Activities With Our Granddaughter

Aloha Everyone,

The one week visit with our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter was, as always, at a whirlwind pace. It was an exceptionally busy week, especially for our granddaughter. Aside from her regular school days, she had a science fair project to submit. Her subject matter on machine learning was cutting edge research and I found it informative.

Our granddaughter attended her Tang Soo Do practice, a flute practice and recital, Annie’s Trail Hike with friends, and she still found time to make paper airplanes which we flew at a neighborhood park. We read books and drew pictures together. And yes, we also engaged in pillow fights!

“Dance Dance Revolution” released in North America in 1999 is considered a pioneering series of the rhythm and dance genre in video games. You stand on a "dance platform" and step on colored arrows to music and visual cues. Our granddaughter is athletic, young, nimble and she has had a lot more practice than me. My goal was simply to stay on my pad and try to do better than “E”, the lowest score. Irregardless of my poor performances, it is an excellent workout. After 30 minutes, I needed a very hot shower.

We had a back-to-back movie dates at home on Saturday and Sunday. Her choice were Toy Story 1 & 2.

Aloha -- Cathi

The Brazilian Choro

Aloha Everyone,

J.J. and I first heard Choro music performed on guitar during our stay in San Miguel Allende in the Colonial Highlands of Mexico. The melody I recall was sorrowful and melancholy in spite of its quick tempo.

Choro traces its origin to 19th century Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is instrumental music. The Portuguese word, Choro means cry or lament.

The music came from Portuguese settlers, other Europeans, Africans and native Indians. It is influenced by waltz, schottische, polka, mazurka and habanera. Chorro is considered uniquely Brazilian just like samba.

Anthony Cutietta was the guest performer at our granddaughter’s flute recital. J.J. and I love music. It was a special treat to hear a professional performance in an intimate parlor-like setting which was how this music used to be played. Anthony gave a brief introduction to the Brazilian Guitar Choro and performed several short pieces. The audience were student musicians, their families and friends. In other words, we were appreciative and attentive.

http://www.anthonycutietta.com/

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”

 ― Plato

Aloha -- Cathi

Annie’s Canyon Trail Hike

Aloha Everyone,

We started walking on a well defined sandstone path. The 3 children are fit, enthusiastic and experienced hikers. The actual hike is short — about 3/4 of a mile.  The novelty of this hike is that it is a slot canyon, the only one of its kind in San Diego county. Sandstone walls narrowed, closed in and became slippery. The final stage was climbing metal ladders to the overlook. The reward was the sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and lagoons.

Once victim to vandals, Annie’s Canyon Trail, named in honor of a conservancy supporter was reopened on June 21, 2016. Annie, a long time resident of Solana Beach, is involved in expansion and restoration of wild areas for nature and for people. 

While everyone decided to go back into the slot canyon for the second round, I stayed behind and took in the beauty of the trails and restoration work that is ongoing.

Aloha -- Cathi

Benefits of Dark Chocolate

Aloha Everyone,

Most of us love chocolates. It could be a comfort food to pick me up and get energized.  

Exciting new studies were presented last week at the Experimental Biology 2018 annual meeting in San Diego advocating the benefits of eating dark chocolates with a minimum of 70% cacao.  

1. It can support cognitive, endocrine and cardiovascular health.

2. It can have positive effects on:

a) stress levels

b) inflammation

c) mood

d) memory 

e) immunity

Sounds like a panacea? According to Lee Berk, principal  investigator for the study and an associate dean of research affairs at Loma Linda University's School of Allied Health Professions, “participants were given a 48-gram bar of dark chocolate at the beginning of one experiment and then ate a piece of dark chocolate every two hours they were awake, for several days.”

The next step to the research is how much dark chocolate someone should eat to affect brain function. The research is not affiliated with any chocolate companies.

So enjoy chocolates but try to adhere to dark ones.  J.J. prefers milk chocolate but perhaps now I could persuade him to shift to dark chocolate.

Aloha -- Cathi

Happy Month of May!

Aloha Everyone,

"The world's favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May."
-  Edwin Way Teale

May is another special month. First of all, we celebrated Lei Day on the first. Then Boys Day on the 5th. A big day for our family is Mother’s Day. We acknowledge our good fortune and express our gratitude for our Mother’s special love.

For all of you wonderful family and friends who have a May birthday or anniversary celebrations, J.J. and I are thinking of you and sending you our love and best wishes!

Aloha -- Cathi