A day in the Park and Garlic Naan

Found myself with some time this week and as the gods deemed the wife and I would not be able to do anything on St Hallmarks Day we chose to celebrate the occasion the day after. Being we both love the outdoors we decided to visit a local park right here in our own OC backyard at the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park conveniently located just off of Laguna Canyon Road aka the 133.

Backpack, bottled water, and cell phone in tow we set out to conquer some of the many trails offered at the park finally settling on a loop featuring the Little Sycamore Canyon Trail to the Serrano Ridge Trail to the Camarillo Canyon Trail to the Stagecoach South Trail which totaled roughly 4.5 miles or 7.2 Kilometers for you metric lovers.

There were a handful of cars in the lot as we paid our 3 bucks and went to the nature center and park headquarters to sign in. The nature center had pictures of bobcats, deer, and racoons that were caught on some of the sensor cameras that are strategically located around the park and while I would have been amazed to see something like that on the trail I was filled with doubt.

We set off on a brisk pace as the somewhat cloudy sky occasionally parted to let in a few rays of sunshine shine upon our faces. I was glad I left my jacket in the car as the temperature was perfect neither too hot or too cold. As we walked North away from the nature center the only thing that was a perfect tease walking into the so called Wilderness was the din of traffic and the few skyscrapers the dotted the horizon of Irvine's Business District.

The path itself had its shares of climbs and descents and some parts had clearly been damaged by the recent storms with exposed rock and the occasional open trench that presented itself in the middle of the trail on some of the steepest parts of the hike. I couldn't help but think a bit of Bear Grylls in my head talking about the dangers of twisting an ankle or falling down a precipice. Some holes in the rock face to the opposite side of us had some holes and cave like openings to which I could visualize Bear making shelter and starting a fire and giving the “fire boost morale” speech that he gives every episode. Once again that might have been much more applicable if not for the visibility of the Tustin Hangers and the Big Orange Balloon at the always soon to be developed Great Park.

As we continued the trail, we both commented on the large amount of animal scat on the trail. It was unmistakable to see the clear outline of dung that had dissipated into wafts of gray fur which I attributed to the hair of a rabbit or squirrel or whatever meal the bobcat or coyote had found that evening. We theorized why the animals preferred leaving their mark smack dab in the middle of the trail as opposed to some of the flat grassy almost alpine like meadows that dotted the trail at random intervals.

Making our way up and down and all around the series of switchbacks we were a bit surprised to see we were already 90 minutes into our trek. I was perspiring a bit and certainly glad it wasn't any warmer as making this hike in the heat would certainly have made for a more challenging hike only taken on by experienced hikers....of which I'm not.

We did manage to see some beautiful wildflowers that grew amongst the cacti and other assorted flora that vibrant color stood out amungst the otherwise alpine colors and hues that made up the majority of the hike visually.

We hit the Camarillo Trail and I was revealed as it was flat and I assumed the home stretch back to the lot. But my hopes were dashed as the final signpost to nature center had us making one more climb and descent and 30 or so more minutes of hiking before making it back to the car. Nothing is ever easy.
Seeing we had some time left we decided to get a bite to eat and after reading several reviews of the Indian Buffett Anapoorna in Irvine went to try it out. There was a line out front which made me think initially it might be a long wait, too long actually as we only had about 45 minutes before picking up our youngest son from Preschool. But alas we only waited about 10 minutes before being seated.

I can say it was easily the best indian food Ive ever had and judging by the amount of Indians eating lunch there as well this wasn't a whitened up caucasionized indian experience but the real McCoy. I was impressed with the number of offerings...the hot line probably had 12 different items including goat curry, panak paneer, and a few other offerings I eat at Indian Food places but either cant remember the name or spell it. The deserts was awesome as well...Mango Pudding, Carrot Pudding, and Gulab Jaman were all available with the wife and I both debating on which was best. The Wife commented that the Gulab Jaman was the best she ever had as it wasn't nearly as sweet as other versions of the dish we've had at other Indian Places. Best part was Monday and Tuesday's are discount lunch days with the buffet costing only 6.99 a person. Quite a bargain....and quite a day!

