Those Golden Hills

Drawing to a close on yet another day. I looked out my window and once again saw the sun blazing against the hills across the valley and felt I had to capture this image. It’s a shade muted, but that’s just a combination of the cool weather and my very old 5 megapixel camera. If it were an oil painting, the soft illusion in the details would work quite well.

It’s been very cold today, probably not much more than 48 degrees all day, even though the sun came out for a few minutes here and there. The late afternoon fog has begun to roll in and that brings even more cold and dampness. The next door neighbor hired a tree service to trim out her tree. The company’s owner lives around the corner from us and every time we go by his house to get to ours we think about stopping to ask for a quote to remove the mistletoe from our Oak trees. Seeing that it was indeed the neighbor, I quickly ran next door to ask them to stop by and give us an estimate when they finished with their work there. I also asked them to be careful which branches they cut on the tree as that was Carl’s ‘highway’ entrance to the upstairs deck. The guy laughed and said he was keeping Carl in mind and that Claudia had showed him which branches Carl uses so all would be good when they were done. I laughed and said I’d see him when he finished up. Shortly thereafter, he came over and DH walked with him down to the back yard. It was far too cold for me to stand outside — besides, they didn’t need me there to discuss the price of cutting mistletoe. I watched DH and the guy talking, DH gesturing, both of them laughing, and suddenly DH turned around and gave me a hand signal for the price and I gave him a thumbs up. We’re getting the mistletoe in our trees trimmed out!! 😉 Whoo hoo… He’ll be back in a couple of days to do the job. As I handed him one of our calling cards, he brightened and said that he’d had the same business card design when he was 17 years old and had his first business. Amazing… nice connection. Thanks, Vista Print

I got quite a bit of sewing done last night and today. My sister’s quilt is slowly but surely coming together. I’ll be putting it to batting and backing as early as next week.

We had an excellent day yesterday with visits from some dear friends who came from far and wide to bring a new friend to meet us. One friend, Karl J., had flown in to LA from Chicago, IL, where he’s employed by UP as a Conductor. Karl was picked up by our dear friend, Don T., who lives a short distance from Cajon Pass. They brought with them a young railfan, Robert A., who lives in Orange County for now, but who has just been hired on by BNSF as a conductor. Robert starts his railroad career this coming Sunday. I told him about our other friend with the same name. Robert A., who sadly passed away a couple of years ago, but who was also employed by BNSF. He was the Operation Lifesaver Rep. for BNSF and attended almost all of the Tehachapi Depot Railroad Museum’s events.

We met at the Depot where DH and his fellow volunteers were working on restoration of the newly acquired two story, double light signal. UP has been removing all of the standard signals between Bakersfield and Mojave and we were fortunate to be able to get the one that was installed close to the UP yard, just a half-block away from the Depot. It’s a nice addition to our Railroad Signal Garden.

DH, Fred M., and Doug P. checking out the newest addition to the Depot’s Railroad Signal Garden.

Paint scrapers in hand, DH and the rest of today’s crew inspect the inside and outside of the box.

Fred M. and Robert B. are happily working away at restoring this ‘new to us’ signal.

The Depot will be holding its "Fun Day at the Depot" event on June 15, 2013. I hope this new signal is painted and the lights installed on it before then. This new signal is special because it’s a two story box with a double search light configuration. We didn’t have one until now, so it’s a welcome addition to our inventory of signals.

Not much else to report for now so I’ll close with blessings to all. Be safe, be well and please be happy. Be sure to tell those you love that you love them. Enjoy each day as it comes … some are better than others, but assuredly, they are all special.