A Vignette Map of
Human Experience
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Recent Vignettes
Colin goes to Montreal
We visited Gordon, Dory, Som, Hamish Jr., Zhi, in Montreal!
Colins first poop in the potty
He pooped in the potty. He likes to poop behind the couch. So we put his potty over there. We looked away because he doesn't like to be watched.
Nearly died in a car crash
Accident: 8:55AM on corner of Cleveland and Washington I was heading north on Cleveland crossing Washington at 8:55am after dropping Colin off at daycare. I had a greenlight and entered the intersection at about 15mph. A black Ford F-150 on Washington street heading east at approximately 30-40mph ran the red light and hit the driver side front of my Toyota Land Cruiser. I was the only person in the vehicle. The impact was so severe it spun my vehicle 180 degrees so I was pointing back the opposite direction I was going. Ana Cordova was driving on Washington street with her husband who was driving and was in the vehicle directly behind Aaron who was the driver of the F150. She said that she saw him run the red light. Her husband was driving. He started to slow down for the red light and she noticed the F150 in front of her was not slowing down to stop. She told her husband as she thought he wont stop, and the F150 proceeded through the intersection running a red light and hitting my vehicle. I did not exit my vehicle right away. Ana shared that she feared I was dead because the impact was so severe. Her husband also saw the whole thing. Link to Photo Album: https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipMUbzoTe6Uvorhvw0dhKiniCjxnaw_gTAcWGPAidGcrwh-_TkKGqF9EC47FLv9dEA?key=VjRDYU53UFNzcjlhLVlOXy0xR2xiZmZQV3ZuNWxB
Hollis with surfboard at back door of 346 Palomar Ave.
In this photo Hollis is pointing at a float (that you can't see) that maybe he found on the beach? We hung it up behind the backdoor to look beach house like. A lot of things happened at 346 Palomar that weren't so good - but this is a happy time. The apartment was only 2 blocks from Windnsea and Hollis and Nick would go out to Big Rock and surf at least a few times a week. The back courtyard had a nice lawn so it was a good place to wash off after the surf session. We had a one car garage in which surfboards and surf equipment could be kept. Kind of a perfect setup.
Hollis at Mom's kitchen table at Texada
I love this photo for a number of reasons. It was probably taken by Mom and she probably sent it to me later. I have always thought it was taken at Mom's place on Texada Island. Hollis looks to be 10 or 11. First off Hollis is just so cute. The expression on his face is sublime. I love that he is holding his teddy bear. Not sure what he is doing, but looks like there is some kind of string coming out of the Altoids tin. His hair is still wet, so no doubt he had just been swimming at Mom's favorite swimming hole within the rocks just offshore. We were always so happy going to visit Mooey. I just have wonderful warm feelings about these times coming up to Canada for vacation. Although Mom was in some ways crazy, she sure enveloped everyone in love.
Honda Trail 70
Paw's Honda Trail 70 was a hit with me and my siblings as young kids and it was also a hit with our kids. What I love about this photo is that it captures the intensity of interest shown by Som and Hollis. That level of interest is what I'm pretty sure Ross and I had in it as well. I have many fond memories of going to Bam and Paw's and hoping that we could ride the trail 70 or the lawn mower. The routine was always the same, 1. get up the courage to ask Paw if we could ride it, 2. let him kind of huff and haw about it (all an act no doubt), 3. he inevitably gives in and we spend the next 3 hours motoring around their yard. This photo was taken in the garage at Mom's place on Texada island. The trail 70 at this point was in pretty rough shape. The alignment of the whole frame was off and it was difficult to control. Hollis and crew would ride it down the long driveway to the house. Like us, they spent many hours on it. I'm going to guess that Hollis and Som are around 14 or 15. I'm pretty sure this was also the visit when Hollis and Joey had a bit of a showdown. Hollis was sitting in a chair at the table, got up - then Joey started to sit in it to take it from him. Hollis quickly tried to slide on the seat of the chair and a big pushing match ensued. Gordon (Mom's boyfriend) shouted "Boys!". That put a stop to it. I was somewhat dumbfounded and didn't react. If this really was 1999, it would have been shortly after my breakdown. Maybe it was 1998? 2000?.