Prime Rib Christmas

Some Christmas pics as well as some pics of a wonderful meal I did tonight.
I made a prime rib roast for Christmas Eve and tonight used the leftovers to get a little creative and bust out the old chef skills.

Another Short Story....The Last Hot View

Wrote this the other day for no particular reason although I have been reading some of Hemingways Short Stories which maybe inspired me. In particular this one...

http://records.viu.ca/~lanes/english/hemngway/vershort.htm

Anyhow, for your reading pleasure or torment depending on how you look at it I present....

The Last Hot View

The skyline was amazing. It was at once jawdropping yet at the same time belittling. Hundreds of miles of vistas and buttes ringing life affirming at the same time demeaning, marginalizing, sucker punching the soul. The orange yellow hue of horizon harkening, begetting memories to the fall of leaves in northeastern autumn with their gradual changing of sepia that varied from leaf to leaf.

It was a grandiose type of view that empowers and enlivens the strong and disparages and mocks the weak. A view that makes a strong willed bull of man out to conquer the world and tell a smaller willed docile with the thoughts of “whats the point,why bother, whats the use.”

Looking out into the vastness of universe he felt the dry wind on his face. It was a hot, moisture sucking wind that took any detectable amount of emollient from the skin and instantly pulled it from the body, instantly dissipating it into the atmosphere. The sides of mouth showing the beginning stages of white chafe, crack, and peel adorned to the determined gaze of one who had seen at all yet at the same time nothing.

Looking down he kicked some top dirt with his boot, taking a mental note of how each sweep of boot over the dry top earth revealed a dark mineral rich sub soil as the upper layer of scorched terra was swept aside and formed small piles in the range of his gait.

He thought about using his new found method of earth scrape to leave a final parting message before his descent with several options coming to mind with thoughts ranging from personal and heartfelt, to astute and clever, to acerbic and biting, to ridiculous and cryptic shooting a wry smirk with thoughts of “Trix are for Kids, I told you I was sick, Lady GaGa Nation, We deem these rights to be self evident” as possible last final conveyed message.

Crouching down he ran the sand through his fingers and basked and bathed in the simple nuances of temperature and texture sand falling to earth through fingers and how a few remaining granules stuck to his palm. Using a sweeping motion of his fingertips to remove the last bits of sand from palm in a smooth, stream lined motion.

Shaking his head in crouch, and looking up to see deep into the line of the horizon he realized it didn't matter now. The sure touch down pass he dropped in high school glory days, the wife and daughter he left in Amarillo, Robert and Luis over at Rileys Pub, the punch he threw at an overreaching, overzealous boss on the one of hundreds of job sites he worked on formerly-none of it mattered now.

The thigh muscle in his right leg went into a quick instinctive psuedo spasm as varied memories flashed at lightning speed each memory like a bb fired from a bazooka with each micro projectile putting a small chink into his guard and made his toes curl inside the suede work boot he was wearing.

He spat and took a few steps towards the side of the precipice, spitting one more time over the side and trying to count the seconds before he lost visual. He made note of how the large green gumballs affixed to the side of the canyon gradually became smaller as they made their way to the bottom of the canyon floor and how the yellowed zig zagging streak of trail looked haphazard in its creation. It lacked the orderly consistency of roads and highways which made him think that nature is indeed random. Summoning his inner Greek Philosopher he wondered why gods creations were generally a symphonic anarchy which created beauty while mans desire to create and build equated to a consistent, orderly path of towering gray monoliths.

He thought about things he would never feel again. The Warm bask of his mothers hug as child, the first sip of coffee on cold winters morn, the thick secure constriction offered by a new pair of socks, the crash of waves, the smell of wet hay, the texture of carpet, the spicy burn of jalapenos, the sound of a saxophone, the smooth metal frame of his red Schwinn.

