Rocco" I'm a HodgePodge" for Halloween
The grandkids are having a blast! Rocco has been to so many Halloween events and dressing in an array of costumes from a cat to Dracula to Yayoi Kusama. When I asked him what he was going to be for Halloween he said “My mom said I’m going to be a Hodgepodge!” Sofia stayed true to her LA BU BU decision.
Down under Jude was the dragon he loved from the movie
and Julian was a little rainbow fish.
"Fall in love with someone
who want you, who waits for you,
who understands you evenin the madness;
someone who helps you,
and guides you, someone who
talks with you after a fight.
Fall in love with someone who
misses you and wants to be with
you. Do not fall in love only
with a body or with a face; or
with the idea of being in love." -TheMindsJournal.com
Got a bit distracted watching the world Series but managed to finish this puzzle. It was a good one. Thanks again Marisel and Gary! Normally I like to look at Color variation and shape but this one I needed to locate the piece from the picture. That’s Mike’s technique but he was too busy watching baseball to help me.
When my eldest daughter started Kindergarten I wanted her to join a Brownie troop. I didn’t know many people in the neighborhood but someone told me to look for a blond woman named Annette on the first day of school. Her daughter Jessica was in the same class as Aria. I found her and after the first year of Daisies, Annette and I became co-leaders of our troop 350 until the girls became Juniors. That’s when my neighbor Darlene took over the troop. As it turns out our girls Jessica, Aria and Becky (Darlene’s daughter)stayed together from Kindergarten till seniors in high school and received their Gold awards, the highest honor for a Girl Scout. We moms grew close and shared precious times watching our girls grow up, attended their weddings and subsequently watched our daughters become mothers themselves. It’s great when friendships are born from things we did for our children. The years pass quickly. I don’t see Annette often but tonight I was able to be with Annette and her daughter and another mom From Elementary school days Marisel. I also met a new friend of Annette’s named Samantha Lurie.
It turns out she was Athena’s middle school English teacher.
We all gathered together tonight, a small sweet group to celebrate a landmark birthday for Annette. It was a night of looking back at many shared memories and a time to reflect on how friendships are made.
Happy Birthday to my long time friend Annette!
Mike asked me where I wanted to go for our morning walk. I thought for awhile and said somewhere we haven’t been in a long time. He took me to a great little park in Cerritos called “Heritage Park”. We use to take our daughters there when they were little.
It’s still a fun place to explore with a covered bridge, a quaint village town surrounded by water and a statue of Paul Revere. Lovely peaceful surrounding picnic areas too.
Saturday October 25th, before and after the “Fish Men” event we wandered around Little Tokyo. We were happy to see so many people enjoying the area. We walked to the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center where the weekly Farmers market is held. Fun to look at specialty mushrooms, produce selection and crafts. We took a peek at the lovely Japanese gardens there.
Later in the afternoon we walked to our nephew Trace's gaming/hobby store L.A.Wargames located at 333 N. Alameda street in the Littke Tokyo Galleria. Again we were pleased to see this three story mini mall bustling with people.
If you haven’t had a chance to wander this area of DTLA you should treat yourself to a visit.
When I was a child growing up in East Los Angeles the “Fish man” as we called him would come by in his truck every Wednesday. My grandma Jingu (mom’s mom) lived with us. She would go out to the truck with her small coin purse and the fish man would open the back of the truck where there were fresh fish lying on beds of ice. There was a scale and paper to wrap the fish. On Wednesdays for dinner we’d have fresh fish and gohan (hot steamed rice). Often a big plate of sashimi. Grandma was in heaven! Down the street from us lived Sachiko and Satoshi Kojima. They were older than me but we knew them because on Sundays we would all get a ride together to go to church together in Little Tokyo. Their father was one of the many “fish men” that delivered fish to Japanese communities after the war.
We attended today’s event at the Japanese American National Museum Annex Democracy center in Little Tokyo. The event was called “Fish Truck Family Reunion.” I posted recently here how the Fishman used to deliver fish in his truck to our neighborhood in the late 1950’s and ‘60’s in east Los Angeles. The event today featured stories of how over forty years, Japanese Anericans owned fish trucks and delivered fresh seafood, rice, and other Japanese goods to homes across the Southland. They also provided a valuable community service by bringing a taste of home six days a week to Nikkei throughout the greater los angeles area *(nikkei-people of japanese descent livng outside Japan)