Ian and Cheryl purchase Merville bakery
Dad had given us kids $50,000 US each for no reason that I understood (although later Ross and others said it was because I complained about needing a down payment for a house). I didn't know what to do with the money and Ian and Cheryl wanted to purchase a bakery to start a business of low fat deserts. That never happened. But I did help them with the down payment on the property in Merville. After many years they eventually sold the property to move to Cape Breton and paid me back in full. I have always felt really good about helping them out in this way ... and wish I could have done more of that ... but it's hard to find the right situation.
Leila Gold and friend visit 330 Palomar St.
Leila Gold (the youngest of Sharon's 4 kids) and her friend (whose name I don't remember!) were traveling and must have found out from Sharon (or someone else) that I lived in San Diego. They visited for 4 or 5 days at our second Palomar St. residence, 330(?) Palomar Ave. It was a nice visit. They weren't going to go to Mexico, but I convinced them we should check it out by going down to Puerto Nuevo for a lobster dinner. I had never done that before. I took them on a tour of the city and La Jolla environs. It felt good to make a small connection with one of Sharon's kids. Not too many of our old friends have made it all the way down to San Diego.
Anand Ayer and India night in Tucson
We had travelled in the Vanagon from N.Y. and eventually arrived at Cottonwood AZ. I was trying to figure out what to do with my life and decided to go back to school. After checking out a few schools I decided on the University of Arizona
Bob, Kelly and Grant playing accordion at 5'th and Market
I hired Bob Sturm as a programmer at CDIP in 2002 (?). His online resume included a picture of him standing on a balcony overlooking San Francisco. He was wearing a nice suit with a tie. The caption read "A man at odds with his tie". That cracked me up - seemed like our man. On his first day at CDIP Bob shows up with a suitcase, places it down beside him and proceeds to work. At the end of the day he tells me not to open the suitcase then leaves. Corey and I looked at each other and of course we immediately thought we should open it. Who knows what it could be - we didn't know this guy and it could be a bomb for all we knew. We opened it up to discover that there was an accordion inside it. Bob is irreverent to the max. He loves to have fun and collects strange ridiculous instruments (which aren't toys BTW). It seemed to me that this was a perfect opportunity to learn how to play the accordion. It just so happens Sally had convinced/forced Hollis to play the accordion when he was young. There's a great picture of him with his teacher, that's another vignette! Seemed like a no brainer. We started a little accordion /penny whistle band and after learning a handful of Irish tunes headed down to the Gaslamp district (5'th and Market) and busked in front of the Wig shop on the corner which has a nice little alcove to protect you from the weather. Bob and I had many adventures - some will be future vignettes.
Cheewhat Giant
This is me standing in front of the "Cheewhat Giant", the largest western red cedar anywhere in the world (according to google AI). I still need to determine the year. It was Dad's idea, and a father-son outing. The tree is located just east of Cheewhat lake near Nitnat lake. I have posted this vignette to try to remember details around that trip to Canada.
Our first house in Tappan N.Y.
We spent the summer (and into the fall?) in a suburban house in Tappan N.Y. with Anna, Daisy, Hollis and Lovage. Take a careful look at the photo as you can see Hollis in the rail. I believe we were renting a Ford Taurus station wagon at the time. As you can see, Daisy and Anna were really having the time of their lives. I have another photo of Sally in the kitchen which also shows how happy we were at the time. What did we do with Daisy and Anna? We must have gone on day trips - possibly to the city. Sally would have taken them to museums and the like no doubt. Maybe I should get Daisy to add in some memories. Having arrived, I started to put my resume together for a teaching job and put together a list of schools in the area. By that time, I think Daisy and Anna had left for Canada. I fondly remember the portable electric typewriter I used to make my resume and the list. I believe it was late August when I got hired by Saddle River Day School. I recall driving to school in the blue beetle. I was driving to school and took the secondary roads as they were much more beautiful and inspiring with the leaves turning brown and falling from the many trees in the area. Each day I passed this blue turbo beetle that looked in great shape. It was there for some time, and one day I decided to check it out. I purchased it for $1300 and it ran great. Since it hadn't gotten cold yet, I presume I purchased it in late September or early October.
