Monday 6th Aril 2015…no tennis but a great hike in the desert!!!

I said good bye to Stella last night as she left at 4 am to go back to Santa Barbara as she had some very important business to take care of and unfortunately cannot come back.

This morning I was really lazy and just sat around having breakfast doing computer work oh I did do some laundry and went to the grocery store and then at 1 o clock got packed up and went out for a hike I had read about…it was really hot but I had lots of food and drinks and I found the trail head

 

and you know I always love to see arrows on the trail and I was taking the cove to lake trail the brown arrow.

The scenery was lovey

and the trail well marked!!

 

It was a fairly easy trail with a few climbs but also a lot of it was through sand and that is always hard to walk on or through!!!

After I climbed some rocks the trail opened out onto this golf course I can only imagine how much money it costs to lay grass sod here and to keep it watered even though California is in a huge water crisis!!!!

I had seen no one  and no animals and I was really quite isolated and  then there was this lovely sculpture

There was no sign to say what it was or the purpose!!!!

Around the next bend I came to my destination Lake Cahuilla!!!

This is the scene I was looking at whilst having lunch!!!

It was very peaceful…I had to go back the same way and in total I was gone 4 hours the sign said it was almost 6 miles but I think it was almost 8 anyway it was a great hike and I enjoyed the solitude and the views.

Came back to the condo and went straight into the pool and hot tub and then it was dinner and then I settled down in the reclining arm chair and watched the Canucks better the Kings in an important hockey game.

Next was a long soak in the tub and I am drinking tea whilst I write this.

Now the bad news…Ashley did so well to get into the main tournament that started today but because she played two games yesterday and one not finishing till gone 8pm they gave her a day off and she plays her first game at 11 am tomorrow the sad part is she is drawn against the number one ranked girl in the country!!!!!

This will be such a  hard game for her and I know she will fight with everything she has…..so wish her good luck tomorrow…..I shall stay at the facility and watch her play in a double games at 4.30pm

 

I would like to welcome a new reader to my blog a lady by the name of Anne who lives in England…..Anne was searching the web as she wants to travel to México and came across my blog and started to read it and after a while she realized that she knew me…….what a small world Anne was my first girl friend 52 years ago in Sheffield…we exchanged a long e mail today catching up…small world and welcome Anne!!!!!

 

 

Thanks to Gail for this light and funny piece!!!

Enjoy the ride. There is no return ticket.

George Carlin on aging!
(Absolutely Brilliant)

IF YOU DON'T READ THIS TO THE VERY END, YOU HAVE LOST A DAY IN YOUR LIFE. AND WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED, DO AS I AM DOING AND SEND IT ON.
George Carlin's Views on Aging
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.
'How old are you?' ' I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.
You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.
'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life! You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!
But then you turn 30.  Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?
You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you'rePUSHING40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50, and your dreams are gone....
But! wait!! !  You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30,PUSH 40, REACH 50, and make it to 60.
You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that, it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80's, and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'IWas JUST 92.'

Then a strange thing happens.. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 and a half!'

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers.This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's family name is Alzheimer's.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND, ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Yashi Kochi!!!