I'm at my parents' house in Diamond Bar, CA. (On Tuesday at work I was talking to an author who said, "Oh, are you going to Gold Bar?" haha--wrong precious substance.) I lived in this city from 8th grade through high school. It's a pretty nice place to live, I suppose. It's beautiful, with rolling hills, lots of green, flowers, wilderness, wildlife, peaceful. I don't like the car culture, though, but that's just me. I do like visiting--my parents' house is spacious yet comfortable, and the backyard is full of fruit trees, balconies, paths, ponds, swings, even a tennis court.
I played tennis with my parents and my uncle this morning, and then went for a short run/walk around the neighborhood (Snoop Dog lives in my neighborhood--I know which house is his, but have never seen him. There's always a car with a guy--body guard--sitting outside of it.). Saw two rabbits hanging out, they didn't seem afraid of me. I think one of them was named Peter. ANYway, Diamond Bar is about 40% Asian, which you can believe was a huge shock when I moved here from Upstate NY, where you could count the number of Asians in my school on one hand.
Last night I arrived around 7 pm, and I went with my parents up to this community center up on a hill to see the fireworks. (My fellow spectators were probably 75% Asian.) You could see the fireworks displays sprinkled all over the horizon. People kept saying things like, "Oh, do you think that's in Rowland Heights?" and "Is that in the City of Industry?" or "Maybe that's the Disney Land show." Typical Southern California. It made me realize what a different world I live in now. I feel lucky to have lived in many different places.
I'm back home primarily for a family reunion in the San Diego area that starts on Sunday--my cousin Jimmy is being ordained as a minister. For once, I hadn't made plans in advance to see any of my friends--I've been so busy, and to be honest, am feeling a bit burned out. But after a relaxing evening and morning here, I sent out an email to my friends--"I'm here!"--it's last-minute, so who knows if I'll get to see any of them. But I'm looking forward to spending time with my family and seeing all of my cousins' little kids--there are a few new additions I haven't met yet.
Anyway, there wasn't really a point to this post, but as I vowed to post once a week, I wanted to check in. I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July!
5 comments:
Oh, it sounds so summery and relaxing and nice....I've never been to Southern California so I'm probably picturing it too shady, but it does sound relaxing and pleasant, the perfect thing for burnout.
No point to the post, perfect for a lazy summer day! I enjoyed reading this.
Hi Alvina,
Read in your post about the ordination for your cousin Jimmy. Being in ministry, I was just wondering what denomination he'll be working with.
Never been to Diamond Bar, but when I was into boxing, one of my favorite heavyweight champs, Mike Weaver, lived there.
Vacations are great, aren't they? Hope your fun is non-stop.
Brian H.
It's a nondenominational church (sorry, don't know much beyond that). The ceremony was beautiful and touching. He was the youth pastor at the church, so it was wonderful to see how much the kids really love him.
Non-denominational is a big thing, I guess that's what you'd call me too. I'm planting one of those type of faith communities right now. Kudos to your cousin for his work with youth, that's always been the hardest thing for me. Alvina, I'm glad I discovered your blog. I'll check in from time to time to see what's up.
-Brian
I feel so privileged to have actually been your your parents' gorgeous house in D-Bar. I loooove it, especially your dad's photo with Newt Gingrich.
There are sooo many Asians there! But at least the street signs aren't also in Chinese, as they are in Ro Heights, right?
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