A visit with Do and Grandad before leaving for New York
This is a polaroid photo taken by Do before setting off to New York. From the left we have Anna (13), Daisy (13) , Hollis (1), Me (26) and Lovage (3). We are standing in front of my Datsun(?) hatchback station wagon whose purchase was inspired by Brian Bird (for transporting musical equipment) and cost $700 which I borrowed from Dad (the second and last loan from Dad. The first loan was when I was in Greece and ran out of money. Paid them both back promptly BTW). Not sure of the logistics but perhaps I was to pickup Daisy and Anna from Denman Island and take them back to Vancouver. I probably decided to visit Do and Grandad because we were in the neighborhood and of course thought they might like to meet their great grandchildren. I remember we spent some time there - maybe a few hours? Hollis and Lovage remember Do and Grandad, so maybe there had been other trips to Qualicum(?).
Baby Moon, with Eduardo
Eduardo and I first met at Vancouver Film School a week before school started at a class meetup introduction. He say across a big round table from me and for some reason, i just knew we were going to be best friends. I think he knew the same. We hit it off instantly and we're best friends in no time. Eduardo is brilliant and creative. He is level headed, thinks things through, cautious but adventurous. He loves heavy metal music but is a big softy. We met back in 2009 and have been friends ever since. Edu had planned a trip to visit and it just happened that Katie and I were expecting. His trip from San Paulo to San Diego couldn't have been better timed. It was really the last time I felt comfortable leaving Katie while pregnant before Colin was born. We had a great adventure, going to universal studios, then jtree where we stayed at a beautiful Airbnb and ate an adventurous amount of mushrooms. This photo was the next day after our trip. Edu and i felt rejouvenated, refreshed, like someone had cleaned our brains with soap and water. It was a beautiful moment.
My 40th Birthday Present to myself
For my 40th birthday i wanted to revisit a very special moment that Katie and i shared a few years ago. We went with Jason and Alex to cow creek near shaver lake. When they went to bald mountain for the day Katie and i went down to cow creek and spent the day down there. We played in waterfalls and warmed on the rocks in the sun. For my 40th i wanted to bring colin to this place.
Testing voice note
Hhh
The night before our first kiss
This was a date Katie and i went on. I'm not sure she knew it was a date but i sure did. After thai food we stopped by marine st and found this little guy. This was the very beginning of our relationship and as of this posting we've been together for 13 years. The next night we went to lei lounge on park blvd and had our first kiss.
My Wedding day
This is the day Katie and i were married in Old Town San Diego at the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
Colin's 2nd Birthday
We celebrated Colins
Hiro passes away
Hard to write about
Michiko passes away
Hard to write about
Grant becomes a US citizen
This is a photo of the decorations and food Darren and Vicki set up at work for my naturalization party. Notice that my face is on all four posters - the hockey players, Uncle Sam, Statue of Liberty and the quarter. Ha-ha! Why did I become a U.S. citizen? I'm too many years from that time (15) to remember what I was thinking. I knew that it was unlikely that I would end up back in Canada, that most aspects of my life were here in the U.S. and I probably felt like I wanted to exercise a vote. It was not easy because they want you to cut all ties from other countries and swear that you will bear arms against other states when ordered to do so. I argued a bit with Hollis about this. I told him that I couldn't possibly agree to those things. He was like "Dad, just fill out the form, it's not that big a deal". So I filled out the form and that was that. During the swearing in ceremony, someone from an African country dropped their passport (I forget the country) and the MC of the ceremony picked it up and said who's passport is this? I was a little paranoid and thought this was a setup to make the point that you were supposed to drop all allegiances with other countries. But, no. Some guy puts up his hand and walks over to get his passport. So, it's a lot like Hollis said, even though it's the law to swear those things it's not enforced. Vicki and Darren had fun with this photoshopping images of me and Uncle Sam. They loved to make fun of me whenever possible.
