My Friend, Betty the Bunny

Betty was our yard rabbit.  She passed away yesterday.  I miss her terribly.  She was eight years old, I think, even though female rabbits don't like to reveal their true age.

When Pam and Mandy first brought her home, I thought, "oh my, what have we gotten into now?"  But after securing the fences and realizing she would be best living outside, Betty and the rest of her family settled into a regular routine.  That routine included meeting twice a day for treats, either on the patio in the winter months or out at the fire ring the rest of the year.

She became a defender of the yard and a smile on my face every time I saw her.  She loved her family, we loved her even more.  My world is a little more empty now.  God Bless Her!  Until we meet again my friend!  Hip Hop!

Remembering November 22, 1963

Remembering November 22, 1963

One of my earliest significant memories as a child of six; was the Kennedy Assignation.  I do remember where I was when I learned about it.  I was walking on my way home from school when a few of the older kids in the neighborhood ran up to us and related the news.  “Don’t tell your Mothers,” one kid said, “they’ll just start crying.”  Even though we were all only six, there was a certain amount of skepticism in our minds.  In fact this might have also been the birth of skepticism for me.  We said out loud on the rest of our walk that we doubted that the boys were telling us the truth, as we would have heard it first from our teachers at school and there would be “sirens heard all over the world.”  When I got home that day, I found out that it was the truth, and that the only President of the United States I ever knew or remembered, up to that point, was dead.  My mother was crying and the drapes were drawn and the house was quiet.  

People have always talked about how that one event, changed life in America forever.  I always thought that it was the reason I remember that time, that event so clearly.  But it wasn’t until this past year, while reading my Grandmother’s journals that I began to realize why that time had been such a strong memory.  This was the same time that my parents separated, and then divorced the following January.  There was a death that November, but it wasn’t just the President’s death, but it was my family’s death as well.  I had never put the two together, but in piecing together what was going on via my Grandmother and her observations, I began to realize the curtains were drawn and my Mother was crying for other reasons as well as what was going on in America.

Time heals.  One of the quotes I have heard this past week, as they prepare for today’s 50^th Anniversary is, “We will never laugh again.”  To which someone else says, “We will laugh, but we will never be young again.”  I think that for my parents’ generation, it was a lot like many of us felt on 9-11.  It was an event that took so much or our Country’s youth and innocence.  For me, my true healing began nearly a year later, when my Mom started dating her soon to be husband and my new father, Wayne.  Just like the rest of America we were healing and we were smiling and laughing.

We will all never know what actually would have happened had Kennedy lived and then been President another four years.  We don’t know how long the youth and energy would have continued in America.  But for me, I know how it transcended for my family regardless of the American history.  It got better.  Life was wonderful again and the new Aspinall’s were filled with energy and excitement for decades more.  I suspect the Kennedy’s and much of the rest of the Country were feeling the same way and we all just started moving forward.  It may not have been the way we expected.  The road to today was different, but our lives were changed 50 years ago today and our family’s history was changed as well.

Back Roads Coffee Celebrating 20 years!

It will be 20 years this month that Back Roads Coffee House was started.  We opened the doors for the first time on September 28, 1991, just after 12:00 noon, because people were waiting to get in!  It is wonderful to see that the store continues to be successful after all these years.  I thought I would share some insights on some of the information about the business you might not know.

First the name “Back Roads” came from the fact that when we originally opened, the entrance was on the side street of Randolph Street.  We liked the name Back Roads better than “side street” Coffee House.   We called it a Coffee House because we had owned another coffee house in Southern California in the old mining town of Julian, and our plan was to copy the same successful format we had used in that location into the Sutter Creek location.  Our original motto for the store was “waking up the creek,” because we would open everyday at 7:00 am.  Eventually we opened Monday through Friday at 5:30 am, and did 7:00 am on the weekends.

