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ny transformations and changes this year lots of inner alchemy all in preparation for the bold moves promised by 2026 the year of the fire horse on the job front retirement on the horizon as for my career i finished my first full year back in elementary school making the transition was no easy task not so much because of the work students or school but really because my work in middle school although stressful relied heavily upon muscle memory for much of it i m sure my first few months were filled with confusion and a fair amount of eye rolling from my staff as i relearned the particular ways of elementary once again at middle school often my exhaustion was from feeling beaten down from negative energy difficult decisions and depressing experiences at elementary i often leave work bolstered with good vibes and fun memories i m still exhausted but way more satisfied i know my transition out of this career and into retirement is on the horizon and although i dont know the exact date yet it is hard to avoid short timers syndrome there is nothing easy about education any more the work of administration has become increasingly filled with tasks to satisfy state and federal mandates compliances and less about my true passion working with students and families to ensure all students learn at high levels it s a corny sentence i know i truly still believe my job is to focus my efforts on the students that need me the most our students and families that are often under represented in the school system the prospect of retirement is both scary and exciting and of course i m filled with mixed emotions about it i think we all know me well enough that i won t be totally out of education even after retiring i m excited to be at the crossroads with an unclear picture of where the next path will take me quite frankly not having a career plan is a new thing for me speaking of retirees rusty is now officially retired he has been off since june on full salary and benefits in an early out golden handshake type of scenario june retirement party naughty boys at the retirment party i call shenanigans as of his 62nd birthday he is officially retired a pensioner as it were that full salary goes away but so does the stress and strife of working with the current federal govenrment rusty s first retirement party with mostly epa folks was in june his final retirement party was on the winter solstice this year he shared the day with lance our very close friend from sacramento also retiring the evening was filled with good friends good food and lots of laughter although i try not to tell other people s story it has been interesting to witness rusty s shift into retirement i think he never really retired he just switched jobs into managing our construction in the basement i think he still hasn t wrapped his head around it as he hasn t joined a pickle ball league nor has he taken to getting up early for coffee at fast food restaurants with the other old guy retirees construction we are on time and under budget said no contractor ever the basement remodel has been a comedy of surprises on top of a big mid ocean whirlpool sucking down our money and time finding foundation issues two years ago was a huge set back but now we are actually seeing progress and can see that this too shall end i m confident the project will be finished in the next few months rusty has been managng the construction like a champ and i believe that s the only reason we are seeing progress travel our big travel this year has been an international trip to japan this was an expensive trip constraining our travel budget for other destinations well worth it though gentle readers japan was wacky weird and wonderful as i typically do i created a full travel blog on japan and yet it still doesn t seem to capture the mystery and magic of ths ancent modern island walt s blog on japan if interested in a day by day account of our adventure check it out holidays our holidays this year were consumed with all things aussie ms di drew made an appearance for a week at thanksgiving and two weeks at christmas she brought with her a true aussie legend col many adventures were had during their stay a tale that could only be told in pictures look who landed in oakland buena vista winery does not disappoint a night at the zoo for glowfari a chilly but wonderous night of glowing displays an ode to oakland oaklandlandmarks are the stars of the show mandatory pano trick photography on the bridge thanksgiving card games good times what an amazing turkey a winery in berkeley who knew official retirement party with coworkers and friends sorry not many pics of this one ano nuevo state park elephant seals so cool christmas dinner with just the chosen fam a new orleans feast ocean beach pano trick photography yes i m obsessed a few days in paso robles another wine region small intmate extremely fun and relatively affordable check it out gentle readers and of course irish coffees at the buena vista inn mandatory cable car ride another year at breakfast of champions new year s day shenanigans surprisingly fun this year and soon after new year s day the long journey for our intrepid explorers back to far north queensland i know they are broke but happy they will be missed until we meet again health no one warned me that when you hit your sixties your number of vistis to the emergency room rises exponentially in 2025 i spent a night in the hospital with excessive diarhea and dehydration and at the start of 2026 another trip to the emergency room after four or five incidents of the same thng this problem seems to be recurring and even though i ve hade every test immaginable still no reason why and before my kind gentle readers throw out suggestions yes i m going to a gi soon to help figure this out i m suspecting some form of ibs looking at symptoms it doesn t seem to rise to the level crohn s don t you just love patients that self diagnose i know doctors do tee hee rusty on the other hand ended up three days in the hospital at the end of january with sepsis the cause is still unknown he is fine now but it was a bit concerning for a few days as it took a long time for the fever to break he was in good hands at sutter hospital in the wing of the hospital that the nuses say is haunted no we didn t experience any fun haunted events the art of yosiell lorenzo yosiell has had a very successful 2026 but this success didn t come without some hard earned blood sweat and tears more accurate travellng to lots of different shows long nights designing and racking up those frequent flyer points his art just gets better every single year and his fan base expands every year too it s amazing to see his art not only in every state but in different countries as well at the start of 2026 yosiell has decided to merge his worlds and rebrand as the midnight conjurer this rebranding allows him to create many different worlds under the same umbrella and is really a chnace to expand his creativity he has lots of really cool changes coming under this new brand in 2026 so gentle reader get on his mailing list and check out his shop midnight conjurer website as we move into the year of the fire horse a year marked by transformation bold actions and intense energy i m ready lately i ve felt like we ve been in a state of limbo here on ardley ave i know that it is important to embrace the characteristics of the year of the snake to prepare oneself for the bold moves