Bookworm Press

During Christmas week, I was visiting my USA family, the Polkinhorns, in El Centro, California, just north of the border to Mexico. El Centro is situated in the Imperial Valley, one of the agricultural centers of California. It is also part of the Southern Anza Borrego Desert, a vast expanse of sand and colorful rocks and mountains. During my stay, my hosts drove me to Borrego Springs, a mountain-desert village about 2 hours northwest of El Centro. It’s a quaint town in the middle of “nowhere.” There is a lovely hotel with cabins where you can truly unwind from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And the food, by the way, is excellent.

The most fascinating part, however, was a collection of steel sculptors in the area of prehistoric animals that have lived here eons ago. Here are a few pictures of these amazing works of art:

After leaving Borrego Springs, Bill Polkinhorn took us on a ride in his 4-wheel-drive van (thank God for that–a “normal” car wouldn’t have made it on this rough terrain) to a “secret” spot that he and some of his photographer friends discovered a while ago. After parking the car, we hiked up a small hill, keeping our eyes to the ground, until we arrived at a cliff with an absolutely stunning view of a desert where in ancient times water was flowing abundantly through the landscape and carved these works of nature.

And here we were, after an excursion in this truly ever-changing land,  back in El Centro, relaxing next to an open fire with a glass of wine and a cigar.

https://bluebirdofbitterness.com/2018/01/16/its-a-jungle-out-there/?c=88385#comment-88385

Great blog post!

“Dear Ma and Pa,

I am well. I hope you are too.

Tell Walt and Elmer that the U.S. Army beats working for old man Doggett by a mile. They oughta join up quick before all of the places are taken….”

Read more:

From San Diego, we took a trip inland on Hwy 8 to El Centro in the Imperial Valley and the Anza Borrego desert. For visitors from mountainous Switzerland, the desert has a special fascination. El Centro is also the place where part of the Polkinhorn family lives, so it was exciting for my Swiss family to meet them for the first time.

But first, we made another surprise visit to a dear member of the “Polkinhorn Clan,” Harry Polkinhorn, in San Diego. He and I used to live in Switzerland and he knew my family there, but hadn’t seen them in over twenty years. So, it was a wonderful surprise when we showed up unannounced.

Our trip east on Hwy 8 brought us through the mountains and into the Anza Borrego desert. I remember well how impressed  I was the first time I took this trip many years ago. The mysterious landscape and the purple/orange colors of the rocks never cease to fascinate me.

In El Centro, close to the Mexican border, we met a few other members of the Polkinhorn Clan, my ex-husbands brother and my sister-in-law and their daughter. It was a first get-together for everyone and we truly enjoyed it.

Rae Lynn, my sister-in-law, accompanied us into the desert to Yuma, Arizona. Yuma is a quaint city with a pleasant climate (it does get quite hot in summer), so in winter the town gets inundated with the so-called “Snowbirds.” These are people from states such as Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and others (mainly retirees) who want to escape the brutal cold and spend the winter in sunny and warm Arizona. At this time of the year, not much is going but during winter, this is supposed to be quite an active place. By the way, it is alleged that Billy the Kid spent time in jail here. Yuma also has some excellent restaurants and funky bars.

The next few photos show the inside of the restaurant we had lunch at. You’ll see quite a few celebrities of the entertainment business and the famous civil rights leader!

After our trip north, we drove back to Los Angeles, relaxed a few days in Santa Monica, and then went onward to San Diego and the surrounding areas.

We stayed in Pacific Beach in a motel right next to the beach. I used to live in San Diego many years ago, so this trip was kind of a “down memory lane” experience for me.

One thing that surprised us was the somewhat unpredictable climate during our trip. The hottest days we spent in … believe it or not … San Francisco, where it’s usually fresh and windy. This time people who live there actually complained about the heat! San Diego, the most southern area, on the other hand, was fairly cool, even cold at times, and it rained one day.

We explored the interesting downtown area of San Diego with its harbor and the fascinating navy ships.

The Midway, an impressive airplane carrier, was built during World War II. It launched right after the war. Standing next to one of those amazing ships is almost scary. Can’t imagine what it must have felt to actually live and work on one of those monsters!

More to come. Stay tuned!

From San Francisco, we drove south to the wine country of Paso Robles, which also happens to be the area where some of my novels in my The Wine Lover’s Daughter series take place and where I did quite a lot of research.

This time, however, we explored another venue. We drove east along Hwy 42 to the James Dean Memorial, the place where the young actor (only 24 years old) was killed in a car accident with his Porsche. There is a nice inn right next to it with memorabilia and photos of the actor. At the same time, a group of classic car fans were there as well. My nephew who is both a James Dean and a classic car fan was very happy about this.