The Sandwich Names came from the following:  The House Special was named because at the Julian Coffee House we originally had only one sandwich, one soup and one salad each day and they would rotate.  As the demand grew there, we had many more sandwiches, but customers would always want to order that original “daily house special,” so eventually we just called it that.  By the way, the House Special was the first sandwich we served when we opened and it was served, to-go, to Doty Doran our first customer.

The Gold Rush, Tuna Supreme, Pastrami Rueben and Veggie all came from our store in Julian.  The Jimbo was named after a chef at the Sutter Creek Palace that used to make a great chicken sandwich on a bun with salsa on it.  We decided it taste better with the turkey and avocado.  Mandy’s Turkey was named for my daughter, but she actually didn’t like it with anything but turkey and bread.  The Josh’s Delight was named after my son and he actually liked everything on the sandwich, including the salami, onions and the olives.  I am not sure you serve that anymore?  The Sutter Ham and the Sutter Muffin were developed because we just loved the smoked hams from Swingle’s Meat Company and wanted to find a way to use it.

Finally the famous Mookies.  The Mookies came about when Pam decided to develop a great oatmeal cookie recipe.  The chocolate chip was selling well, but some customers wanted a more “healthy” alternative.  When finished the Mookie was large and puffy like our muffins and resembled a cross between a muffin and a cookie.  The cookie was actually named by a regular customer, Doug Adam, a resident of Sutter Creek at the time.  He said it was a muffin (m) and a cookie (ookie), so it became a “Mookie.”    In 1997, Sunset magazine asked Pam if they could publish one of her recipes.  The writer who had visited Back Roads a few times decided the Mookie would be the best to print.  We sold Back Roads in 1997 to Debbie and Greg Trippi.  It has been owned by various persons since then.  Currently it is owned by 

Marie Therese Mennell.  

Well here’s to another 20 years!

Wavy Gravy and Peter Yarrow

PROLOGUE

In reflecting on my life at age 52, I decided that I needed to write down some of my greatest memories, most fascinating moments and inspiring encounters. I want to write them down so that I don’t forget them and hopefully others will be entertained or inspired to write down their own reflections. Most importantly, I wanted my children to know these stories, so perhaps they could pass them on to their children, (if and when there is an appropriate time). These stories are in no particular order and are not at all prioritized; they are just what I am thinking about on a given day. By publishing these stories on my blog, it does not insinuate that these stories are public domain. I retain all ownership and copyrights to these little written pieces of my mind.


My encounter with Wavy Gravy and Peter Yarrow

One night I will never forget happened in Chicago, IL in February 1999. I was participating in the American Camping Association convention at a Disney Resort. The opening night dinner, presentation and concert were being held in the hotel ballroom and Peter Yarrow, of the famous folk group, Peter, Paul and Mary, was the keynote and entertainment. Peter is of course the writer and performer of many famous songs, including Puff the Magic Dragon. Peter was primarily there to make a presentation on a program that he was a founding member, “Don’t Laugh at Me.”

Because I was traveling by myself, I sat at a table near the stage, but not right in front of it, to avoid the crowds. Soon after I sat down a man and his wife came and sat next to me. I think they were looking forward to a quiet table as well. We each introduced ourselves and the man was Wavy Gravy, the well-known announcer from the original Woodstock. Wavy had since become famous for announcing other famous concerts as well as the Woodstock anniversary concerts years later. The other Wavy Gravy story I knew, was that when Ben and Jerry’s created the ice cream flavor Cherry Garcia in 1987, they had never gotten permission from Garcia to use his name (or insinuate his name). Pretty soon some nasty words were going back and forth. Wavy Gravy, who was a friend of both parties, intervened and everyone was left satisfied. Later on, Ben & Jerry created the Wavy Gravy flavor ice cream, to thank Wavy for his efforts and friendship. Both flavors were a great success for Ben & Jerry’s.

