8th Annual RLEHS Car Show & Swap Meet

Held at the Dry Creek Ranch House.  About 70 cars participated.

Tom Ray, left, was in charge of the car show and swap meet.

ECHO - Elder Craftsmen Helping Others - a very active organization in Rio Linda, all volunteer with all proceeds from sales going to local charities.

Mike Grandinetti promoting a relatively new local volunteer organization.  We now haves miles and miles of new bike and horse trails in our community, many volunteers are needed to keep it looking nice.

Bob Bastian, president of RLEHS, with a local high school student who was taught how to prune the roses at the ranch house, she knows all the names of the various varieties of on sight.

Coffee klatch

Aka a kaffeeklatsch -a casual social gathering for coffee and conversation - and that's exactly what Adrienne, Linda and I had this morning. Fun!

Work work work

This week, CELDT testing began in Twin Rivers Unified School District. CELDT = California English Language Development Test.  "Students in kindergarten through grade twelve whose home language is not English are required by law to take an English skills test ... This test helps schools identify students who need to improve their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English." (from the official website)

Because the speaking part of the test must be given individually, the district hires retired teachers to administer that section.  I'm on a team of 4 people who are assigned to Rio Linda High School and all its feeder schools.  There are 7500 students in TRUSD to be tested, 45 different languages although Spanish is the most prevalent.  We finished two schools this week.

I graduated from Rio Linda High School in 1966, my class was the first to attend all 4 years before graduating.

I am really enjoying working and glad for this opportunity.  

A surprise

I went over to Dave and Phyl's this afternoon, except that Phyl wasn't there because she was on an Alaskan cruise this week.  With our second beer in hand, we went for a walk around the the yard.

Hens and chicks gone wild.

And then into his cavernous workshop filled with his latest woodworking project.

Through the next door, there was much to see, lots of storage space, and then ...

a hidey-hole place to sit and maybe smoke a cigar.

I started to look around more carefully and began to see notices posted,

neon lights, stacks of hats, neatly folded flags,

a superhero saying a lion,

a warning,

rubber-band weapons ... all kinds of treasures tucked into obvious and obscure places.

On the way out, Dave said, "Oh, I've been meaning to give this to you." A traditional quilt rack made from old-growth redwood, no nails but rather mortise and tenon joints with a wooden pin. The redwood came from an old barn that used to be on the property which dates back to 1929 or the early 30s. It is beautiful. (I'll post a picture of it again, once it's found its place in the house.)

What a surprise! Thanks so much Dave.

Sophia: first day of school

Sophia started school today at St Ignatius:

Later in the week, Sophia showed me what she will look like when she sleeps at night wearing her sleeping mask. Her older cousin Lauren wears one every night, and now so will Sophia.

Sunday Social

This afternoon, the Rio Linda - Elverta Historical Society held its monthly Sunday Social at the Dry Creek Ranch House.

This month: an ice cream social

and guest speaker, Harvey Woo, recently appointed to lead the Twin Rivers Unified School District Police Department.

President Bob Bastian.

Aloha

Goodbye Captain Dick. This morning Dick began his journey back to the boat in Kauai. He will spend time in Palo Alto and San Francisco, before his flight on Tuesday morning.

Dinner in Dixon

We went to dinner at Dick's brother's house. I didn't get a single good picture of Tom or Kevin - darn. Dick is talking to Ann, Julie's mother who lives nearby.

Julie and Murphy.

I came home with 3 bags of seeds from their maturing garden, including nicotiana.

Thanks TJCKS+A. Dinner was delicious and your timing was perfect. Dick leaves tomorrow to make his way back to the boat.

Kellen: first day of school

No first-day jitters here. Kellen was ready and excited.

The bell rings. Mrs. Rogone greets everyone.

And he went right to work.  Good start!

Safe Routes to School: Day 2

I parked my bike at the free bike valet.

Elle was a member of my LCI training classes. At the conference, she was part of a team

promoting Kidical Mass - Mixing children, grown-ups, and bicycles together.

There was all manner of kid-toting styles, some behind the bike and a few in the front.

A 3-mile ride through downtown.

My tour began after lunch. A group of about 30 people walked to the Amtrak station for a short ride to the Bicycling Capital of the USA, Davis.

This 14-mile riding tour explored the programs and infrastructure of Davis. Those who didn't bring their own bicycles, had rental bikes waiting for them at the Davis Amtrak station.

The director of UCD's transportation department told us about how 20,000 bicycles/day are managed within a student population of 33,000 students.

A relatively new community, UCDavis Village West is "the largest planned zero net energy community in the United States."

Here, the City of Davis bought then tore down a house to create this bike path, a vital connector between communities.

This conference was great and I appreciate very much NNTMA's sponsorship.