He looked back and saw his champagne colored car off in the distance with the headlights still beaming like 2 piercing eyes albeit not as bright as they did an hour earlier, noting he probably should have given his cd collection and the coins in his ashtray to the homeless guy off of Bryant avenue he passed on the drive up.

Taking one more step to the last, final patch of earth before gravity reared its ugly head, he took a deep breath and one more step terra firma free where the free fall decent and rushing of air up across his body gave him a sensation not too unlike a large drop on a roller coaster or plunge down a waterfall while rafting. The rushing air filled his shirt and jacket with a slight parachute effect though not nearly enough to make a lick of difference at the end of the day. 

The Sides of the canyon wall started to blur with hues of greens and browns and his breathing became moments of short gasps of air along with bouts of just holding his breath entirely. There was no right, there was no wrong, there just.....was.

Thanksgiving Pics

Some pics for ya...

Me and My Prize Winning Bird

Here you can see some of the apricot stuffing and the herb bouquet.

Slicing and section of the bird....

I never realized how hairy my arms was until I saw this picture. I must have been italian in a former life. I have heard the phrase the hairy hidden hand of the White Man...now it makes total sense.

All of the kids enjoying their food!

Pan Pizza

Yum....

Sunday night is Roast Beef night

My beautiful wife requested I make some type of roast beef for dinner tonight and being the local supermarket was featuring 1/2 price cuts, I elected to prepare a Rump Roast. Nothing too elaborate-simply used some spices as a dry rub and found a recipe online that I gave a whirl. I went off the board though and when finished removed the roast and used the drippings to prepare a pseudo Au Jus with the drippings, Merlot, and some other odds and ends(lime juice, soy sauce, worcestershire.)

OC Japan Fest 2010

Had a chance to spend some time in Irvine on Saturday for the annual OC Japan Fest. It was pretty much all things japanese with food, art, music, anime, and dance. If not for the fact that it was 100 degrees it was a pretty nice way to spend the afternoon. As evidenced by the pics-this wasnt your mothers church festival by a long shot.

These two were very happy to pose for us. Funny thing was I am sure each of these ladies were at least 50 years old. Not sure what genre of anime they were aiming for but I can tell you this-first thing I do when I turn 50 is go out and start dressing like my favorite character from Sailor Moon. Then again maybe I'll go with a Simpsons motif and start emulating Groundskeeper Willie.

More fun with Kimonos. Not only were these two nice enough to pose but gave me a complimentary container of Tofu. Not that the Japanese style hospitality I have come to know and love is a bad thing but instead of Tofu couldn't have it been Sapporo and Kobe Beef?

Bumped into another fellow LA Kings fan....had to take a pic. Stay with me though it gets better-I promise.

The festival had a lot of people dressed in their favorite anime garb and most were more the happy to pose for pictures. I'm thinking of incorporating the white parasol into my daily wardrobe. I told these folk that if they wanted me to send them this pic to their email I would so they could tell there friends "You wont believe what this guy was wearing in public."

Nothing like taking some pics with 2 smoking hot models, my youngest son, and a harley. For the record this is the part of this blog entry where it officially has gotten better.

One of the previously mentioned works of art by Kurosawa. I knew his movies are legendary but didn't know the old man can draw. He is pretty good but clearly has a bow and arrow fetish. Hes not as good as my father in law when it comes to drawing but then again my father in law prefers landscapes and portraits of my kids.

A festival just wouldn't be a festival without a performance by the Japanese Maids dance troupe. My sister in law asked if my wife would dress like this for me...I told her Id be lucky just to get her to wear the stockings. Come to think of it...Id be lucky to see her hold a pair of the stockings.

All in all a fun way to spend a bit of time and probably would have spent much more time there if not for the 100 degree weather. Trust me-it was hot and the fact it was held on a parking lot instead of a nice grassy meadow for instance meant the asphalt was at least 110 degrees. On that same note-Im already making plans for next years event thinking I will dress like Spock just the heck of it.