Laurel's new backyard and Ross's visit
Laurel was tired of looking after her pool, so she hired a company to fill it in. I was not happy about it, but felt it wasn't really my business. Laurel's hairdresser, Mary, is a master gardener and is a landscape architect (I think). Laurel hired her to plan the new backyard and help us hire the right people to help. She also directed us for the parts of the project that we could do. All in all, it was a very efficient setup - it was all done properly (unlike the stuff I do). Part of the plan was to have two floating decks, a bigger one for table and chairs and a smaller one in front of the sliding door. Somehow we thought of Ross, and I think may have convinced him to come down to help build those decks. I doubt Ross would have accepted any payment. Anyway, he came down and that was great! Ross and I built the decks in 5 days or so I think. There was some consternation due to whether or not to leave gaps between the boards. The wood was pretty wet and it was all pressure treated. Laurel was insisting on no gaps, Ross was probably suggesting small gaps. It did get a little heated. The decks worked out beautifully as you can see in this picture. During the time Ross was staying with us, the Asian film festival was running and we all went a few nights in a row (I think). That was fun. Those were the good old days when Lee-ann Kim was running things. With the decks in place the garden could be constructed. We formed the earth to make a riverbed, put landscape cloth over the entire area. Laurel hired guys to put down the irrigation on top of that. We went out to Miramar nursery to buy all of the plants and followed Mary's instructions for planting. After that we built the riverbed by gathering rocks from Kus's backyard. Filled up the Subaru as I recall. We bought smaller rocks and pebbles to make it look "realistic" and ordered yards of small gravel and mulch for ground cover. The yard has been fantastic! The wide variety of plants including fruit trees have done pretty good. Everything is now really fully grown up. The manzanita was the star of the show and really grew out full healthy and happy. Unfortunately, argentine ants took hold, it subsequently got mold on it and over 2 years really declined. I intervened in the fall of 2025 by killing the ants and spraying with anti mold stuff (organic gardening stuff) but I fear it will not be enough to save it. The tree that really took over was the Kefir (oops, Thai) lime tree. Those limes are so acidic that you can't use them for anything - except maybe as an industrial cleaner - but we have enough leaves to make many thousands of curries, and they are great in curry.
Hollis helps put up the Ulric St. Shed
So much happened in 2010. Once I had bought the house, the first thing I thought needed to be done was to replace the old metal shed. It was pretty gross on the inside. I didn't know what all the gooey, oily, smelly stuff was in there and thought I should start from scratch. Also, the metal shed was pretty ugly and rusted. When I looked around for a replacement shed, they were all so expensive. So I decided to put up another metal shed - as a temporary measure. Phase 1 was leveling and putting down pavers for the floor. To do that I had to clear out an old tree that was there. Hollis came over and wanted to help. I think we were trying to dig it out. Hollis took a number of swings with the pickaxe which both scared and amazed me. Anyway, we got it out in short order. The metal shed had something like 1,000 screws (maybe not that much, but a lot). As of this writing (Dec. 2025) it is now quite rusted and looks like the old one. The other day I realized that if I lightly sanded the remaining parts that are painted, I could speed up the rust process and give the whole shed the same finish, which might look just fine. I have also planted star jasmine which has grown really well and hides most of the shed.
Hamish, Pat and Zhi visit San Diego
Jeez, did they really visit in 2010? Add this to the long list of big things happening that year. I remember they found a big place up in Julian that had a fireplace and a couple of bedrooms. They invited me to come up for horseback riding. Zhi was really into it as you can see by the look on her face in this photo. Both Hamish and I were pretty much scared stiff. There is no cowboy in either of our genes or jeans. As I recall, Zhi was up front with the trail guide and looked perfectly comfortable and happy on her horse. I can only assume that she had no idea of the potential disaster that could befall her, especially when the horse decides out of the blue to go AWOL. Of course that didn't happen. But when I'm sitting on a horse I feel like I have virtually no control over this beast and why wouldn't he just take off at full gallop into the woods? We survived. My iconic horse riding memory probably dates back to Hornby Island Lodge and the 16 year old kid whose name I forget. He seemed pretty rough and tumble to me. I believe I fell off a horse on one of the rides and never felt comfortable with horses ever since. Now in Tucson I did have a good experience with horses. I used to ride my bike to school every day when we lived out at the Greens and the trip required that I cycle past a fenced area with a few horses in it. I guess they got used to me riding by and I remember that they would come over to the fence to greet me. I would get off my bike and pet them. That's when I realized that horses are affectionate and so forth and I think for me to ever feel comfortable on one, I would have to know it personally and there would need to be a mutual trust. Still, if there were a loud noise or a snake or what have you ... lord knows it's a dangerous activity.