Our table set for 10 was basically empty, except for the three of us and one other couple on the other side, who were oblivious to the man I was sitting next to. Not a lot was said between us, until dinner itself was almost complete. Wavy’s wife had to leave because she had a conference call concerning their foundation, he told me. She never returned that evening, lucky for me, but probably not for him. That left Wavy and me and a lot of open air, as the entertainer/presenter, Peter Yarrow, hadn’t begun yet, I think I began by asking about his camp, Camp Winnarainbow. I then told him how much I enjoyed the movie Woodstock (boy was I trying to make points). I then asked how it was that he ended up being the announcer at the now infamous concert.

Wavy said that of course at the time Woodstock wasn’t to be such a big deal. He said he was there to manage a first aid tent, do some cooking and help set up the sound. On the first day of the show, he was helping the sound engineers with the microphone checks and when it came time to get people’s attention and announce the act, the engineers told him to do it, so he did and the rest is history. He also told me a story about how he helped introduce granola to the Woodstock crowd one morning, because it was all he could find to throw together to feed them. No one had ever seen granola, but needless to say it was a hit with the starving crowd. I asked all kinds of questions, for which he was very cordial and patient, I realized much later. Finally (lucky for him) Peter Yarrow started his presentation.

Not much was said until Yarrow completed his “Don’t laugh at me” presentation and began to set up to sing a few songs. At this point Wavy leaned over to me and said, “you know there were a lot of us that came out of the 60’s with these great ideals in how to make our world a better place. Peter Yarrow is one of the only people I know that actually put his energy and money to actually do it and continues to do it.” I just nodded, overwhelmed by Wavy’s special piece of insight and honesty. We listened to Yarrow perform, including a moment where he made it clear that when he wrote Puff the Magic Dragon, it had no other meaning than a story about a boy growing up, and if anyone said anything different, they were making it up. He said he was the Grandfather Dragon and he spoke the truth. Finally Peter said he wanted to do a song and wondered if he could, “get a good friend, whom he had not seen in a while to come up and sing with him.” As Wavy Gravy walked up to the stage, Yarrow said publicly, “many people I knew from the 60’s & 70’s said they were going to make a difference in this world, very few have continued that vision except this man, Wavy Gravy. He has continued to work along with his wife to make our world a better place.”

I don’t even remember what song they sang, but I remember both men just smiling and enjoying the moment. I know I sat and listened, as Yarrow and Gravy played and sang long after the event was scheduled to be over. The crowd slowly dispersed, until maybe there were less than 100 folks in the room. It was like a private concert and a historical moment for me. Later I thought about how neither of these men knew what the other was thinking, but how they both felt so strongly about each others continuation of the ideals they had committed to 30 plus years earlier. What a wonderful evening in my life.

Missing Hoyt, One Year Later

Today, February 27th is one year since our little girl, Hoyt (the Beagle), passed away. I am reflecting on how hard it is sometimes to think about her not being here. She was truly a best friend, a confidant, and motivator. Hoyt relished life and enjoyed a hot dog with relish. I miss her love for her family, her love for walking and for her love for her food dish. Every day was a new exciting day for her. As routine and dull as I might have thought a day was, she found enthusiasm and newness in each one. I miss her chin propped up on the dinner table, the wag of her tail when it was time to go out and how much she enjoyed any moment we had together. It is just sad to think those moments were shorter than I ever thought they’d be.

I look out my office window at the beautiful flowering trees and think that in heaven she is enjoying endless walks without leashes, chasing rabbits and squirrels and an endless bowl of food and greenies. She is without pain, but without us. I hope she has joined the hunt with Keisha and tries to understand better Danny’s love for chasing anything round. Perhaps she has located my Mom and is driving her crazy or at least has a lap to sit on and wait, and sigh. I miss her sigh.

Goodbye to Vanny

December 31, 2008

We said goodbye to a real good friend today, Vanny. Vanny is a 1995 Dodge Caravan that we have had since she was driven off the showroom floor on the year of her creation. As she drove away, she was still sporting the original bra that I fashioned on her soon after she arrived at our home. She seemed excited at the prospect of having a new chapter in her life.

