Too long of a wait!

Well yes, I am alive and doing well, and so is Cathy and the rest of the families. It has been a busy few months between school and "other" things. We have been busy with a lot and the end of the school year is upon me. I have only 8 school days left and then after that 4 days and I am off to Italy. But those pictures are yet to be taken! Below are some that have been taken since I last posted for Seattle. SO, lets start with Sacramento and Cathy and I in the Capital Park:


Then wishing we had the cash to enjoy buying one of these!



This was taken in the koi pond at the State Capital Park:


Then there was another "home improvement project" with Bob. We don't need no stinking directions!



And the proof of our work is the finished project!



Then April came and it was our 15th anniversary. We went back to Monterey and had the BEST weather you could ask for! Here is one from the ride over:


Here on 17 mile drive:


And the same place we took our honeymoon picture. I need to scan that and get it in here as well:


and of course MULTIPLE dinners with Friends and Family, but here is a shot of a center piece from the yard and the bar tender for the events!




Sorry about the long wait, but what can I say besides I don't get paid to do this. At least not yet! Enjoy and I will have more to post when I return from Italy! Ciao!

3 days in Seattle WA

As many of you know, I am a "buckhead". I live with my 'venti 2 equal latte' a day from Starbucks. So here was my chance to actually get to Seattle and see the ORIGINAL Starbucks store. While we were walking about the public market on Pike Street, we purchased a nice piece of "art" for our travel wall. The gentleman was very kind and told me about the Starbucks, down the street, was the original one. Well, sort of the original one. Seems the first Starbucks store had an issue with fire, and burnt away, the second had a fate similar, but not with fire but with being removed by public domain. So what is left on the Market Front is the ORIGINAL store that was sold and became the major corporation known as Starbucks today. So here for your view is the "Original Starbucks"!


and with entertainment as well!



And yes we saw more that JUST the original starbucks, we had to see the famous Space Needle. It has been there almost 50 years now! (48 actually)


As well as the famous Public Market with the Pikes Fish Market, known world wide for its throwing of fish about the counter:


there is really much more there besides fish.....


And what would a blog be without a picture of Cathy and I by some strange piece of art on the waterfront.


AND YES..I went to every session of the NEA Conference I was in Seattle for as well seeing all this and more!

Joey, the zookalator

I received a message from Classmates.com, to get on Facebook.com from an old friend from seminary. (Thanks Paul!) When I got on Facebook, he mentioned that another friend from Seminary had posted some pictures from his stay with the Oblates. So off I went to make sure there were NO pictures of me with derogatory statements or participating in illegal activities! (NOT that I would ever have done any!) Thank god I was behind the camera a lot (I was the historian and photo taker for most events, really). Thanks David for NOT having any pictures of me posted.

David had a picture there (which without permission I downloaded and have now up loaded here) of Joey. Joey was a mutt of a mutt dog. You could not have asked for a more faithful and loving dog. He was great. Whenever you took off down the Mount in Loomis, Joey was with you. Every day Br. Vincent Paletta (see my March 21, 2007 post on Brother Vince) would take a walk down the "hill" and walk down to the stop sign and back. Br. Vince swore that it was Joey who saved every tree on that hill in the drought we had in the late 70's. Joey would stop at almost every tree and leave his "mark". When we were in chapel, Joey was right outside the door on the mat, waiting for us. He never came into the chapel, even if the door was open. At nights when we would watch Saturday Night Live (the first cast!) he would lay in the TV room under the coffee table and sleep. When it was time to go to bed, he would lead us out and take his place on a bench outside where he would sleep. I remember Fr. John Keehan, when it was really cold, would allow him to sleep in the front office of his room. But 90% of the time, Joey was outside and "free" to go and come as he please.

In the spring, when the time was right, Joey would be gone for 2-3 days. Seems he had a girl friend he would visit annually. Bro Vince would say he was, "Down at the pool hall with the boys.", and sure enough, he would be back for the rest of the year in a few days time. It was after one of these "nights out with the guys" actually it was a bit more than a few nights, it was almost a week, Joey came back. I saw him walking up the stairs onto the front walk and he looked skinny and beat. From the other side, which I could not see, he was covered in mud and blood. He had been hit by a shotgun and had laid in mud for a few days before making it home. We took him to the vet, and being a "country" vet, he said very quickly, "I will take care of him this time, but the next time I will put him down." What it was, is simple. Joey was chasing either livestock or chickens and a local "farmer" had tried to spare his herd or flock. The vet would not or could not allow a dog to be running about doing that.