Bought 2829 Ulric St.
The house market had dropped to its lowest in years due to the mortgage crisis. By 2010 this house had dropped to $290k, the largest amount I could borrow. To my chagrin, Obama was trying to keep prices elevated by offering $10k or so in cash for first time home buyers. I had been trying to buy a house for years, but my salary was always just a little shy of affording it. I remember lying on my back on the small deck you see in the photo in front of the studio thinking about whether or not I should buy it. It was a beautiful day and the garden (not pictured here) was really wonderful. I loved the little house and its vibe. Previous owners had really tried to make it nice with landscaping in the front and back - and fixing up the studio (minimally). Most importantly to me, it was on a canyon. That felt to me like I wasn't hemmed in. I also started developing big plans for fixing it up. But, the house was in the wrong neighborhood. Most realtors wouldn't even take me into the area. I figured it was an up and coming area (which it turned out not to be). I thought that Hollis could use the studio or it could be rented out to help with the mortgage. I could sense that the market was going to recover and felt the need to move ahead as this was the first house that I could afford that was on a canyon. Buying the house turned out to be a good decision financially (buying any property would have been a good decision) as well as providing some stability for Hollis and myself. I also did manage to fulfill my dream of fixing it up - and am very proud of the way it turned out. That whole experience was a challenge, but also really rewarding. In retrospect, and I knew it at the time, I should have bought two houses. But instead of doing that I sunk the extra cash I had into fixing it up. Not the greatest financial decision but something I really wanted to do.
Grant, Dory and Chuck on a canoe adventure
One of us (Dory, Chuck, Grant) got the idea in his or her head that it would be fun to paddle the Evans home-built fiberglass canoe across the Channel to Diana Island. I'm thinking it was Chuck. I'll blame Chuck. I don't remember having to convince our parents that much - but now that I think about it, maybe so. I remember that it was mostly John who we conferred with about it. He was the one who gave us final permission. The canoe John built was not designed to be used out in the open ocean and was not particularly sea-worthy. It was heavy with the front end laying pretty low in the water. It had 2 air sections, one in the front and the other in the rear - but they were small and no telling if they were water tight. The picture here shows Chuck, Dory and myself preparing for the trip. But on second look, are we old enough to embark on such an adventure? Do I look 11 or 12? If so, mon dieu! We are so young looking. Speaking for myself, I felt that we could do it. We had spent a lot of time in the boat paddling around that summer and had built some strength. But I didn't want to linger out there. The plan was to push off and paddle like hell until we got to the Island. I felt confident but aware of the dangers. I don't remember where we launched. It would make sense to use John Evans little cove but I am vaguely remembering that we launched from the general store wharf. Do I remember hugging the north side of the inlet. Do I remember it was a beautiful warm day? I took up the rear seat, Dory was in the middle and Chuck was up at the front. We rounded the lighthouse came out into the channel and I remember looking back to see John standing on the grass at Aguilar Point. He had his binoculars and was watching us closely. (Personally, if I were the parent, I would have been in a zodiac hovering just outside the inlet with my binoculars). The chit-chat on the boat involved a lot of wise old sage talk. The wise old sage was particularly interested in the spicy stuff, girlfriends and the like. Chuck and I were so blessed to have such wisdom on board. At first everything seemed fine but as we got further out into the open ocean the waves started to become a problem. Many of them were splashing over the front soaking Chuck. We took on a lot of water and I realized that it wouldn't take much of a wave to capsize us. I tried to let Dory and Chuck know that we should probably start putting our backs into the paddling. I remember seeing Chuck up there kind of dipping his paddle into the water but not really stroking. There was a bit of conversation to try to get everyone working together. We really were very vulnerable. We made it to the island without issue. I don't remember where we camped, or anything about the camping. The weather was no doubt fine. I do remember that on the trip back it felt like old hat. We didn't linger though.