Vanny has had numerous adventures with us. They include trips throughout the western United States and even more miles of commuting to work and being a taxi for the kids and their friends. What might have been Vanny’s biggest adventure was when she was stolen from a parking lot in downtown Sacramento, while Pam and I were at a concert at Raley Field. She was found the very next day sitting in a parking stall of an apartment in Woodland. She was in perfect condition, except someone had used the ashtray and littered the floor with some candy wrappers. They had even filled Vanny with gas! I think she really enjoyed that adventure and the fact that we came to rescue her.

Vanny was my backroom storage when I spent a year selling at the swap meets. She was the cargo van to move kitties and cages when I volunteered for a couple years for Folsom Feline’s adoption program. She was the only way to get to work at ACE for a couple of years. And most of all, she was the car the Hoyt loved most when it was time to take a ride to the park for her daily walks. Hoyt loved being able to ride in the middle, between Pam and I, or to jump up in the passenger seat and guard me from the dangers, when Pam wasn’t around.

Pam & I often said that when I did purchase a newer car, as I did in October, we would love to give her to a family in need or a just an individual that was ready for a new adventure themselves. It did not matter to us that Vanny had 249,110 miles on her; we knew she would continue to be reliable for someone. We never found those persons face to face, so we donated her to one of our favorite organizations, Folsom Feline Rescue and in turn she will have a new home with someone who will hopefully appreciate her half as much as we did.
As she pulled away today I thought about the fact that I have lost two good friends in 2008, Vanny and Hoyt. But “lost” is not the word or the phrase, moving on to a “new adventure” is really the way I like to see it. But I still miss these two family members terribly.

Sacramento, Tree City USA

When I first came to Northern California I lived in South Lake Tahoe and often traveled the corridor from the Sierras to the Bay Area. Sacramento and all of the communities along this 150-mile stretch really meant very little to me. But then I left Tahoe and moved closer to Sacramento and one of the first things I noticed about Sacramento residents was their love for the city. People didn’t just end up in Sacramento; they wanted to be here. This is a place that is often below freezing in the winter and over 100 degrees Fahrenheit for weeks during the summer. Growing up in Southern California, where extreme temperatures are exception not the rule, it seemed unusual to me for these residents to have a real desire to live here.

As time went by, more things became apparent in my understanding of why people would live here. First were the Trees. Sacramento is the City of Trees, due to the Arbor Day recognition as a Tree City USA for 29 years. Sacramento has trees everywhere. These beauties line the streets, parks, highways and business giving beautiful colors in the spring and fall as well as much needed shade and cool temperatures during those very hot summers. When and where I was raised in Southern California, all I ever saw was trees being cut down for growth. Sacramento has increased its’ growth without destroying one of the greatest assets of the City.



Another wonderful part of Sacramento is the people and their enthusiasm. Sacramento was recently named the most integrated city in the United States. With this diverse population, speaking 70 different languages, it would be easy for Sacramento to be a population of separate interests and goals. But instead, Sacramento residents get fired up about the arts, theater, sports, restaurants and of course the weather. The once a month Art Walk in downtown attracts thousands of art lovers. Sacramento constantly has at least six theater productions going on simultaneously in town and each is always well attended. The Sacramento Kings, Monarchs and River Cats have the best attendance records for each of their sports consistently. Sacramento sports fans are also known as the loudest in the NBA and WNBA. The restaurants in Sacramento are as diverse as the population and a select set of restaurant owners and chefs have worked hard at setting high standards for others to follow.

Over the past 17 years, I have become another person who cherishes these amazing aspects of Sacramento living. As for the weather and those extremes, well let’s just say I’ve grown accustomed to it. If it is too hot, we go to the river or lake for the day. If it is too cold, we go to a King’s game and warm up. And when you’re having a beautiful day like today, I sit back and enjoy all the colorful flowering Trees, that make this City the most magnificent place to live.