The Paso Robles area has a lot of fun restaurants and shops and my relatives realized soon enough that clothes and shoes were quite a bit cheaper here than in Switzerland. So they shopped till they dropped, then relaxed in a restaurant or at the pool.

The following day, we headed south again to Santa Monica, checked out Hollywood (a must), and then drove to San Diego for a few days.

More to follow.

The next part of our trip was a visit to San Francisco and then a drive south to the Paso Robles wine country.

For my nephew, Rico, and great-nephew, Muriel, this was the first time they experienced the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Most people probably don’t know this, but one of the builders of the bridge was the Swiss-American structural engineer, Othmar Amman, who was also responsible for the design of the George Washington Bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the Bayonne Bridge, and the construction of the Lincoln Tunnel in New York City.

A different Swiss is responsible for the design of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in downtown San Francisco. Mario Botta, from the south of Switzerland, is known for his  fascinating public and private buildings all over the world.

In fact, quite a few Swiss people made their mark in California, one of them being John Sutter (original name Johann August Suter), 19th century settler and colonizer of California. He fled from bankruptcy and financial collapse, leaving his wife and children in Switzerland, and tried to start a new life in California. After gold was discovered on his land, a turbulent personal and public history developed, which ultimately led to his ruin. More about him here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Sutter.

I love the mixture of modern and old architecture in San Francisco, a Romanesque church in front of a ultra-modern building. Somehow, the old and the new coexist in peace here.

Onward: After letting the impressions of this magnificent city sink in, we drove south toward Paso Robles, the wine country, and the James Dean crash site memorial (the latter, a first for me too!). Stay tuned!

I’ve had two intense, exciting, and joyful weeks with my relatives from Switzerland who visited California. They were my nephew, Rico, my niece, Claudia, and her husband Alberto as well as their two children, Risayra and Muriel. For three of them it was the second visit to the United States, but two of them came here for the first time.

The week before their arrival, I was a nervous wreck, afraid they might have problems with the U.S. customs. I read and heard of people, even US citizens, being held back at the border for no valid reason at all. Luckily, they had no problems and arrived after a long flight from Zürich via Düsseldorf to Los Angeles. Here they are, and Auntie Christa is very relieved!


From left to right: Rico, Risayra, Muriel, Alberto, Claudia 

The first few days we spent in Santa Monica, then drove up the coast past Malibu, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo to Cambria, one of my favorite spots along the coast.

In the small town of Cambria we stayed at the Cambria Pines Lodge on the hill above the actual town. I love this rustic place with the gorgeous gardens.

A “Place to Dream” indeed!

During our stay in Cambria, we explored the rugged coast, in particular Piedras Blancas in San Simeon, the place where the elephant seals come to rest, molt, give birth, raise their young and go back out to sea to gather food. It’s a fascinating stretch of coast where you can watch the development of these amazing animals all through the seasons.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to visit Big Sur, another one of my favorite spots along the Californian coast, because of the damaged bridge and other obstacles. We did make it to Ragged Point though, the beginning of the mountain road to Big Sur. I’ve driven past this place many times when heading to Big Sur but never stopped and consequently missed a gorgeous area. This time, however, we took a break and admired the landscape, the cliffs, and the breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean.

Risayra was so inspired that she greeted the location with a yoga pose.

Relaxing after sightseeing!

The next day, we went to San Francisco. Stay tuned, more to follow!

Michel Simonet, a citizen of the town of Fribourg in the French part of Switzerland, went to college, studied theology … and became a street sweeper–yes a street sweeper or street cleaner–in his hometown. Today, he is the most famous street sweeper in Fribourg as well as in whole Switzerland and beyond. Michel Simonet loves his job and wouldn’t want any other kind of work. And this, in spite of the fact, that he published a book, which became a bestseller.

You see, the book is about his thirty years sweeping the streets of Fribourg, meeting and getting to know all kinds of people, from CEOs, CFOs to blue collar workers, mothers and fathers with their children, everyday people with their struggles and joys. All these experiences he collected and wrote about in his book, Une rose et un ballai, in English With a Broom and a Rose.

The book is a lyrical tribute to his profession, a profession he is proud of. The title of the book shows his “trademark”–a rose he gets every morning before starting his work from a flower store and attaches to his wheelbarrow. It symbolizes his work: beauty within ugliness.

And anybody who ever looked down on blue collar worker or minimum wage earners, should take note. Every job, when done well and with pride, deserves our respect.

I’m proud of you, Michel Simonet, not just because you wrote a book but because you contribute to society by making part of our cities more beautiful.

Here is a short article in English and a picture of him: Musings of a Street Cleaner.

Here is a video in French about Michel Simonet: YouTube Video

Article in German: Freiburgs berühmtester Straßenwischer hat ein Buch geschrieben.

Rosmarie Spiegel-Umiker, October 19, 1929 – April 15, 1997

In Memoriam