The story of Ross's 3'rd grade pastel painting
Ross, Grant, Chuck and Oliver spent the last couple of months of the 1971 school year attending the Bamfield one-room schoolhouse located halfway on the north side of Mills Peninsula. Ross was in grade 3 and I was in grade 5, but really we were all being taught together pretty much. Many adventures ensued during that time. For instance, Grant fell in love with Valerie Dennis and Chuck a la mode fell in love with Stella <need a last name>. There also was the time we were walking to school and found an injured robin(or dove?). That story has a sad ending. Or the end of year dance party we had at Brady's Beach in which us boys acted badly (because the whole idea of dancing with girls was too much). That ended up with us in detention. Near the end of the year, the teachers gave us an art project to create a painting in pastels that had 2 requirements. It should be "imaginative" and the full paper must be covered in color. I drew a picture of a bear (or was it a gopher? It looks like a Teddy bear or Ewok) and Ross drew the picture of a Ptarmigan (?) shown here. Ross has informed me that the upward bend of the bird's beak is due to the first requirement. Ross had figured the picture was so lifelike that the beak needed to be bent to satisfy the imagination requirement. The solid blue on the left is due to the second requirement. Our pictures remained at the school and on the last day we were to take them home. The last day of school eventually came, but the plan for getting home was a little complicated. For some reason, maybe days before, we had paddled the John Evans home built fiberglass canoe to the wharf at Port Desire and put it on top of the shed in order to get it out of the way of grumpy natives. The plan was that we would take the school boat to Port Desire and paddle the canoe back to the General Store where we were living (Ross thinks we were living up Grappler inlet). The school boat dropped us off and proceeded to take the rest of the Johnson kids up to the head of Grappler. Meanwhile we started to figure out how we were going to get the canoe off the shed roof. By the time we had that figured out the school boat had already headed back to Bamfield. Clouds were beginning to form, the sky was darkening, a storm was moving in. There was a complication with getting the canoe off the shed. There were things attached to the shed that we had to traverse before we could set it down. The plan was to lift the canoe, get it over the stuff, then rotate it to get the hull facing downward. The canoe was very heavy, and Ross and I weren't that big. We managed to get the canoe free of the shed, but when we tried to rotate it we lost our grip and the boat came down hull first onto the wharf with a bang. Unfortunately, there was a large nail poking straight up from one of the wharf boards which went right through the hull of the canoe poking a hole about an inch or two in diameter. We stood staring at the hole for a moment or two and my mind was racing trying to figure out how we were going to get home now that the canoe was done. (It didn't occur to me to ask the natives at Port Desire). Then I realized that since the hole was up near the front of the canoe, Ross and I could sit on the bench at the aft of the boat and keep the front end above the water line. That was now the plan. With the storm moving in, it was now a race against time to get back home. We got the canoe into the water and it immediately started taking on water. We threw our paddles and school stuff (including our pastel paintings) into the canoe. I jumped in onto the aft bench and Ross jumped in right in front of me. We pushed off and started paddling - a little frantically, as it now started to sprinkle. The hole was barely above the water line. As we pushed through small waves water seeped in through the hole. The canoe was slowly and steadily filling up with water. My internal calculation was that we weren't going to make it and that this was a stupid idea. As was my inclination in those days, I remained calm. We scrunched back further towards the rear and paddled harder. My thinking was that we needed to go faster so that there would be less time for the boat to fill up with water. So we started paddling "like we had never paddled before". (That'll be easy, we've never paddled before). The rain started coming down in earnest and protecting our pastels became of paramount importance. With great perseverence we finally made it to the wharf at the general store. Mom was there worried sick about us. We were at least a couple of hours beyond the time she expected us home. I'm pretty sure she had no idea that we were going to paddle the canoe back to the general store. Mom was an artist, and she could appreciate fine art. It turned out that Ross's painting was highly valued. (Mine was conveniently forgotten). It was so highly valued that she had it framed and put it above the mantle in the "Den" at Wiltshire St. where it hung for over a decade. Today (2025/12/10) Ross informed me that he felt bad about how my art was not valued and his was. Bless his heart. The fact is that my art was not quirky at all and, thankfullly, I wasn't invested in it too much. But since it travelled so far with us, it should be appreciated for that. I would like to see it again.
