Riley B. Talented and Logical

Riley just had her Winter concert for Brea Junior High Band. She played trombone so that makes two instruments she can play in band. The other is the clarinet. I was surprised how good they sound. Even though she is in the seventh grade she is in the Intermediate band. Next year she will likely be in the smaller, better Concert band, -- hopefully with her clarinetist friend, Karen.

Besides playing instruments Riley is also presently addicted to logic puzzles. These are like lumosity.com pre-Internet.

DJ's Been Working Out

This is his pose of the main character of Taxi Driver which is this month's famous movie that DJ is a living parody of. Previous movies were Drive, Apocolypse Now, Schindler's List, and Raging Bull. Next, I predict DJ is going to cut weight to look like Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club. Well, it's better than looking like Jared Leto. DJ has been eating a certain way and working out daily for a few months now. These are the results. Keep it up DJ!

Dinner for Two

I get spoiled when Huong cooks. It was just the two of us but Huong made three dishes to go with the rice I put in the rice cooker when I got home.

She made Curried Frogs Legs with Onion, Snowpea Leaves in Garlic, and Baby Bok Choy with Shrimp and Bay Scallops. Everything was deliclious.

Mulege

A storage shed near Jay and Diane's house

Last week I flew down to Mulege, BCS, Mexico to attend a pig roast honoring my mom on the first anniversary of her death. Her two brothers, Uncle Roy and Uncle Grant, were going to be there plus a hundred or so of her best friends.

The pig delivered by wheelbarrow.

24 entrants in the poker tournament to benefit a local school

Wednesday was mostly setting up for the poker tournament at noon and the pig roast pot luck at 4pm. The chairs and table arrived, and the pig went into the barbeque and the poker tournament opened with 24 players. Ed came in second and won a two liter bottle of tequila which he probably purchased for the event.

View from the palapa

I missed my scheduled flight on Superbowl Sunday so I flew down on Tuesday instead. I stayed with Jay and Diane who were good friends with my Mom and Ed.  They live on a beach five minutes away from Mom and Ed’s palapa.

Ed had enough table and chairs delivered for 200 people

 At least 150 people showed up for dinner. Some of them recognized me and said hello or related a story about my mom. She was definitely a popular woman down there – I knew that – but what I didn’t know is how respected she was as a mentor and not just a good friend. People looked up to her and Ed as role models or mentors. I think they naturally want to help people.

Pictures of my mom on the wall of the palapa

Fast Eddie and the Slow Learners, the band of local expats, played until well after dark and dozens of people danced the entire time. Occasional chants of “Wendy, Wendy” were heard above the band. It was really moving. The band took their second break and people started heading home. I caught a ride with my uncles to Jay and Diane’s beach house.

Around 3am someone was loudly knocking on the beach house door and I got up to see as did Jay and Diane. The woman and man at the door said Ed had died. They had already called Ed’s kids and they asked if we wanted to go to Ed’s palapa. Jay and I drove to the hotel my uncles were staying and and we all drove to Ed’s palapa on Coyote Beach.

Ed had a heart attack just before midnight on February 5, 2014, exactly one year after the love of his life, my mom, died. It was unexpected, of course, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that he left this world the way most of us would want to go – pain free, after a great party with hundreds of our closest friends, happy, satisfied, on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  

Aiden

A few weeks ago, after Gunther died, I checked Craigslist for a dog that we could adopt to replace him. There was one ad for a dog that a couple in Brea could not keep due to a new baby that turned out to be allergic to dogs. Lucky us!

Aiden is about 2 years old. He is a mix of cattle dog and Jindo. He sheds almost as much as Gunther but is otherwise a perfect dog. The kids and Huong love him. His former parents took really good care of him.

Death Valley cont'd

DJ made this video compilation of our Death Valley trip as a GoPro commercial.

Death Valley

We just got back from a week-long trip to Death Valley - a first for the Borklunds.

Death Valley is large. We went on one or two hikes each day which usually involved walking about an hour into narrow canyons that partially protect you from the intense sun but we saw less than 10% of the magnificent valley. Our electronics didn't work well in Death Valley, so our time was used hiking in the daytime and sitting around the campfire at night. Winter has to be the best time of year to see Death Valley. The weather was mild and I can't imagine hiking up these dry falls and canyons in the record high temperatures that Death Valley is famous for.

We spent the first two nights in Furnace Creek, the second night in Stovepipe Wells, and the fourth night in Wagon Wheel, an OHV area on the way home in Trono, California. In Wagon Wheel, the kids discovered the Millers from Brea which is a family we have camped with before. Small world.

The Labelles traveled with us towing a trailer and we had our Navion RV. The fridge on the Navion quit on the first day, but I brought my icemaker for iced coffee so I was making ice and keeping it stainless steel bowls in the fridge to keep our food cool. We had plenty to eat and never needed to get more food or eat out.

DJ took a lot of video using his GoPro, so I look forward to seeing an edited version of the trip on Youtube someday soon. Riley took some pictures also but hasn't sent me a link yet.

The rest of my pictures are on Picasa here.