It wasn't Joey's first visit to the vet either, he had been there before after his first encounter with a porcupine. Having never seen one, he went up to it, sniffed and then tried to bite. Needless to say it was painful. They put him out and pulled all the quills from inside and outside of his mouth. It was the LAST time he ever did that. There was also the time we were down at the canal working around the pump house or gathering blackberries (my memory fails me why we were there) and Joey took off in the blackberry bushes only to come RUNNING out faster than he had gone into them. A few seconds later we knew what he had seen as the scent of skunk waifed in our direction. Good thing Joey was fast, the skunk missed him and he only had a "slight" oder attached to him for a week or so.

After the shooting however, Joey stayed close to home. He would go with us for walks, but not on his own. A year or so passed and Joey wasn't there one morning. The old, "He's off to the pool hall" lines were said, and we waited. Joey didn't come back. We never saw him again, and this is the only photograph of him that I have now. Thanks for posting this David. It brought back a lot of happy memories and the people who surrounded me at that time.

Oh..the name "Zukalator" was one of a few nick names that Brother Vincent gave to Joey. There was Zuk, Zukey, Zukalator and "The Zuk". I believe he took the name from zucchini, of which thanks to Brother Baldi we had a LOT. Again, the picture is from David (and it is scanned) but here is Joey.

Civics 102

Ok...it isn't the best, but you must admit, at least it is funny!

The Day after Christmas 2008

On the day after Christmas, Cathy, David Hernandez and I took off for a four night stay in Las Vegas! We were a bit worried about the weather, as fog was bad on Christmas as well as rain and snow in the southern part of the valley and in the passes. But The morning was clear and bright, but C-O-L-D! Well at least in California terms it was cold, it was 32-35°F. The road was mostly clear, wet and with a bit of ice as we went over the snow capped Transverse Range in the Tehachapi Pass. As the following show, it has snowed a bit in that region, more so than normal and had even spread to the eastern desert side!




Having used Lasvegas.com in the past, I again resorted to them for the room. We stayed at the Sahara four and a half years ago for my 50th, and we were pleased with the rooms. Alas, this was NOT the case this time. I had reserved "Deluxe" rooms with a king bed, we got 2 double beds and if this was the "Deluxe", I would HATE to see their "Standard" room. To witness our displeasure, behold the following:
I think this is from a murder victim:


This is the dressing area, note the dressing tabletop:


The entrance to the room was a thrill, you could see it in many of the rooms as you walked down the hallway, tuffs of carpet sticking out from under the doors!


But we did have a nice view from the window:

and at night it was nice as well:


While there, I did some giving of money to the casinos, no betting allowed, I just handed it over and saved them the trouble of even spinning the wheel..just take my money.....

We did see the Cirque du Soleil's rendition of LOVE with all the music being the Beatles. It was a GREAT show and I recommend if you do go and see it, pay the cheaper price for the balcony seats, you will see a lot more than the those who paid more!

We also hit the outlets in Las Vegas as well as in Primm, as well as The Cloud and at the Venitian and Palazio. The sales were great and some of the bargains were super.

And what would be a trip to Las Vegas without the "Tourist Picture" shots?
Cathy and I in the middle of Las Vegas Blvd, better known as "The Strip":


A picture Cathy took from the truck:


And I cannot forget another reason why we go to Las Vegas. My favorite (or as I told her this time, my ONLY) Aunt Helen. She has had a rough few years with surgery and hip and back issues, but she was standing and walking on her own this year and I am so very grateful to see that!

She was in great spirits and I also saw my cousins John and his wife Judy, Charles and Rosemary. We took Aunt Helen out to dinner Monday nigt to Bautista's Hole in the Wall for Italian food. And the obligatory nephew and aunt picture as well:


So on Tuesday we headed back home, most of the snow was melted, the skies were again clear and there was no ice on the roads over the pass. The fog in the valley did not start until Fresno, and was not bad at all coming down the stretch to home. Las Vegas in December is cold, but it is sunny and bright! I hope you all enjoyed!

Post Thanksgiving Day Travels

So I have NOT posted in a while, I must admit, school does that to me. I become less attracted to writing, yet more attracted to reading, usually student work but on occasions a book or two. But that has NOTHING to do with this post.

Yes, for all of you who wait patiently for picture posts, you have what you want! It was the day after Thanksgiving (some call it "Black Friday") and four men set off from Madera in search of wine tasting and ended up in Paso Robles! So what you will see is the progression of tired to happy and from thirsty to sated. I will not post a lot of words, as what can you say, they had wine, we tasted some, some was good, bought a case here, bought a bottle there...how many times can I say that, once for each winery. I mean we stopped at....well you count!

We left Madera at 8AM and arrived outside of Paso Robles about 10AM. Can you tell these two are related?

Our first stop was Meridian, a nice winery with great grounds and wonderful gardens. Oh and they also have wine there.


