Wild Animal Park

Monday we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The weather was great; there was lots to see. A few samples follow.

More Southern Cal

Saturday, Whit, Mom and I drove down to San Diego and spent the afternoon at Balboa Park. Must return again this week for more. After Court & Todd arrived, we went to Macaroni Grill for a wonderful dinner.
We ended the evening with the deferred opening.

California Christmas

Christmas morning we slept in late, then drove down to La Jolla Cove to walk along the beach. The weather was cool but beautiful. Lots of seals and birds
Enjoyed the rock formations
Ended the day with a lovely dinner, followed by Vicious Gin with Whit and Jim's friends, Reed and Dan.

New Happy State Study

A new study on happy states comes up with distinctly different results than the one I cited previously. Hawaii's still #2, however, right up there with Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama. Turns out this time that happiness is a function of sunshine. Who'd a thunk? Also, factors such as how crowded, air quality, house prices, etc. Top Ten:
1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Mississippi
7. Montana
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Maine
Wyoming comes in at #13, Utah and Virginia are in the middle at #23 and 26, respectively. (Rob and Anna should hardly notice the difference!) The bottom five are:
46. California
47. Indiana
48. Michigan
49. New Jersey
50. Connecticut
51. New York
Sorry, Whit and Jim -- at least you're not in New York! I find the inconsistencies most curious. For example, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska are grouped together -- #31-33; makes sense to me. But why a 19-state difference between Arizona and New Mexico (#24)? You can find all 50 states and D.C. listed here.

Winter Humor

Now that many of you have snow, I thought you might appreciate this.

Why the Christmas Colors Are Red, Green and White

It's nice this time of year when the poinsettias and the snowball bushes are in full bloom. Add in nice green grass and shrubs, and you have perfect Chrismas colors.

Happy States

I stumbled upon an article about the happiest states. With Utah, Hawaii and Wyoming as the top three, I decided it was no wonder that I'm so happy! I've spent more of my life in these three than all others combined. Interestingly, however, with respect to the general reasons given for why peoople in some states are happier -- wealth and tolerance (measured by the number of bohemians), these three are outliers. Note the throwaway line at the end of the caveats acknowledging this fact and suggesting that maybe happiness is a function of strong families, instead. Now there's a thought! Maybe that's why I'm so happy!