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5 lemons and 22 avocados- Day 2.2
Aug. 17th, 2001 10:33 amSo FIL, Eric and I and Erin and Thom went to Nipomo to visit with the grandparents. We didn't get much of a chance to visit with them at the luncheon, really, since there were so many people there. But we didn't get much of a chance this time, either, because several other relatives were visiting as well. But we got to see where they live, which was fun. It was decorated in standard grandma kitsch- lots of commemorative plates on the walls, ceramic figurines of ladies in hoop skirts, and so forth. She had one window installed with glass shelves, and put several dozen colored glass knick-knacks on them in all colors of the rainbow. This was a west-facing window so when she showed it to me the Sun was shining through all the little pieces, and it was quite pretty! By the way, does every grandma in the world have the glass candy dish shaped like a sitting hen?
I've seen something I though I'd never see- too much blue used in a decorating scheme. I love all things blue; my wedding dress was blue, I order alcoholic drinks that are blue, etc. So when I went into their bedroom and said 'gaah, that is too much blue!' Eric looked at me as if he was wondering if I was still sick. After some thought, I've decided that my problem with it was 2 things: first, the color of blue. I like bright blues, and this was a baby-boy powder blue (they had color themes in all the rooms, and they were all pastels, yuck). Second, the fact that there was no variation. If I had a blue room, it'd be all different shades of the same type of blue (if that makes sense- it's been awhile since art class where we discussed the differences between colors, hues, tints, shades, flavors, etc. etc.) with accents of other colors; a purple here, a silver or black there. But this room used the exact same shade of pastel blue for the carpet, the curtains, the bedspread, the walls, and the kitsch. It was Just Too Much. But hey- I don't have to live there. :)
The outside was keen. Grandma has a green thumb (probably pastel green), and we saw all sorts of flowers as well as the garden which had tomatoes, cantaloupe, zucchini, carrots, and other things. Then we wandered around on the undeveloped part of the property. I saw a scrub jay, a covey of quail, and more hummingbirds! I haven't seen scrub jays or hummies since I lived in Kerrville (I miss it), and I've never seen quail in the wild.
There are also eucalyptus trees everywhere, called 'yooks' by the locals. They aren't the strong-smelling, round-leafed things you see in wreaths. These have crescent-shaped leaves. They aren't as 'sappy' so they're not intensely fragrant, but when you're standing in a grove of them you can definitely smell that unmistakable antiseptic, spicy scent. I brought a couple of seeds for my mother, who loves the smell of eucalyptus. They may not be able to grow here, but it's more of a symbolic gesture anyway. The trees were all at least 40 feet high, and the bark would peel off in long, vertical strips, giving some of the younger ones a shaggy, messy appearance, and some of the older ones were bald and smooth. FIL said they are 'dirty' trees, dropping branches on cars or sometimes even just falling over for no reason and damaging property. I got the impression that a lot of the locals think the yooks are a nuisance, but I still thought they were cool.
After a visit, we went back to the hotel. On the way home we stopped at Carl's Jr, because Eric and Erin both had been talking about their burgers in an almost reverent tone, so we got a few. I didn't think they were all that but Eric said what made them great was the hickory sauce, and I don't do barbecue flavors. He seemed pretty happy though.
Back at home base it was the opposite of the night before; we wanted to have fun but everyone else wanted to crash. Some of the grandkids our age said they wanted to go to the hot tub but there were too many other people in it, so they didn't. Eric and I went down, and gave the 'go away' vibes so the strangers would take off, and it worked pretty well, but by then the other grandkids were off doing something else. Eric and I had a pleasant time by ourselves, anyway. We went back up to the room and watched 'When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth' and I got a major craving for a chocolate chip cookie, but room service had just closed. Probably just as well; I would've ended up paying $6 for one. Time to crash.
I've seen something I though I'd never see- too much blue used in a decorating scheme. I love all things blue; my wedding dress was blue, I order alcoholic drinks that are blue, etc. So when I went into their bedroom and said 'gaah, that is too much blue!' Eric looked at me as if he was wondering if I was still sick. After some thought, I've decided that my problem with it was 2 things: first, the color of blue. I like bright blues, and this was a baby-boy powder blue (they had color themes in all the rooms, and they were all pastels, yuck). Second, the fact that there was no variation. If I had a blue room, it'd be all different shades of the same type of blue (if that makes sense- it's been awhile since art class where we discussed the differences between colors, hues, tints, shades, flavors, etc. etc.) with accents of other colors; a purple here, a silver or black there. But this room used the exact same shade of pastel blue for the carpet, the curtains, the bedspread, the walls, and the kitsch. It was Just Too Much. But hey- I don't have to live there. :)
The outside was keen. Grandma has a green thumb (probably pastel green), and we saw all sorts of flowers as well as the garden which had tomatoes, cantaloupe, zucchini, carrots, and other things. Then we wandered around on the undeveloped part of the property. I saw a scrub jay, a covey of quail, and more hummingbirds! I haven't seen scrub jays or hummies since I lived in Kerrville (I miss it), and I've never seen quail in the wild.
There are also eucalyptus trees everywhere, called 'yooks' by the locals. They aren't the strong-smelling, round-leafed things you see in wreaths. These have crescent-shaped leaves. They aren't as 'sappy' so they're not intensely fragrant, but when you're standing in a grove of them you can definitely smell that unmistakable antiseptic, spicy scent. I brought a couple of seeds for my mother, who loves the smell of eucalyptus. They may not be able to grow here, but it's more of a symbolic gesture anyway. The trees were all at least 40 feet high, and the bark would peel off in long, vertical strips, giving some of the younger ones a shaggy, messy appearance, and some of the older ones were bald and smooth. FIL said they are 'dirty' trees, dropping branches on cars or sometimes even just falling over for no reason and damaging property. I got the impression that a lot of the locals think the yooks are a nuisance, but I still thought they were cool.
After a visit, we went back to the hotel. On the way home we stopped at Carl's Jr, because Eric and Erin both had been talking about their burgers in an almost reverent tone, so we got a few. I didn't think they were all that but Eric said what made them great was the hickory sauce, and I don't do barbecue flavors. He seemed pretty happy though.
Back at home base it was the opposite of the night before; we wanted to have fun but everyone else wanted to crash. Some of the grandkids our age said they wanted to go to the hot tub but there were too many other people in it, so they didn't. Eric and I went down, and gave the 'go away' vibes so the strangers would take off, and it worked pretty well, but by then the other grandkids were off doing something else. Eric and I had a pleasant time by ourselves, anyway. We went back up to the room and watched 'When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth' and I got a major craving for a chocolate chip cookie, but room service had just closed. Probably just as well; I would've ended up paying $6 for one. Time to crash.
