Rogues Class

This morning we walked a different route and explored some of the neighborhoods to the west. Many plants are in bloom, and we saw some beautiful landscaping. We saw an interesting palm tree with what looked like two different plants cascading out of it.

We also spotted a community garden.

This evening we drove to Mission Viejo to attend the Rogues class. The drive was familiar--we made it, first from Covina and later from Long Beach, on many Thursday nights. The last time that we drove south on the I-5 to the La Paz exit was three years ago, and many things have changed in the interim.

We arrived early. When we walked through the door, Pauline Correa greeted us with a smile and a hug. More smiles and hugs followed. Gail Clairmont, Jerry Haines, and Barbara Jones were at the signup table. Barbara had a cold and wasn't feeling well. We're guessing she picked up a bug that was going around at the Hemet weekend.

We danced with Alan and Sandra, Ken and Barbara, and Tom Kalen, among others (Judy was at a board meeting, so we missed seeing her). We got hugs from Bruce and Pam and Jack and Jill. Fred Walterreit stopped by, looking fresh and smiling, and then left to get some dinner.

Of course there were lots of people we didn't know. The new class has forty members, and we haven't met any of the 2010 and 2011 graduates either. The hall was full. Dan Clairmont was reviewing last week's calls with class members before the class. Tim Pepper was good natured and patient as he taught the new calls. There was line dancing between tips. Everyone was having lots of fun.

But we missed many of our old friends. We knew that Wes and Jenske and Ed and Marlyn were already on the road. Tom and Nanci and Mike and Judy and Dennis and Linda have retired out of the area. We hoped to see John and Sandy and Gary and Judy and Dennis and Cheryl (in town from St. George), but they weren't at the class.

Somehow, it's been too long this time. You really can't go home again--but we have lots of good memories of great times with our Rogues friends in the past. We're hoping to see and dance with many of them in Spokane at the National Square Dance Convention next month.

We got an update from Tom this morning on Nanci's surgery.  The good news is that the surgeon was very positive about the success of the surgery. Nanci won't have to wear a back brace this time. We're hoping for a smooth recovery that should be quicker than last time (and no complications).

We are continuing to work to get our battery monitor to read accurately. We flipped the breaker today to drain the batteries a bit so the battery monitor would have a chance to readjust. It's still reading wildly off. Ken tried to get the WiFi Ranger Boost to work, but with no luck yet.

The Elks had a lodge meeting tonight. We think they must have been using lots of electricity, because we were unable to run our microwave. The electrical management system shut the power down each time I tried, reporting low voltage.