Camp at Brady's Beach
Lots to love about this photo of our Camp on Brady's Beach. From foreground to background we have Ripple (really that big?), Sheila, Ross, Harold, Mom and Hannelore. Here are some details worth noting. There is a large frying pan hanging on the corner post of the tent. Mom is wearing her poncho looking young and hippie like. Hannelore is smoking and wearing an olive shell necklace. (There were many shells on the beaches in those days). Ross is wearing his figure skating sweater with the 2 badges on it. Someone likes Molson Canadian beer. I believe John is responsible for much of the shelf construction. The hatchet in the foreground I remember well. I bet it is still around somewhere in Bamfield. I know it was Mom who every summer wanted to just hang-out with the kids somewhere on the west coast all summer long. It didn't seem to phase her at all that she had 4 kids and a dog in tow - as it didn't seem to phase Hannelore with her additional 2 kids and 2 dogs. The kids just ran wild pretty much and I'm not sure that anyone was too worried about something bad happening to us. Nothing ever did ... well once with Hamish Jr on Okanagon lake ...
Ross, Mom, Dory, Oliver, Grant and Theodora musical band at Brady's Beach
Both Mom and Dad were excellent at coming up with ideas to keep us kids active while camping on Brady's Beach. Mom brought her guitar and I guess thought it would be fun to create a little band. From the left and going clockwise there is Ross playing two shells. Mom playing the guitar. Dory playing a string bass built out of a coke box, stick and rope. Oliver, me and Theodora Brinkman playing the upside down pots. Ross is wearing his figure skating sweater with two figure skating badges on it. Mom enrolled both Ross and I in figure skating class at Kerrisdale arena. I remember an end of year performance we did with homemade costumes. I was certainly not a good figure skater and have no idea if Ross could do any of the figures we were meant to learn. Dory is looking like the complete rag-a-muffin. She's wearing a sweater many sizes too large and her hair is as bedraggled as hair can get. The tent I believe is Paw's. It was a six person heavy canvas tent. There's writing on the front, but I can't make it out. Interesting that you can't see anyone's face except for part of mine. John loved to take candid photos. As I remember, John and Dad were not always there as they had to work. When they were there, they were there at the same time. I imagine the dates of these Brady's beach photos could get pinned down further if we could figure out when Dad and John were there.
Dad, Oliver, Chuck and Ross cooking shellfish on Brady's Beach
Is this Brady's beach? Or Keah Bay? Or? Grandad Allen told Mon and Dad about a wonderful beach on the Bamfield peninsula. Somehow it got into the minds of our somewhat young and bohemian parents that it would be a good idea to spend the entire summer camped on that beach. That first journey to Bamfield was epic. The Cameron family piled into the Chevy Acadian station wagon, and the Evans family piled into their station wagon (make and model escapes me now) and we blindly ventured forth from Port Alberni on the weather worn logging road to Bamfield. More vignettes should be told of this adventure, but will leave it there for now. In this photo we can see Dad showing the boys (left to right: Oliver, Chuck and Ross) how to cook shellfish. John Evans is no doubt taking the photo, and I am probably somewhere nearby. I always had a problem with this sort of thing because it involved inflicting pain on living things - maybe that's why I'm not in the photo.
