A California Christmas

I spent Christmas visiting my family in the San Francisco Bay Area. My parents still live in the house I grew up in. They have lived there for 55 years and married for 60—wow! Not much time for sketching except for my afternoon with Myrna Wacknov.

I did notice that the next door neighbor's had three pomegranate trees, the branches laden with fruit bursting open with juicy red seeds. And like the rest of the neighborhood I helped my self to an armful, but I waited until dark. I brought them inside and painted them while we cooked dinner.

I brought my dog, Sophie, with me. Being only 14 lbs she fits easily in a carrier and under the seat on the plane. She was fairly appalled when I shoved her in a carrier and then gave me the face through the mesh openings. Once on the plane she fell asleep only to wake up once and of course give me the face, again. Once in California, she had a great time romping at the dog park everyday and having many people to pay attention to her, take naps with and laps to crawl in.

On our walks around the neighborhood I noticed these wonderful Ponerosa pine cones and once again was stealing from the neighbors.

We had the best time.

My amazing family.