The rising full moon amid fluffy clouds in an otherwise clear night sky was an auspicious sign as we began planning our fall and winter camping season.  This occurred last Monday night as we celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival.  According to Wikipedia, this festival is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival and is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated especially by Chinese and Vietnamese people on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, always coinciding with a full moon.

This is a time when family and friends gather together outside under the full moon and share in festivities such as eating mooncakes, sipping wine, and hanging brightly lit lanterns.  Loved ones who can not be together on this night can still feel connected by looking up at the moon at the same time.

As is customary in Hong Kong, Larry suspended Chinese lanterns on bamboo poles from a high point, in this case, from the top of our pergola.

We feasted on Larry’s homemade pizza under the pergola and watched the festive lanterns dance in the cool night breeze as lights twinkled in Mexico and throughout the South Bay.

As mentioned in Wikipedia, this festival is strongly associated with the legend of Houyi, the Archer, and Chang’e, the Moon Goddess of Immortality.  This is illustrated in YouTube’s “Legend of Moon Festival“.

Much of the symbolism of this festival revolves around the shape of the full round moon, emphasizing unity, wholeness, completeness, togetherness, well-being and prosperity.  It is said that catching the reflection of the moon in one’s teacup, glass of wine, or bowl of water is a perfect moment.  More ways of celebrating the harvest moon are described by Eleanor here.

Another perfect moment occurred on this auspicious night with the blooming of our Nightblooming Cereus, Queen of the Night.

This festival is also called the Mooncake Festival because mooncakes are often prepared in the shape of the moon and are usually made from lotus seed paste and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs.  We celebrated with two types of Chinese bean paste pastries, winter melon and mung bean.

We continued to share this special night by my ongoing daily bedtime readings out loud of Harry Potter, currently Book 3, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The summer grains of sand kept on slipping into the bottom of the hourglass as we approached the dog days of summer and I finished my daily bedtime reading out loud of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling, and started her second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

I had already purchased the first four Harry Potter novels some years ago, and just prior to the opening of the latest (and presumably last) Harry Potter movie this summer, I bought the last three novels at Borders just in time before Borders began closing all of its stores.  We still have a Barnes & Noble bookstore in San Diego, but it seems that there are far fewer books stores now and many attribute this to discounters, online booksellers and electronic books.  There is no doubt that e-book readers, such as Kindle, are great devices for Airstreaming, since they are small, lightweight, and can “carry” hundreds of books.  I, however, prefer a book that can only be fully experienced and appreciated as an integral whole… its size and weight, the feel of its cover and pages, its images, its smell, as well as its content.

A good example of this is Wanderlust Limited Edition (#0704), Wanderlust – Airstream at 75, Russ Banham, Greenwich Publishing Group, Inc., Connecticut, 2005, with 192 glossy pages and a riveted aluminum slipcover measuring 10″x 12″… a stunning presence.  We were lured into getting our first Airstream trailer in part by beautiful Airstream-themed books and Airstream Life magazine.

I am currently a juror on a 3-week long case and each day I take with me Bill Moyers Journal – The Conversation Continues, which I read during breaks and the hour and a half lunch period.  I use my time clock attendance certification paper as a bookmark within its 594 pages.

The wit and weight of Mark Twain await me in the form of Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1, all 737 pages and 4 pounds worth.

I am especially intrigued by antique books such as The Works of Charles Dickens, Volumes VI, XI, and XIV, Thomas Nelson and Sons, London, Edinburgh, New York, 1901-1903… a fly was also curious.

At the beginning of Volume XI, Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, is a wonderful illustration of the character, Tom, talking to his sister, Louisa.

“… Tom went and leaned on the back of her chair, to contemplate the fire which so engrossed her, from her point of view, and see what he could make of it…  ‘Wondering again!’ said Tom.”  (page 56)

Wondering and wandering in books…

So, wouldn’t this be a good time for a piece of rhubarb pie, a steaming cup of hot coffee, and a Neverending Story.

Midsummer nights are here and on most evenings we can hear fireworks rumble from San Diego’s Seaport Village.  Our Airstream Safari quietly rested in its homeport under the midsummer stars as I took the dogs out for a late night break in the cool air of the backyard patio.

As I passed by hanging plants on one side, I noticed a sensual fragrance and, looking more closely, I noticed many large, white blooms of the Nightblooming Cereus, the Queen of the Night, had just fully opened.