Dad's Visit to New York circa 1987
Hamish Jr. sent me this photo along with a number of other items of Dad's stuff. Since Dad had it in his possession, and I have never seen it before, it must be Dad who took the picture during his visit, probably in November of 1987. We had obviously gone on a day trip up to Bear Mountain in the Vanagon. We are lying in front of the Bear Mountain ranger station. At the time, we were living in New City NY in the stone cottage on South Mountain Road on the northern edge of New City. The houses along that road were built by the artists and beatniks of the time (1930's - 1950's?). The house next to ours was owned by Bertold Brecht for instance. I have looked for the stone cottage on Google Earth but couldn't find it. Hollis was 2 and Lovage 5. This photo captures how happy I was with the kids - and how much I hoped we could be happy as a family. There were periods where Sally also was quite content, maybe that's the case here. Dad visited for a three, possibly four days. Since the house was so isolated, we had many meals together in our small dining nook and spent a lot of time outside walking in the woods and playing. Although Hollis was only 2 years and a few months, he was riding his 3 wheeled trike down our pot-holed driveway at breakneck speed. To dodge the pot-holes he would go up on 2 wheels. Lovage and I built a jungle gym out of local logs in the big front yard. There are many memories from that time that will require more vignettes. The story of our little nuclear family is long and difficult, but I hope telling it here slowly over a number of vignettes can help us all heal.
Grant at the Piano in the "Den" at Wiltshire St
This photo, taken by John Evans, encapsulates so much of my teenage years but also has Mom written all over it as well. John took the photo facing south standing near the entrance to the room. Mom's Steinway upright piano is on the west wall, but in other incarnations it could be found on the north wall. You can see Mom's guitar leaning up against the curtains. Those were the curtains that Mom turned into a dress, by which, she met Tyson Ba(nan)ighen. Is that a cat curled up on the radiator cover? Behind me is the east side of the house where there are 2 windows framing a fireplace. Above the fireplace hung Ross's pastel that he created while at the Bamfield school. There is a story behind that painting which is a whole other vignette. The room looks spare to me and I am wondering if this was the period when it became my room. I spent a lot of time playing the piano free-form - too lazy to really work on learning piano pieces. Notably, I have big bags under my eyes. What is that about? My hair is really crazy, a lot like Hollis's was so much of his life. Maybe even crazier than his! It's difficult to place my age but likely to be 16 or 17(?). The curtains are wide open, I can see leaves on the bushes, I'm wearing t-shirt and jeans (pretty much what I am wearing now), so probably not winter. Is it summer? I feel like the photo catches the real Grant. The Mona Lisa smile and facial expression is so interesting. I am smiling, but just the slightest hint. Is this how I would look at John Evans while he was taking my picture? Seems unlikely. I'm pensive, possibly melancholic (which I was much of the time). If this is the summer of 1976 I was really going through a lot of stuff.
Thanksgiving 2025
Colin's third Thanksgiving and we had close family around for dinner while we listened to music.
Colin and Grampa’s first zoo trip together
Colin has turned into such a little boy, especially after his first hair cut. I have never experienced such a young active mind. Maybe other kids have active minds, but just can't express themselves as well. He is so excited about life and all the new things to see and do. He's so excited about running! He likes to feel the air come out of his ears when running or on the swing. I've learned that I can talk to him about topics in depth and a good amount stays in that brain of his. He loves to get rambunctious at this age. Rough housing with his Grampa. While at the zoo, we stopped at a stand that was selling the bubble machines. He was torn between the pink unicorn and the green dino. Ultimately the green dino won out - but it was close! He really touches my heart.
Photo upload test on mobile
I'll delete this post.
Talking to my son about Vingettes
Coincidentally, right when I was about to send Hollis a pic of this beautiful old Land Cruiser, he called me. He called me because he was working from the back of his Land Cruiser looking out over the beautiful ocean at Point Loma and wanted to share that with me. Also he has recently been thinking about meaning in his life which reminded him of this idea for a web app I had (Vignettes). He put it together with AI in an hour and it's awesome! I didn't think this dream would come true - but thanks to AI and my son, it has. I think the coincidence tells us this was meant to be. So off we go on this new adventure together.