The Lady from Tijuana, Mexico

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Woody Burns and John Wise in Goleta, California

These are not the ladies from Tijuana; they are Woody Burns and John Wise, who, with Caroline and our Aunt Ann, are spending the weekend together in Goleta doing not much at all.

Chicken soup

Well, there is this pot of chicken soup underway that I’m hoping Tata (Aunt Ann) learned to make from her mother, Luba, and that it’s the same recipe her sister/my grandmother Amelia used to make. There are those foods from our childhood that really defined our expectations, and from my grandma Wise (Amelia), it was chicken soup, homemade noodles, and tapioca pudding.

Yard ornamentation from Tijuana, Mexico

More than 30 years ago, my Uncle Woody and Aunt Ann picked up this once beautiful statue from across the border in Tijuana, Mexico. As she rode back to the U.S. in the passenger seat of a convertible, she turned heads – yeah, right, it was her stunning beauty and not those odd multi-directional breasts.

Aunt Eleanor Going Strong at 94

JWise Photo of the Day

My great aunt Eleanor Burke at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona

My great aunt Eleanor who recently turned 94 joined me today at the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.

Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona

The Heard is dedicated to showcasing the art and history of the Native American peoples of the southwest. My aunt most enjoyed the woven baskets of the Tohono O’odham and the Katsina dolls of the Hopi.

Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona

After a short two-hour visit, this fragile old lady had enough.

Herbert Kurchoff – Rest in Peace

JWise Photo of the Day

My daughter Jessica Wise with her great grandfather Herbert John Kurchoff who passed away this evening

This evening my grandfather Herbert John Kurchoff passed away. The photo above was taken in December 2003 while my daughter Jessica Wise was visiting Arizona and spending some time with her great grandfather. A little more than a year later Herbie, my aunt Eleanor, and I made a trip to Florida to visit Jessica, who by then had joined the Navy. Going cross-country for two weeks with these two was nothing short of a great time and left me with great memories of the man who was my last surviving grandparent. Herbie will be missed by Caroline and me, we hope he is finally at peace.

Re-re-entering Arizona

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Looking at City Hall from Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles, California

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.

Ann Burns and John Wise in Goleta, California

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.

Burns Family Home in Goleta, California

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.

Woody Burns and John Wise in Goleta, California

Great Uncle Woody Burns at home in Goleta, California.

Tommy's Burgers in Los Angeles, California

On the way home to Phoenix, I had to stop at Original Tommy’s, famous for their chili cheeseburgers.

Driving east near Joshua Tree National Park in California

Nothing left but desert ahead.

View from the Yard

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

The view from my uncle's home in Santa Barbara, California

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.

Chester

JWise Photo of the Day

Chester, Tula, Woody and Ann Burns in Santa Barbara, California

Twice a day in the morning and then in the afternoon I bring either Sophie or my uncle and Sophie to the park so she can get a workout chasing tennis balls. Today we are joined by Chester. A month ago I featured the puppy Tula; well, Chester here is Gail and Tony’s other dog. Sophie and Chester seem to enjoy one another’s company running together until Sophie takes a pause in the shade next to a small tree and Chester heads for the water bowl.

Update: I went to update the photo I had of Chester and inexplicably it is missing. Sadly, we don’t know why some of the photos I chose years ago went missing, or how they got deleted and vanished. So it goes, in its place I offer a new photo with Chester not looking at the camera but there’s my great aunt and uncle so that’s a win.