This is a magical moment because these flowers bloom at night and wilt by dawn.  Their blossoms are enchantingly alluring.

Even the nearby and playful Green Man seemed to take notice.

Meanwhile across town, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 was playing.  Before I delve into this finale, I thought it best to read and understand the magic and character of Harry Potter, as written and developed by J. K. Rowling, author of the seven Harry Potter books.  So I have begun reading (out loud) each evening a chapter or so, beginning with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

During the day, we visited the first inaugural San Diego Ukulele Festival.

We went on Friday afternoon as booths were just being set up and performers were testing the sound equipment. Seen below is Ukulele Bartt, Bartt Warburton, animatedly singing and playing his ukulele like a wizard.  This 3-day festival at Liberty Station opened last Thursday with a concert by ukulele grand wizard, Jake Shimabukuro.

More information about the history of the ukulele and the ukulele – Airstream connection is found in my article, “Ukulele Strumming and Airstreaming.”

Ukuleles glowed in the warm afternoon sun.

We took in more magic Saturday by attending the San Diego Gay Pride Parade, where approximately 300 active and inactive military service-members marched for the first time.

Yes, wouldn’t this be a good time for a piece of rhubarb pie… and listen to Jake Shimabukuro perform his “Crazy G” encore.

Some say that at this time of year the veil between this world and the spiritual world is the thinnest and a good time to remember and honor those who have gone before us.  Many communities throughout the world, especially those with Roman Catholic heritage, have Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) observances and celebrations on November 2 in connection with All Souls’ Day.  Tucson has its All Souls Procession celebrating a diversity of cultures.

Pre-Christian origins of this holiday can be traced back to indigenous traditions of various cultures.  An Aztec festival was dedicated to Mictecacihuatl, Queen of the underworld, who is said to preside over contemporary Day of the Dead festivities and associated with the cult of Santa Muerte.  The Gaelic harvest festival of Samhain occurs on November 1, a time some believe that humans and spirits easily cross over from one world to the Otherworld.

Here in San Diego we delight in celebrating our rich multicultural tapestry.  Wonderful grocery stores such as Pancho Villa’s Farmer’s Market help provide a large selection of fresh, delicious and inexpensive items for our dinner table.  At this time of year we especially enjoy their freshly made tamales.

The tamales are made fresh daily and traditionally wrapped in cornhusks.

Also seen on the table is Earthtones “Day of the Dead” hand-painted decorative art tile made in Tucson.

Printed on the back of the tile are these words: “In a small town in Mexico one family begins preparations for an annual celebration.  El día de los Muertos, ‘The Day of the Dead’, to welcome the spirits of their loved ones home again.”

Also seen on our table is the traditional Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead), next to a dish with tamale de puerco (pork tamale) en pollo con mole verde (chicken in a green mole sauce).

Traditions connected with the holiday include the building of altars and providing offerings (ofrendas).   Día de los Muertos in Old Town San Diego will be celebrated with a presentation of over 30 altars, live music and skull painting, traditional bilingual poetry readings, festive restaurants, and a candlelight procession from the Whaley House to El Campo Santo cemetery.

Día de los Muertos at Hollywood Forever Cemetery is one of the biggest Day of the Dead festivals in Southern California.

If you have read my previous article, you know that I’ve been Barefootin’ about this summer in San Diego.  And if you have not read the 12+ comments to this post, you have not read the rest of this story.  But now summer is coming to a close and the June bugs are winding down their wild mating rituals.

And our pond water is now warm enough for Tasha’s first swim test.

Autumn is approaching, which means that it is time to prepare our 2007 Safari Airstream for our fall and winter camping season.  Last June I washed the trailer after our beach outing and noticed a few drops of water had entered the trailer near the forward Fan-Tastic Fan.  It’s possible that I had manually not closed the cover all the way, but I also noticed that there seemed to be a gap in some of the exterior caulking around the fan and other places on the roof.

I have used Acryl-R for a small leak from a seam on one of the Vista View windows and Parbond on the top seam of the stove exterior exhaust vent, but I had not caulked anything on the roof before, so I searched and found abundant information on this Airforums.com thread, Caulking and Sealants.  For caulking Airstream roof seams, Vulkem (now called TremPro) and Sikaflex seem to be recommended the most (both are polyurethane sealants).  Sikaflex is now used by Airstream, Inc. on most exterior large seams and is available from the Airstream Store.  I decided to try TremPro (Vulkem) 635 in white for the roof and ordered this, along with a tube of TremPro 636 in aluminum color, from C & G Trailer Service (Airstream Certified Service Center in Bellflower, California).  TremPro is also available from Vintage Trailer Supply.

