours could provide support for students enrolled at Drew?  He gave us a resounding yes and we had some time to talk about some of the ideas from our committee discussions.

He gave us a tour of the campus and left feeling that this campus would be a great place to direct our energies to support students who need just a little more help to stay engaged and finish their college education.