Then we went to Martin Wyrich and there I bought a case, and no, I did not pose with the case, but let David pose with his find!


Then it was off to lunch, sorry no pictures were allowed during the dining experience. The drive through was crowded. From Lunch we went to Fratelli Pratti where we saw some great color in the fields and yes, they taste wine there!


Then off to Summerwood Winery. Remember we were wine tasting, that was the purpose of this trip, thus the many pictures of us at wineries.

and one with me in the picture!


From Summerwood it is a short drive to Eagles Crest, A neat winery built like a castle, not the best wines but a must see as a winery!


David made his GRAND ENTRANCE to the tasting room!


From here to Donata Winery...the others became impatient with me and just left me there to take a picture of the door.....like it was the last winery in Paso Robles or something!


By now it was time to head home, so off we went to Hwy 46 and found this new winery, Vina Robles.


Our last call was at Robert Hall. A very nice location and easy access to the freeway.

Yes, I was driving so I was the designated driver. I did very well too!
from here to home by 5PM!

Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did!

In case you did not know, the people pictured are my Father, Robert V. Seybold, our good friend David Hernandez (you have seen him in other posts here and our traveling partner!) and Brother Duain O'Mara, OSJ, and myself making a few appearances.

Random Photos

As I go through and write this blog, I really try to find pictures that show what the location was about and a bit of the historical, cultural events. I also shoot a lot of different things as well. Last year I did a lot with door knockers, and I have one here this year as well. I also love windows and flowers. I so wish I had the ability to do this at home, but I know it won't happen as our construction style in California does not lend itself to hanging real objects on the outside walls. Stucco looks nice, but it is just a bit of sand and cement spread over chicken wire with no ability to hold up an object with weight. Also there are the pictures that didn't turn out. I had one I wish really could have, but it just didn't. (No I did not waste cyber space by showing it here!)

As for the shots in this series, they are from throughout the trip. I will try and show their city/county of origin, but I may be wrong. I mean a rock in the dirt looks the same in Greece as it does in Italy or Turkey! So for my pleasure I present random photos of our trip of 2008. I hope you enjoy them.


A lot of our trip consisted of having a meal off ship. Tasting the local fare is one of my favorite things to do. Here is Cathy and David at our table in Florence. I bought a large messenger bag for me to carry my camera and things with before we left on this trip. Cathy called it my Man Purse and we stuffed a TON of things in it. Besides both our cameras, there were water bottles and the souvenirs we bought along the way. It was very handy and I look forward to using it in the future when traveling. In case you are wondering, that large canvas bag is my messenger bag.


I believe this is the only door knocker I shot this year. I was so good!


If there is anything that makes traveling in a tour bad, it is the number of people you are traveling with. Our ship had over 2000 people and there were TWO cruise ships at Ephesus on the day we were there, plus others. Yes, there were a lot of people!


I don't know why I find this amusing, but I do. After all I enjoy all types of foods and expect to find different cuisine in major cities as I travel, but to find a Sushi Bar in Bari, Italy was a bit beyond what I was expecting. But it is a port city and where better to get tuna but from the Mediterranean Sea. Yes they fish tuna there.


This is one of four wall murals on a building in Montecatini. They all dealt with urns and and I gathered that they used the urns for oil. the building is now a series of stores, but the murals remain.


The windows. I think it is the shutters, closed and painted, with the bright color of the flowers that attract me to them. The randomness of the placement and the utter disregard for shape, and letting the plants naturally to grow versus the Disneyland pruning that we do in the United States were everything needs to be cut, trimmed and tidy. Wow that sentence says a lot about me!


The heat. It was warm this summer. In all the cities and towns we were in, it was hot. I sweltered and sweat my days away. This is what I felt like after a few of the day trips:

Shade was at a premium, as is shown here in Croatia. This street is not more than 10 feet wide, yet the umbrellas are in full use.

Even this weary tourist in Pisa shows his sweat and tired stance for this picture.

Even the lizards in Greece tried to get cool and not warm. You know it is bad when the Lizards are looking for shade!


This is what was known as the Golden Horn in ancient Constantinople. It contained the home of the emperor and Haggai Sophia. It later was the home of the Sultan and now also contains the Blue Mosque. This is a view of the Golden Horn from where we had lunch.


So there ends my random pictures. I really tried to stay to my rule of one roll of film a day, that works out to 24 pictures a day. Sometimes the roll lasted two days, and sometimes I did use two rolls. But if I were to upload every picture I took, what would I bore you with when you come to visit me? Actually you are seeing here pictures that are cropped a bit, and they are the better shots of the roll. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and comments are welcome, even the ones about me removing you from my emailing notifications.