Getting to Carpinteria, October 9

Immediately upon arriving at SBA I was met by my physicist son, who took me to Isla Vista, showed me his brand new and nicely furnished grad student apartment (which, in a bizarre twist of fate, is across the street from his mother's apartment of exactly thirty years ago), and then pretended to be sad when I drove away with his car:

 

Shortly thereafter I was with my parents in Carpinteria, looking out at the ocean through the hazy the sun and across the mandatory auto project de jeur, which in this case is (another) Mercedes that needs a new battery (among other things) but why pay for a new battery when you have a charger you can hook up every night?

 

 

And so I settled in to an afternoon of relaxed, pleasant discussion with my beloved parents. Always an adventure. After a while I asked my mother what she wanted to do on her 87th birthday, and her primary wish was to obtain my help taking the "frozen birds to the Museum of Natural History". Devoted followers of this blog may be unfamiliar with this issue, as was your devoted blogger himself. But not to worry: dear 87 year old mother is collecting dead birds and keeping them in a shoebox in her freezer to give to the Museum of Natural History. Why? "They're very educational."

 

The highlight of the day was a delicious dinner prepared by Sister, which included such delicacies as fresh locally-grown sweet corn and ... classic Santa Barbara tri-tip steak. Absolutely nothing better in the whole wide world. After dinner we sat around the table while my teenage nephew explained the scientific basis for What Does the Fox Say, which he played over and over on Youtube. To demonstrate scientific rigor. Or to enjoy the silliness. Or both. In either case, I think he likes it. Pictured below is the Dutch decorated dining room, complete with real-live former Dutch (now naturalized American citizen) brother-in-law.