Tag Archives: Grunion

That’s Fishy…

028_28-001It’s time for Hodgepodge Wednesday and Joyce has some fishy questions for us this week. I’m eight or nine in this photo and my father was back from a deep see fishing trip where he caught this huge Yellowtail off the coast of Southern California.

1. Have you ever been fishing? Did you catch a fish? If so did you keep it or throw it back? If you haven’t been fishing is that something you’d like to try?

The only fishing I have done is Grunion hunting on the beaches in Southern California when I was very young in the late 50’s. We’d line the beaches in the moonlight and then you’d hear the cry “the grunion are coming, the grunion are coming!” You could see little silvery fish emerge from the waves onto the beach and they would start digging into the sand to lay eggs. We’d have buckets ready and catch them by hand and put them in our bucket. We would then go back to our campground and my mother would cook them on the camp fire.

First, do you know what grunion are? For those not familiar, Grunion are a species of fish that leave the water at night to spawn on beaches during the spring and summer months throughout Southern California. For four consecutive nights, beginning on the nights of the full and new moons, spawning occurs after high tides and continues for several hours. Peak spawning is from late March to early June. Here’s a link to see what grunion looked like on the sand.

Fish out of water, big fish in a small pond, living in a fishbowl, packed in like sardines, this is a fine kettle of fish, plenty of fish in the sea, or cut bait…which fishy phrase most recently applies to some area of your life?

This one is easy, I’m a Fish out of water. We are still trying to figure out if we are truly retired or just unemployed. Every day but Sunday is Saturday at this old house. It’s weird. Dear is here every day instead of leaving to work so my days are up in the air and my roles are up in the air. We are on hold. I know things will come to light sometime in the future. I do enjoy this next kind of fish out of water and on my plate!

the-thames-1102. What’s something you’re always fishing for in your purse, wallet, desk, or kitchen junk drawer?

A pen and something to write on.

3. Your favorite fish tale or movie?

Most fish tales are not my favorites and I find them disturbing like Jaws and Jonah. I did really enjoy the show Flipper!

They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!

4. Are you sunrise, daylight, twilight or night? Explain why you chose your answer.

I think I’m daylight because of my sunshine tendencies with a smile and always wanting to keep things light.

5. What’s the oldest piece of clothing you own and still wear?

Thankfully it’s not my underwear. I have a pair of vintage warm-up pants I wear for my exercise classes that are my son’s from their junior high and high school soccer days.

6. We’ve got one more month of (officially) winter here in the Northern hemisphere. Are you feeling the need for a getaway? What’s been the best and worst part of your winter so far?

hb-walk-036Our trip to California in January for a beautiful wedding, sweet baby shower, family and friend time and beach walks was the best. The worst part of winter is if I have to drive in snow or ice. Not a fan of slip sliding in a vehicle.

16473741_10212134529706768_6284983107549192089_n7.  The Wednesday Hodgepodge lands on National Margarita Day…will you be celebrating? Frozen or on the rocks? Are you a Jimmy Buffet fan? If so, what’s your favorite JB tune?

13700009_10210144477716712_7053405028671820558_nOnce we get to our son and daughter in law’s tomorrow evening a margarita will be in order for sure. On the rocks with no salt, please.  Not a Buffet fan that I know of. Do you ever wonder who makes up these National whatever days?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

hellebore-17-003We are close to the season of Lent and I am always so thrilled to see my Lenten Rose blooming during this season. Lent begins on March 1st and I’m considering what I might set aside during this time. Growing up and beyond we did not observe Lent. We always observed Good Friday and Easter in special ways but never really talked about Lent. Lately we have been more contemplative, adding readings and choosing to do without certain things during the 40 days of Lent. Do you observe Lent?

Linking up with Joyce from This Side of the Pond for Hodgepodge Wednesday. Thank you Joyce for asking the questions!

I hope to visit later tonight as we’ll be on the road much of the day. Hand/wrist update: It’s something that should get better without any major intervention. It is feeling better already. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

Do You Measure Up?

We thought we had measured the inside of our closet well before I headed to Ikea to buy some new storage pieces for our T.V. and a 2nd closet in the guest room.

before and afters 001

The T.V. stand is working perfectly and just how we planned. The storage units for the closet were another matter. I picked up this large square piece and another section that was narrower and taller to put on one end.

more after 015

Seems our measurements were 3/4 of an inch off. I knew my handy dandy Dear would figure something out or we’d just stick the tall unit in the basement. The figuring someway to squeeze it in was the more favorable option because I wanted to maximize the storage in this closet. The solution was to take the support for the upper shelf completely out. See that white upper board at the end of the closet with the hole in it that was a hanger bar?  Of course that also meant we had to take the entire upper shelf out during the process, too. We still had to partially disassemble the tall unit to get it in and then to lift the unit while it was in it’s place to tighten the screws. Are you confused yet? Too bad I didn’t YouTube the process.

Ikea storage 002It’s quite the feeling of accomplishment when you can enjoy the fruits of your labor and know you conquered assemble yourself furniture! That is one snug fit let me tell you. Oh my aching back…

I’m also quite pleased that I have some empty cubbies to add things to in the future. Have you had fun projects go south on you?

My mom and pop are doing well being left alone at night. My mom has had some tough days with her heart feeling very heavy. When I talked to my pop this past week one day he told me my brother had made homilets for them for breakfast. On Tuesday he said my sister Kathy had made something Mexican for them with beans… saucekitos or something. My family loves to document what we call “Moisiisms”.

mom pei wei

My mother and father have never had lobster, scallops or shrimp so my brother Steve made lobster and scallops for them last week and my sister Lana made a shrimp dish for them to try on another evening. My mother really enjoyed the lobster and left the scallops for my brother to enjoy.  I forgot to ask how she liked the shrimp. I really can’t remember having much fish growing up. Maybe once when my pop went deep sea fishing and caught Yellowtail. I do remember camping at San Clemente Beach in California when the Grunion were running and catching some and running up to the campsite to cook them fresh. The Grunion running experience was a great one for me. “The grunion are running, the grunion are running, was chanted down the beach after waiting in the dark for them to appear. You could see little silvery fish emerge from the waves onto the beach and they would start digging into the sand to lay eggs. Wow this post has really gotten away from me.

Here’s a short explanation from Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, “Spend a night sitting on Southern California’s sandy shore waiting for the “grunion run.” Grunion are small sardine-size fish of the silversides family, which are among the few species of fish that actually come ashore to lay their eggs on sandy beaches. They are found from Southern California south to Baja California and arrive at night after the high tide around the new moon and full moon. Cabrillo Beach is one of the better places to observe the fish.”

So you see if you don’t measure properly you will find your mind being random and scattered and full of fond memories of carefree days…

Here’s that Yellowtail I mentioned earlier. This was taken in our backyard in Montebello Gardens (Pico Rivera). That’s me and my brother Tim watching my pop clean the fish.

028_28-001Hope you have a perfectly random day!