2020

MERRY CHRISTMAS  2020                              from Tommy and Susi

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard more about C-19 and elections than you want to hear. Depending on where you live and your point of view, it has probably been somewhere between terrifying and whimsical depending on your age and how warped your sense of humor is. The kids are in the safe age zone. Susi never passed age 21 because she sees no need for it and I’m too damn old to worry.

For us, 2020 did start with a bang, a HUGE BANG!! One morning in January we thought that a big oak tree had fallen into the house. No. All trees were standing tall. Turned out that one of the glass shower doors in the guest bathroom had exploded—all on its own. When 60 lb. of tiny safety glass particles plus chrome towel bars hit the floor, you better believe it rocks the house. The Banks Glass Company dudes who removed the remains said they had heard of this happening but, none of them in all their years in business, had ever seen it. Lucky us! Melissa said, “Fantastic, Dad. Now you have something to do with that new Shop-Vac Mom gave you for Christmas.” We now have a non-exploding shower curtain in its place. We figured that would probably be the wildest event of the year. Little did we know!!!

In May, Melissa turned into a devil— a full-fledged Sun Devil. She graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University with a BA in Organizational Leadership. There was no graduation ceremony  but we do have a little text-video of her in cap and gown, changing the tassel from right to left, running down the steps of her house and throwing her cap in the air. We’re very proud of her. She still works for Harley-Davidson but her office is now in her house. The printing shop where Matt worked closed because of C-19. Later, his former boss asked him to come to work at Anixter, a global distributer of electrical and electronic equipment. Sue and Don are able to do some of their work from home and John and family who live in beautiful Lake Arrowhead live a few steps from his office. Dennis drives monster trucks that normally haul trade shows and movie shoots but, since those things are now non-existent, he has been, working day and night, hauling general freight and he’s not thrilled about that. The kids are a little gun-shy about coming here because we always con them into hours doing heavy yard work or trying to teach us, with limited success, how the damn computer and other electronic stuff work.

This morning, Susi was busy making my favorite dessert, Dutch Apple Pie as made by the early German settlers in Pennsylvania. She had run out of flour in her big glass pantry jug and I was helping her refill it from the 5 lb. store bag. In the process I managed to spill a little of it on the kitchen counter. “Don’t try to clean it up with your sponge,” I told her. “I’ll get my vacuum.” I ran to get the vacuum. Susi, having had experience with how some of my helpful kitchen ideas turn out, said with a wry grin, “Please be careful. Don’t put the hose on the blower end.”  Is that rude or what?

It’s been a hard year for the local merchants, restaurants and the theatres. A beautiful production of Camelot at Sierra Repertory Theatre barely got open before they were closed down. While a new Wendy’s had Drive-thru cars lined clear up the main road for several months, dine-in restaurants had to deal with ever changing and conflicting edicts on how to carry on business. That made dining in, like we often do, a real adventure. Eventually, some were able to provide dining in by dining out on the sidewalk—if they had one. Diamondback expanded to an adjacent alleyway, El Jardin has an outside patio but also set up tables on the porch of the next door realty office. Woods Creek Café expanded and contracted tables on demand in their patio and parking lot. Perko’s, nerve center of Sonora, using 1” PVC pipe frames wrapped with plastic, made temporary extensions to the booth dividers so it was like dining in a Saran Wrap house. Later, they moved outside in an open sided tent with misters to cool us on those 100+ degree days. But, during that time, we saw many glorious sunsets that we would have missed if we had been inside. We did return to the Saran Wrap house but it wasn’t too long until we were again in the tent, now with side curtains and propane heaters. The exciting part of eating outside at Perko’s is that their parking slants a bit. Some tables are on enough of a slant that it’s like watching a Laurel and Hardy movie as people try to cut their pork chop while the platter repeatedly sails off the slippery plastic table. Since I had experience trying to eat from a metal tray on a metal table while cruising on a rolling Army ship crossing the Pacific, I instantly grabbed a napkin, slopped a little water on it and set my plate on top. No more slipping. Thereafter, Perko’s people left extra napkins on those tables with free advice on how to stop the runaway plates.  It’s always an adventure at Perko’s. Yes, we know it’s officially been called Barrow’s Café for over a year but it’s still the same fun world of John and Freda Barrows.