to come so being in limbo is just a chance to prepare now it s time to make some moves i m predicting big changes in 2026 and gentle readers i m here for it posted by walt at 12 11 pm no comments thursday november 27 2025 vanquishing the darkness is anyone else experiencing a bit of existential angst gentle readers often times i run the risk of succombing to the feelings of hopelessness and the dread that social media tends to foster even in the most positive of people of course with the current political climate that sense of impending doom is omnipresent now a days and it isn t easy to getaway from it the long nights are here and people throughout the ages have chosen to pierce the darkness with all manner of light we haven t yet hit the longest night of the year and the subsequent dawn hearalding a return to light this is one of my favorite nights of the year because the dawn heralds such hope i m choosing to face the darkness head on early this year don t worry gentle reader i will still post on facebook my favorite clip from northern exposure titled more light on the solistice how am i facing the darkness with lots more time watching sunsrises and sunsets lighting candles more often and spending more time out in the sunshine when the existential angst gets overwhelming i know the cure is not simply to find the light for me searching out the light is a reminder that even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise victor hugo really essentially i am an opitmist and must believe there must be hope even when we have to search hard to find it so gentle reader a few photos to remind me to find the light alameda beach chilly fall sunrise photo by anand lake merritt fall sunrise sunrise at sibley state park fall sunset at lake elizabeth in fremont early november bellingham september 2024 bellingham september 2024 on this thnaksgiving day i hope you find a way to fight your own version of existential dread and find your light posted by walt at 10 43 am no comments sunday november 02 2025 over the falls january 1st 2025 seems so long ago the end of winter spring and asummer and now we are well into fall the one constant has been change life has been rushing by lately like a barrel over niagra falls we ve been a little bruised and battered lately but i have every confidence this barrel will hold and we ll survive the falls more on that in future blogs for now let s take a look at two of my passions gentle reader 2025 thus far has been filled with nature and art two of my favorite flavors how is this different than any other post walt you might be asking honestly it isn t but these are the two things that make me happiest don t worry gentle readers as i get closer to retirement i m sure it ll change to early bird specials and pickle ball but for now let s take a look at some pretty cool photos of art and nature art january started at the sfmoma to see amy sherald s work most will know her as the portraitist that painted first lady michelle obama s offficail portrait her signature style is to paint african american skin color in gray scale drawing into question the impact of skin color on and within the black community this controversial piece is titled trans forming liberty and is actually larger than life in person this picture does not do it justice definitely a commentary on the treatment of trans members in our community this of course is patterend from the famous cover of life magazine of the nurse being kissed by a returning wwii soldier the person on the left gives one the sense of the scale her paintings are quite large and very impressive in person the vibrant colors compared with the gray scale skin tone has an incredibe impact no trip to the sfmoma is complete without a vieiwng of the yayoi kusama infinity room up down and all around disorienting and whimiscal a couple of educators enjoying the last of winter break awkward but endearing pose from anand heroic pose from myself of course random art in the cafe s and streets of oakland spray painted at a park on the embarcadero in oakland one of my favorite children s book is where the sidewalk ends and this stylized interpretation is definitely oakland inspired a lovely mural on the uc berkeley campus celebrating two things i love bicycles and california poppies frankenstein realness at mother tongue cafe of course hellvella is always good for new and innovative art yosiell s sickling piece for the muschi muschi mushroom themed show the picture does not do it justice raul s gallery owner piece from the show another piece raul did that i absolutely love i bought a print on wood of this piece and of course our july trip to japan was filled with art while there we were able to visit the yayoi kusama museum a full circle opportunity considering my love of the pieces at the sfmoma this is a stark white room with white furnishings in which visitors can place sticker dots anywhere we pleased yayoi kusama likes immersive art for sure these large pieces were at the entrance to the museum we also went to team lab a multimedia experience another very cool immersive experience with different components that were changed by participants actions there were lots of rooms with different displays in each some of the art followed us from one room to the next this large scale room was very relaxing so insipiring and creative westumbled upon this takahata exhibition takahata directed grave of the fireflies pom poko and many other anime movies i was not a big fan of anime until i saw this exhibit the sheer beauty of some of the stills from the movie are incredible each a stand alone art piece there was way too many opportunities for viewing art in japan but the previous pieces were some of my favorites ani difranco has a line in one of her songs art is the reason i get up in the morning but my definition ends there my feelings exactly ani i ll end the art portion of this blog gentle readers with a prtrait of me done in the orphans of dudleytown style by yosiell this was a gift for me for my sixtieth birthday another piece i absolutely love as beautiful and emotionally impacting as art is to me nature illicits a different reaction one that centers me and reminds me of my small part in the grand scheme of things nature does wonders for my mental health truly my favorite form of therapy what better place for nature therapy than steep ravine trail in marin this january hike affords the hiker with small waterfalls the trail down the ravine is incredible as one can hardly believe that we are still in the bay area several ladders assist to traverse up or down the ravine more waterfalls small but charming i m definitely in my happy place after walking down the ravine it is a steep hike back up to the marin headlands the sun was definitely low in the skyas it is january as one summits the steep climb the views are incredible from the headlands it s hard to see but sf is in the distance great views my favorite hiking buddy always willing to try a new hike and to challenge ourselves well within reason a hike close to half moon bay with my other favorite hiking buddies we got the squad back for more hiking after our long trek up half dome the previous summer anand james and ivan exhausted but happy and the post hike brew and burger beer after a long bike ride or hike is the ambrosia of the bro s so delicious next up perhaps one of my fondest nature experiences ano nuevo state park for the annual elephant seal breeding and pup rearing season we didn t s...