News for July 8. Samantha and I went for a drive to the border between Alhambra and Los Angeles. We had fun on Winchester Avenue. One side of the street is L.A. the other side is Alhambra. On the Alhambra side we spotted an open house. We went into it for investatigation and this is what we found. 2 bedrooms / 1 bath (remodeled), new windows, fireplace, beautiful yard. 950 sq.ft. living space / 5200 sq.ft. lot. $488,000. It's a bit pricey. The back yard was interesting but tiny. There's a long narrow strip that would be perfect for a game of croquet. Anybody interested? In croquet that is. We also found a hill with a winding road and also a small road that was really two dead ends and shaped like a bone. That was our adventure today. July 7, 2007 It's now the evening of my birthday. I just came in from a swim with Samantha. Here is the wonderful gift she gave me. She had put it in my guitar case and told me I couldn't open it until today. She included a photo she found in an album and two coupons. 
Here's Samantha in the living room.  Once again in the kitchen. 
Daddy and Johnny. 
Getting Ready. 
Now it's time for cake!!!! July 7, 1961. REPOST Yet again!!! (I'm still trying to find some photos to go with this.) Beginnings... When I tell folks that I was born in Norman, Oklahoma they assume that I'm from there. This couldn't be further from the truth. When I was a tiny infant (about a month old), my parents took me back to my Dad's hometown: Spokane, Washington. Then after my passport was obtained, I was whisked off to Mexico where by the time I was a half year old, I was residing in a little village in the tropical jungles of the Yucatan penninsula in a little hut with no running water. Yes, a cute little mud hut with red clay tiles for a ceiling. Those more familar with Oklahoma will quickly point out that Norman is where the University of Oklahoma is located. It's a little university town that focused it's attention on football games or so I've been told. My parents were taking a university course in liguistics when I was born. And it was linguistics that occupied my dad's attention with his projects down in the jungle. And this is the reason my two older sibling and I spent most of our childhood south of the border. I think the earliest memory I have is when I was about three years old. I had just gotten out of bed one morning when my mom opened the back door and as the glare of sunlight and sparkle of dust affronted my eyes, she remaked, "Johnny do you see the pigs?" And yes I remember the pigs in front of me looking as though they would like to come in a visit for a while. Pigs where everywhere in this village. I don't think anybody kept them in a pen. One could always see a mommy pig wandering down the dirt road with a litter of piglets. Later the pigs would serve as an excuse for some naughty behavior. One day I notice a small hole near the base of one of the walls. I kick at it wondering if I could make a bigger hole. And I succeeded. The wall was made of mud after all. I could hear some of the pigs grunting and investigating the area. I was horrified by the result and called over to my mother and said that the pigs had made the hole. | 