TremPro is made by Tremco, a company first started by William C. Treuhaft in 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio.  TremPro 635 is faster curing than 636.  Note that I used a standard, manual caulking gun (unlike the air-powered one used by John, resulting in an exploding tube of caulk, as reported by Lug in his “I Am Vulkem Man” posting).

I followed the directions and made sure the caulking surfaces were clean and dry.  (Our 2007 trailer’s caulking is still pliant, intact and did not have to be removed.)  I cut the tip of the tube at an angle and punctured the inner foil several times with a wire hanger.  Larry held the ladder while I went topside and applied the product, smoothing it with my dry finger.  Paint thinner (mineral spirits) easily removed the product from my hands.  While I was up there, I also applied 303 Aerospace Protectant to the rubber seal around the Fan-Tastic Fan, which I apply annually here and on the window seals to protect them and keep them from sticking.

I repeated this process around the rear Fan-Tastic Fan and bathroom air vent.

Success… now our trailer is as happy as a dancing robot under the Harvest Moon (Caravan Palace)!

Deep in the hot Sonoran desert, the city of Hermosillo, nicknamed “The Sun City”, capital of the Mexican state of Sonora, is considered the legendary birthplace of the Sonoran-style Mexican hot dog.  Some trace the history of the hot dog back to Frankfurt, Germany, where pork sausages (frankfurters) were served in a bun.  Vienna, Austria, is the home of the wiener, a sausage made of a mixture of pork and beef.  Around 1870, German immigrant Charles Feltman began selling pork sausages in rolls on Coney Island.  In 1900 Oscar Mayer and his brothers built a thriving sausage business in Chicago.

Sometime after WWII, the American hot dog made its way to Hermosillo, where it was wrapped in bacon, placed in a bolillo, and topped with Mexican and traditional American condiments.  See the informative and entertaining YouTube video, “Hot Dogs Hermosillo Sonora“.  The Sonoran-style hot dog, also known as the estilo Sonora or estilo Hermosillo hot dog, eventually traveled 217 miles north to “The Old Pueblo”, Tucson, Arizona.  Hear or read the NPR story, “The Sonoran Hotdog Crosses The Border“.  Some say the Sonoran hot dog is the quintessential food of Tucson, which possibly has over 250 hot dog stands.  In summer locals especially enjoy street food at night.

I got excited about this story while recently watching the Travel Channel’s Man v. Food program segment, “The Sonoran Dog in Tucson“, which follows Adam Richman on his culinary quest for the authentic taste of Tucson, while visiting El Güero Canelo, an authentic Mexican restaurant started by the Contreras family in 1993 and listed as one of the “Top 10 New Places for Hot Dogs” by Bon Appétit.  Some say that Philadelphia has its cheese steak, Chicago has its deep-dish pizza, and Tucson has the Sonoran hot dog.

Earlier this year the Travel Channel returned to Tucson to cover the epic Sonoran hot dog battle that has been raging on 12th Avenue on the south side since the 1990′s.  See the Food Wars video of Travel Channel’s visit to the contenders: El Güero Canelo and BK Carne Asada & Hot Dogs.  Some people become quite passionate about the Sonoran hot dog.  This war sometimes pits siblings against siblings, which is covered here in the Circle of Food Blog.

Here in San Diego, the Sonoran Dog is sometimes called the Tijuana Dog or TJ style hot dog.  Since all of the ingredients for the Sonoran-style hot dog are readily available in San Diego, I thought it would be fun making my own, based, in part, on this recipe.  Fresh, whole-wheat bolillos and hot dogs were purchased at Pancho Villa Farmer’s Market.  I then prepared the toppings, including chopped onions, tomatoes, avocado and grated Cheddar cheese.

I mixed the mayonnaise with a small amount of lemon juice and hot sauce and placed it into a squeeze bottle.  I brought out the mustard and put Larry’s homemade sausa verde (tomatillo sauce) into a small bowl.  I wrapped the main ingredient, hot dogs, with bacon and carefully placed them in a frying pan…

and cooked them until the bacon was crispy (about 7 minutes).