Melissa is starting a Blog. A BLOG!  Do you know what that is? Susi and I didn’t know. Anyway, we’re learning about what a Blog is. By the time you read this, it will be getting started and it will include stories written by Melissa about things that she remembers relating to her crazy parents. Susi and I will write or tell stories about railroading, theatre and other stuff. If you want to see how this goes, Google The Naked Railroader—Is My Caboose Showing?  After an introduction by Melissa, I tell you about how I got started on the railroad. If you want to know why Melissa picked this title, that story will appear soon. 

The powers that be seem to sense that we peasants are having way too much fun with C-19, elections, protests and homeless problems so they periodically float a little zinger out to see how we’ll handle it. One they especially like is to cut the power off for great areas of the state, supposedly to prevent wild fires. Other states don’t grow trees and bushes under power lines—they clear cut stuff that burns so they don’t have fires. Be that as it may, since we usually camped out on vacations, during power outs, we just put basics in the ice chest and never open the fridge. We get out candles and matches and have romantic candle-light dinners at home. Our cars are full of gas and we have a bit of cash since gas pumps and teller machines don’t work. Thank God we can’t accidently turn on the TV which, except for TCM, is usually a mistake. Perko’s has a big generator and they still feed the Sonora masses during these fun times. 

We took three short trips that, for some odd reason, ended up in Morro Bay no matter how feeble the original excuse was for the trip. In June, since M & M would celebrate their 4^th anniversary while we were driving home from SoCal, we sent them money to have a dinner night out in Reno with a note that joked, “Sorry we won’t be with you. If you want use the money for gas and motel, we’ll take you to dinner in Morro Bay.” They answered, “We’d love to but it’s way too many miles for an overnight trip.” As we walked into The Galley, for our 5.00PM reservation, two pairs of feet followed us right in and we found out why Melissa’s phone texts were interested in our progress on the road and what time we expected to eat dinner. In October, Sue and Don joined us in Morro Bay which was a lot of fun and they took us to two dinners for my birthday. In October, we headed over the hill to Reno to see the Halloween decorations on their house and to celebrate Melissa’s birthday.  Dennis came up for a couple of days and decided to stay longer to share our Thanksgiving dinner making it a special treat.

People here love a parade—any parade—any feeble excuse for a parade!  Local folks have pretty much gone along with masks, six feet, wash hands, etc., but telling them You Can’t Have The Christmas Parade was like telling a Texan that they’re tearing down the Alamo to build a new sewer plant. Friday after Thanksgiving about 5.30, Susi and I were walking along our main street (Highway 49), which was busy with vehicles and log trucks. A lot of people were out shopping and restaurants were serving on the sidewalks.  A lone Police car inconspicuously cruised Northward amongst the slow moving traffic, seemingly oblivious to the fact that, several cars behind it, was a Jeep with a live Santa, followed by a line of big trucks, little trucks, pickup trucks (some with blowup Santas or snowmen), motorcycles, Jeeps and antique cars. All were aglow with Christmas lights. Travelers on Highway 49 were surprised to realize that they were part of a parade. Santa’s Jeep circled near the Red Church, leading the entourage back through town making the parade going both ways at the same time. Along the curb, people wore masks, stayed in their parked vehicles or in small family groups with the kids bundled up in the back of their pick-up. A police car sat at the downtown traffic signal to make sure that people obeyed the signal. We heard a lot of people exchanging the words “Merry Christmas” It was beautiful and everyone had a wonderful time. The people, especially the kids, needed that this year.

Well, it has been a year to remember.  Our family has been lucky and blessed; we hope that yours has been too.  Merry  Christmas.