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BITS AND PIECES - 08/24/2008
(by Howard Ball - OpEd Columnist - August 27, 2008)
Jersey’s still the best
Hello from Tustin, California. I am sitting at son Guy’s kitchen table trying to figure how to tell you about this trip. When they call this la la land they are correct. When our Continental flight was landing, the pilot came on the squawker and told us he liked to land at John Wayne Airport because you swoop down over the Saddleback Mountains and land on a short runway. He said we would notice a little more braking than normal but we would land safely. I was glad I had my Bible on my lap. The brakes screeched and we arrived in Orange County 25 minutes early.
Dear reader, you may recall I consider California tomatoes no more than petrified red pool balls. To my surprise my daughter-in-law Linda made me a sandwich from a tomato from her mom’s garden. Believe it or not, it was sweet and juicy and not like the hockey pucks you get in the supermarket. That proves that love and tender care can make a great product.
This part of the country is still in the throes of what we like to call progress. Most of the territory is fenced in with garages and low slung homes on the other side but there are towering apartments all along the highway and through the town. It costs a couple thousand a month to reside in one of the colossus. There are, of course, many one-family dwellings and garden apartments, but the towers dominate the horizon.
We visited one of my favorite spots at Laguna Beach and followed the Coast Highway from Laguna to Newport Beach. The scenery is breathtaking and the traffic is too.
One of my favorite spots in California is the Back Bay area at Newport Beach. I often imagine that John Wayne himself must have come here to see the many birds and the beautiful scene. In the midst of the cacophony that is Orange County, here is peace and quiet and tranquility. Even the tugboat and dredging barge move noiselessly across the water. God does make very special places and this is one. I am happy to learn that the state, county and city are preserving Back Bay and there is a bird and game preserve… If you do not look at the condos overlooking the bay, you are in God’s backyard.
Over in Laguna there is the Sawdust Art Festival, which had scores of artists and their ware displayed through the summer months. I love to see what these talented artists have produced.
By the time you read this, I will be back in the ole white house on Romain Avenue. You can bet I will have a Jersey tomato from my garden in a sandwich. I will take a big bite and remember the big tan boxer dog that licked my face on the Back Bay. I will smile and taste one of the best darn tomatoes in the world!
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