We then spooned home-cooked Mayocoba/Canary Beans (Peruvian beans) and chopped avocado inside a pocket cut into the steamed or grilled bolillo.  The bacon-wrapped hot dog is inserted into the pocket and covered with our favorite toppings and hot sauce.

This top dog is truly a Sonoran fiesta in a bun!

Two years ago my “Sun safety” article discussed the importance of protecting our skin from the harmful effects of the sun by using protective clothing, sunglasses, and sunscreen.  I thought I had made a good choice in using a broad-spectrum UVA-UVB sunscreen, with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 30 or higher.  But now I am learning that there are many conflicting reports about the effectiveness and safety of sunscreen products.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its fourth annual “Sunscreen Guide” last month, which recommends only 39 out of 500 beach and sport sunscreens for this season.  According to EWG, many sunscreen products contain red-flag ingredients, like vitamin A (retinyl palmitate) and oxybenzone.  The sunscreen that I had been using contained oxybenzone 6% as an active ingredient, so I now use one of EWG’s top rated sunscreens.

Of course, the best sunscreen is a hat, shirt and a good pair of sunglasses, which I wore while doing our annual big wash and wax job on our trailer, upon our return from the beach last month.

The hat is Tilley’s broadest brim hat, the LTM2 Tilly Airflo Nylamtium Hat.  It is comfortable, lightweight, and comes with a tuck-away Wind Cord.  The white shirt is Silver Ridge II by Columbia Sportswear Company.  It is lightweight, comfortable and super-ventilated.  My extra-large SolarShield sunglasses are comfortable while providing Advanced UV Protection (and can fit over Rx glasses).  These items always travel with me when camping.

EWG points out that their “sunscreen database is dynamic, which means that the sunscreen ranking numbers may change based on evolving science, new information on UVA, UVB radiation and sunscreen ingredients, marketing conditions, or other factors.”  Light might be shed on the sunscreen controversy over the effectiveness and safety of sunscreen products if, and when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues sunscreen industry regulations, which they began drafting 32 years ago, according to The Huffington Post.  Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) has called upon the FDA to finalize sunscreen regulations.

One of the latest health concerns is the use of nanoparticles of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in sunscreen products, as discussed in the AOL News article, “More Bad News About Sunscreens: Nanoparticles“.  This further underscores the importance and need for the FDA to develop and publish new sunscreen guidelines and regulations.

In the meantime, here are some tips for smart sunscreen shopping.  Also, see this excellent YouTube video, “Go Green with Sunscreen“, for tips on staying safe in the sun.

Now I think I’m ready for those bright, sunshiny days!

Wildflowers are beginning to make their appearance in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and this year promises to be a great one because of the heavier then usual rainfall.  With a little luck, warmth and sun, the wildflower displays should be spectacular.  Although we did have one day of full sun last week in the desert, most days were partly sunny and cool breezes prevailed.

Our annual return for this event was even more special for us this time because we brought along a new member of the family, Tasha (short for Rosewood Montage), a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  We also brought along a new element for our setup, a dog pen (click on the above image for larger view).  Advantages of using a dog pen are noted below.

Tasha’s happy now, but when we returned home from our previous outing our local Corgi breeder, Liisa, told us that Tasha had just lost her first litter (via emergency C-section) and was depressed.  Liisa had to be out of town for a few days and asked us if we could house her, and if it worked out, we would also have an option to buy her, which we did upon Liisa’s return.  Tasha now brightens our days as we cope with the pending loss of our 15 year old Pug, Pau Hoa, who was diagnosed with a malignant mast cell tumor (She can be seen in the upper right corner of the above photo).

We all had a happy time walking in and around the wildflower displays in Palm Canyon Campground.

On Friday we loaded the Corgis into their carriers strapped to the back folded down seat of our F-250 truck (see Traveling and Pet Safety), positioned the Pug on a floor cushion under Larry’s legs and took off to visit the Farmers’ Market at the Borrego Springs Christmas Circle and enjoyed delicious tacos from Jilberto’s Taco Shop.  We then drove north on Borrego Springs Road exploring various parcels of the Galleta Meadows Estate displaying free-standing welded iron sculptures created by Ricardo Breceda.

One such sculpture is a depiction of Father Hermenegildo Tomás Garcés (April 13,1738 – July 19, 1781) accompanied by his dog holding a bone.

In 1768 Spanish Franciscan Garcés was assigned to Mission San Xavier del Bac near present day Tucson, Arizona.

