Los Altos, California
Christmas part 2 with the Lillys followed by a wonderful dinner party with the Fruens in El Cerrito.
Along with Mark, Christine, Jared, Joe, Helen, and their dog Nico, Erin, Jonah, and I slept over at Bernard and Liz’s so that we could awake for Christmas part 2. Jonah was again very excited about the prospect of eating wrapping paper and ribbons. (We let him use the ribbons to floss his teeth, a project he happily spent the morning on.) After the presents and breakfast, some went for a walk. Jonah and I went for a nap.
In the late afternoon, we drove up to the George and Mimi Fruens’ in El Cerrito. They have a marvellous view overlooking the San Francisco Bay, and the recent rain storms having cleared the area’s typically hazy, we were treated tonight to an incomparable look at the lights of the City.
It’d been two years since we visited George and Mimi’s lovely home and met with them and their kids. (“Kids” being a relatively term; their youngest, Kelsey, is a college graduate.) I spoke at length with both their daughter Christine, a career counselor for folks on the low end of the economic totem pole, and her husband Tim, an anesthesiologist in residency at UCSF. I also spent considerable time hanging out with Jonah as we watched California win the Insight.com bowl 52-49 over West Virgina in the final seconds, but it’s not like we didn’t hand him around. He’s a popular little crowd pleaser when he’s not too tired.
Great food, great conversation, great fun. Our grateful thanks to George and Mimi!