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Smoke from the Palisades fire…

This is all we saw of it.

God help the residents of Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

We donated some of my mom’s huge collection of sweatshirts to a local nursing home where some of the refugees ended up. I think she would like knowing that they went to keep some people in dire need nice and warm.

The crazy-beautiful Mission Inn…

On our way to a quick getaway to Palm Springs, we stopped in Riverside to have a look at the glorious Mission Inn.

Some of the Christmas decorations were still up.

The William Howard Taft chair, because he was a large guy and needed a tad more room.

Stained glass windows abound throughout the hotel.

The beautiful courtyard (taken up by an insanely overpriced Mexican restaurant).

It has loads of flying buttresses!

The “Anton clock.” It rotates through a series of five figures: a California Indian and grizzly (shown), St. Francis of Assisi, explorer Juan Batista de Anza, and Father Junipero Serra. No, we did not see it in action. It stayed on the Indian and grizzly the whole time we were there.

The outside of the St. Francis of Assisi chapel. I was hoping it would be open when we were there, but it was not. I played a wedding there once, and it was quite a sight, with its Tiffany stained glass, immense, 18th century gold-leafed altar, and enormous wood beams.

A portion of the Flyers Wall, which commemorates the visits of famous aviators.

The creche was still up.

Lots of lovely plaster-work throughout.

It’s a really spectacular place, with endless nooks and crannies full of surprising , quirky, and delightful details.

Highly recommended if you’re in the area.

The colors! The colors!

Had a great New Year’s dinner with Friends-Who-Are-Family, and received an especially warm welcome from the Labradorks. These greetings go something like this:

Or sometimes they just climb on your lap. There are no photos of this happening to me, because everyone was pointing and laughing too hard. Trust me, it was a special experience.

Get a load of all of those Christmas trees in the background. That’s not even all of them. It’s a regular holiday forest!

A grand start to the year. The bar has been set very high indeed.