He conducted extensive explorations of the Southwest and assisted Juan Bautista de Anza in establishing an overland connection with New Spain through the region of the lower Colorado River.

A sprinkling of wildflowers can be seen in the foreground, while snow is seen on the distant mountains in the background.

After visiting and photographing other sculptures (which will appear in my next article), we returned to camp.  Below is a photo of our dog pen.  We have discovered the benefits of dog pens in that they can provide a safe, secure, and shady place for our dogs and help us manage them during meal time.  In this photo Tasha is on a runner and has chosen to enter the pen to relax.  The pen is held in place with bungee cords attached to the table.

Bob and his wife, Theresa, joined us for a Chinese fire pot dinner.  Bob is our veterinarian and has a 30′ Classic Airstream.  Charcoal burns in the chimney of the fire pot/hot pot heating the soup and cooking the ingredients that guests place into the soup with a small wire basket.  Noodles can be added to the soup as a last course.

Tom Yum, a Thai kaffir lime chicken broth, was used as the soup and the following ingredients were provided: raw shrimp, sliced boneless skinless chicken thighs, cooked pork meat balls, bok choy, chopped cilantro, shredded Nori seaweed, and roasted peanuts.  Guests chose from a variety of condiment sauces.

A happy time was had by all…

But there’s no place like home.

I arrived early for my colonoscopy so I looked around the waiting area for something interesting to read and spotted the February 1, 2010 issue of Time magazine.  I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at a magazine that has a website that was featured in Steve Jobs’ Apple iPad keynote presentation.  What caught my attention while browsing this magazine was the image of what the author, Bryan Walsh, called foot gloves.¹  Bryan’s article on page 45, “Toe Huggers“, tells how going barefoot (or close to it) might be better for your body.

I have enjoyed going barefoot in the Airstream (and in the house for many years) and was fascinated to learn of the benefits of going barefoot.  The human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, ligaments, and sensory receptors.

According to Vibram (maker of FiveFingers), to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.  Stimulating the muscles in our feet and lower legs makes us stronger and healthier, while improving our balance, agility and proprioception. The wearing of shoes can impede proper alignment and movement within the ankle and foot.  “Shoes are bad”, says Adam Sternbergh in his article, “You Walk Wrong“, in the New York magazine.  He discusses the benefits of barefoot walking and presents a three-part guide on how to walk better.  He mentions that there are groups, such as the Society for Barefoot Living, which help people learn about barefoot walking and the “barefoot lifestyle.”

See the You Tube video, “The Barefoot Professor: by Nature Video“.  Harvard professor and runner, Daniel Lieberman, shows that barefoot runners tend to land on their fore-foot and generate less impact shock than runners in sports shoes who land heel first.  Barefoot running can be more comfortable and could minimize running-related injuries.  Interest in barefoot running jumped recently with Christopher McDougall‘s 2009 best seller, Born to Run, which follows Mexico’s Tarahumara Indians, who run long distances wearing thin rubber sandals or no shoes at all.  See Tarahumara: Pillars of the World.

But running and walking barefoot outside can lead to infections and injuries.  We routinely check every campsite for glass, nails, screws, and anything else that could puncture a tire before we back in the trailer.  So I became very interested in Vibram’s FiveFingers.  See Bryan Walsh demonstrate wearing and running in FiveFingers in the Time video, “Is Running Barefoot Better for You?“.  All of this made sense to me so I found Vibram FiveFingers KSO in my size locally.²  They can be ordered online, but, if this is your first time trying these, it is better to try them on in the store to insure a proper fit.

Read the review in Seattle pi Lifestyle article “FiveFingers foot gloves a runaway hit“.

See Wired Science article, “To Run Better…” by Dylan Tweeney, which includes sidebar tips on “How to Run Barefoot”.

NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz tried on and reported on FiveFingers in NPR’s story, “A Shoe for Barefoot Runners“.

