Dreams, Moments, Travels
Our anniversary was actually yesterday on the 12th of January, but we are celebrating it this weekend with a trip to the Grand Canyon National Park. On our way north we stopped for dinner at the Rock Springs Cafe in Black Canyon City, Arizona. The much-acclaimed Penny’s Pies are worthy of the positive reviews they have received over the years.
On my way home to Phoenix, Arizona. First, some shopping in Little Tokyo. Today is our 12th Anniversary. While I found some things Caroline would enjoy, I couldn’t find ‘the’ gift to celebrate our getting married. I had to go further east to an Asian shopping center off the 60 freeway at the Fullerton offramp, where I spotted a cute little set of 18k white gold Hello Kitty earrings.
Update: here we go again fooling around with the history of this blog by expanding what was originally posted. As I’ve said in other posts, this update is years after the fact, 2023, to be precise. Previously, I’ve shared that I’m updating some older posts with extra photos as they were relevant back when I shot them, but internet bandwidth limitations during those years dictated that I keep things small and simple. Now that this isn’t a concern, I present more of the past. This is our great Aunt Ann Burns.
These old photographs were passed countless times, and now I have no idea what happened to them. My father is in the top left I’m in the photo with my sister Share, her in the white wedding dress, and me in a white shirt over toward the lower right of the frame. The largest photo is of Jerry Burns, Uncle Woody’s brother.
Great Uncle Woody Burns at home in Goleta, California.
On the way home to Phoenix, I had to stop at Original Tommy’s, famous for their chili cheeseburgers.
Nothing left but desert ahead.
With Uncle Woody’s health back in check 30 days after his triple bypass, it is now time for me to go home to Phoenix, Arizona. It’s a long, heavy day for my aunt and uncle as they are sad to see me go. After 30 days I have done enough cooking, cleaning, shopping, driving, and nursing to last all of 2006. Tomorrow, I see Caroline but will miss these sunrises.
My uncle and I visited Elings Park off Los Pasito’s in Santa Barbara this morning. It was his first time returning in a month. There were more than a few happy dogs and a nearly equal amount of happy humans seeing Woody return. Later in the day, my uncle was taken off oxygen and given permission to return to normal activity, such as driving!
Just another sunrise here in Santa Barbara, California. My uncle is almost ready to resume his former routine and I’m getting antsy to get going back to Phoenix and Caroline – I miss her so very much.
For 38 years, I’ve looked at this view from my uncle’s front yard. Years ago, there was no golf course, and I would walk across the street to pick walnuts. My sister Shari once threw a rock at me standing right here and opened a gash on my eyebrow. Back then, there were no plants in the front yard, there wasn’t even a driveway then.
Update April 2021: This was at 288 Placer Drive in Goleta, California. Some years ago, around 2009, my Uncle Woody Burns and Aunt Ann Burns sold this place and moved back to Buffalo, New York. A few years after that, my uncle passed away on December 16, 2012, at the age of 88. Just recently, I called my aunt after finding a phone number for her and learned that she’s still alive. Contact between all of us became difficult due to a situation that wasn’t able to be resolved (old people getting strangely stubborn). It was great hearing her voice, and I wish that Caroline and I could pay her a visit and offer her a hug.