Once again the year comes to an end. The November Grand Sumo basho served as a reminder.
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| Fan, and family favorite Ura spins in the air at the feet of Hiradoumi in the second tie match in a row between the two on one of the last days of the November basho. Ura eventually wins on the third try. |
Genevieve is now living back home, having finished college with High Honors. She works doing teaching, and is looking at graduate school.
Regina got to retire this year from a lifetime of work. They get along. We get along, which is good.
Genevieve and I went to Desert Hot Springs at the peak of the summer heat. It was "humid" too. By Southern California standards. We walked across the street to get a burrito and almost died. Not really but we sure felt like it. Geez, it was hot and humid! And we are used to the heat. It can be a hundred and we might call it hot.
We spent a lot of time in the pool.
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| Driving up. |
We were surrounded by Mountains, but those to the North held a surprise. When we went to drive up them, they never peaked, but were flat on top! It was a lot cooler up there too, maybe 105. We had discovered the High Desert. How intrepid! I always hear them talking about it on TV weather, High Desert, Low Desert. Now I understand!
We drove through it some and then back. Impressively big but quirky. And also, somehow, with higher mountains in the distance. .
When we got there it was cold in our room. I don't know why the air conditioner was down so low, or how one can deliver such a temperature difference. It must cost a fortune to run.
The "resort" had hot springs stuff, like a hot springs kind of spa, and a big pool. We spent a lot of time in the pool. There were not too many people because it was the worst of the season. At one point we were worried about too much sun, but a cloud formed over the pool and just kept forming there and flowing off, so we had shade for hours.
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| We kept expecting the cloud to move away, but it kept blooming and then moving over the pool. . |
The clouds were also springing up over the mountains to the South where Palm Springs is.
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| Another giant mountain. |
So that was my big vacation for a couple of days there. I have it nice at home, and am comfortable with the things I have, so do not go away much. All my computers are here.
Being from New Jersey, I've never stopped being impressed by the giant mountains that are literally all over the place around here. Everyone takes them for granted but I think they're awesome. Sometimes you go to the top and see down and that is even better.
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| On the cable car above Palm Springs. 2021. |
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| Looking down at Palm Springs from the top. 2021. |
It was a pretty uneventful year otherwise. That's a good thing.