Even poet, author, and artist Marshal South preferred to go barefoot at Yaquitepec during his experiment in primitive living from 1930 to 1947.  He wrote in is article, “Desert Diary 11″, “Ordinarily, bare feet are the rule at Yaquitepec.  Wood gathering however calls often for the navigation of savage sections of rock and thorn where barefoot caution would consume too much time.  So we dig out our Yaqui sandals for the job.  Probably the oldest and simplest human device for foot protection, the sandal is still the most comfortable and healthiest thing man has ever fashioned in the way of footwear… Generations of abuse in ‘thoroughly scientific’ shoes have spoiled civilized feet to such an extent that they have to be entirely re-educated.  But once the sandal technique is learned the foot enters upon a new and better life of freedom.”³

However, there are times when going barefoot or in foot gloves or sandals just won’t do.  So I recently bought what may be the most comfortable shoes that I have ever worn: Merrell’s Encore Groove.  Merrell began in the Green Hills in Vermont and has been providing outdoor enthusiasts with quality performance footwear for over 26 years.⁴

I am now looking forward to taking my FiveFingers and ten toes out on our next camping trip and enjoying what should be a spectacular wildflower blooming season due to our recent rains.⁵  In the meantime, Larry and I have begun taking our FiveFingers (and two corgis) on walk/runs around our local Chollas Lake three times a week and are already experiencing the fun and health benefits.  See Ultra Marathon Running Movie – Indulgence and Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon in Born to Run.

Footnotes to Footnotes:

1.  Also known as shoe gloves, foot socks and barefoot shoes.

2.  REI in San Diego was temporarily out of stock in this model, so I found mine at Adventure 16. Model KSO, “Keep Stuff Out”.

3.  All 102 articles and poems written by Marshal South for Desert Magazine from 1939 to 1948 can be read in Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles: An Experiment in Primitive Living, 2005, Edited and with a Foreword by Diana Lindsay and Introduction by Rider and Lucile South, Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA.

4.  History of Merrell

5.  See DesrtUSA’s Desert Wildflower Reports 2010 – Southern California

Fall is one of our favorite seasons and, now that temperatures are within our comfort range, it’s time for us to return to the desert and continue to celebrate the colorful fall harvest season.  For the occasion, Larry made pumpkin cheesecake with a rich, buttery graham cracker walnut crust.  It is seen below in its springform pan, just out of our home oven.  Next to the cheesecake is pumpkin pudding made from pumpkin pie filling and baked in a handmade stoneware pie pan made by Barbara Flynn at Renaissance Pleasure Faire.

The refrigerated pumpkin cheesecake came with us to this oasis in the southwestern Anza-Borrego desert region, once inhabited by Kumeyaay Native Americans from 1000 A.D to 1906.  We nestled our Safari between Mesquite trees and Creosote bushes.

The Creosote bush, Larrea tridentata, has waxy resinous leaves and yellow flowers that turn into white fuzzy fruit capsules.  This plant has an aromatic fragrance, especially noticeable after a desert rain.

The Safari’s windows are seen closed on this chilly morning at sunrise, while Larry was inside icing cinnamon buns in a muffin top pan just out of the oven.  Upon opening the trailer door, I was greeted by the spicy aroma of the buns and freshly brewed coffee.

By mid-morning it was time to open up all of the windows, and by afternoon turn on the Endless Breeze fan as temperatures outside approached 80 degrees.

We are very happy with our new lightweight Dim Sum Clock that hangs on a “L” hook screwed in on the end of the galley overhead cabinet.  Dim Sum is one of our favorite foods and this “must have” item for us goes well in the Safari.

The hour pieces represent varieties of dim sum, are handmade by San Francisco artist, Noriko Kuwabara, and mounted on a bamboo steamer.  Starting at the one o’clock position, the pieces include a potsticker, pearl ball (shrimp ball covered with rice), custard tart, crab claw, bell pepper stuffed with shrimp, spring roll, har gow (shrimp dumpling), fried wonton, siu mai (pork dumpling), fortune cookie (invented in San Francisco), wu gok (fried taro root filled with pork), and cha siu bao (roasted pork bun) in the twelve o’clock position.

Also seen in our galley is a replica ad poster (on tin) from the 1930′s Shanghai era.

Larry found this piece while browsing our local Goodwill store.

It features a woman in a traditional Chinese dress (cheongsam) sitting on a low Chinese stool and promoting Lactogen for infants and nursing mothers.

We renamed her “Yum cha“, which is a Cantonese term meaning “drinking tea” and now refers to the dim sum dining experience.  Yum cha has its roots in travelers on the ancient Silk Road needing a place to rest.

Our fall harvest celebration includes setting the Thanksgiving table early…

and enjoying that pumpkin cheesecake (displayed with Pygmy Date Palm seeds)…

and enjoying sunsets and dreaming of gardens in the desert sand.