Sat. 6-2-18

Can you believe it, another month has gone by? Time goes by so fast when you're looking backward and when you're looking forward it moves so slow.

I got a really nice surprise this past week. UPS came by and they had a big package for me. I opened it up and it was a beautiful quilt that my longtime good friend Susie made for me. A little bit of a background for everybody. Susie was my first serious girlfriend. I was only 17 years old. You know when we look back 17 is so young and lacking in life experiences, but when you are 17 you think you're so grown up and you know everything. Back to the story, I met Susie her friends and her parents while vacationing in Yosemite. I joined the United States Coast Guard before I finished high school, with the caveat that I would not go to boot camp until after high school. I graduated in 1964 and in June of that year we went to Yosemite and that's where I met Susie. The next month July 7, 1964, I flew up from San Diego to Alameda California to start my tour of duty in the United States Coast Guard.

Long story short, we started writing while I was in boot camp and after I finished my training we continued our correspondence and I used to drive up to Susie's mom and dad's house in Northridge California which is in San Fernando Valley. I remember it was 169 miles from my house to her house. I made the trip so many times back and forth and I would spend the weekend at her parents home and they were so nice to me and long-suffering because I was well unsaved. We stayed friends throughout 5 decades. Susie married Bruce and when they come down to San Diego area we would meet with them or as in the case last summer I went to visit them at the RV park they were staying at right on the Bay.

I talk to Susie usually on Fridays when she's on her way to her sewing class. The name of her sewing class is, "Stitch and Bitch". It's such an apropo name for a sewing circle. I googled it to get a little background and was really surprised to find out that the Stitch and Bitch name goes all the way back to World War II when the ladies use to gather together in a sewing circle and talk about events that are going on and there's over 1400 of these by the same title in over 280 cities around the world.

I want to show you some pictures of this quilt because it's incredible.

Here is the other side and it's just as beautiful.

Each one of these little shirts that you see is a different Hawaiian print. It's hard for me to imagine how much time it took to make this.

I've done some sewing in the past 50 years, having been in the upholstering business. So I took a close look at all the seams and how Susie made this and I am very impressed. Her attention to detail is just incredible! I wish I had a place to wall mount the quilt because it's so beautiful.

I don't know if you remember, but when Harriet was really sick during the final couple of months, I was paying all my attention to her and there is a little plant that's on her side of the bed on her nightstand that I failed to water and it was dying. It lasted a couple more months until I realized it needed water and then I started watering it and then giving it some of that Miracle Grow. This is a picture I took a little over 2 years ago, the plant had recovered except for that little one strand that I had to cut off because it was dead.

Then about a year ago we tried an experiment, I pivoted the plant 180° to see if it would turn by itself to the light.  Now look at the picture below, I have not done anything to this except for water it and this plant is literally climbing out the window through the shutters, check it out. I think this is amazing!

I'm taking Samuel and Ethan for an outing this morning. A few weeks ago I took them out to teach them to fly my drone. Samuel is 11 years old and he has the skills and coordination, but Ethan is a little bit too young yet to put it all together. I know that he'll do well when he gets a little bit older. And my teaching them is under strict supervision for a number of reasons for safety number one and also because there is a certain dollar amount invested in these  drones.

It's been almost 3 years since Harriet died. I just don't think I'll ever get over missing her. Harriet is truly a Proverbs 31 woman. If you don't know what that means read the Book of Proverbs chapter 31 starting at verse 10 through the end of the chapter. Verse 10 goes like this, "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Harriet was/is the treasure of my life.

Maranatha,
Frank

Sat. May 5th

Today is Cinco de Mayo. I think the gringos celebrate this more than they do in Mexico.

What went on last month? Not a whole lot. So, what's new? Well, the waves have been really small the entire month of April. So my friend Larry and I have not gone out and done many drone videos of the surfers.

I am still teaching the Bible class on Monday nights and I've got a new job at church. I've always been interested in the technology, even back to elementary school 5th and 6th grade I used to run the projector. This is when you had to thread the film through the projector from reel to reel if you remember those. I'm volunteering to work in the sound booth at church. They have one lady there that has been doing the live streaming for quite some time without any relief. There are 3 separate cameras that are controlled by remote control, it's very cool. So I learned about it and the last 2 Sundays I was doing the live streaming. This way I can alternate with Michelle and give her a break. I've come to the realization that when you're working in the sound booth it's hard to focus on what the pastor is saying, because you are trying to make everything come out perfect on the technology side.

I remember pastor Tony senior said 25 years ago that if you have a job in the church you need to serve during one service and then sit down and listen and participate in a 2nd service. I think that's wise advice.

Today I take the boys to the new Avengers movie. I really enjoy spending time with them and they are so much fun. Something I'm not mentioned is how much I appreciate Joe and Hilda watching out for me and taking care of me. If I need something that I can't order on Amazon, I just take a picture of it and send a text to Hilda and the next time she goes shopping she buys it for me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. It's because when I go into the grocery store, it's like "Boldly going where no man is gone before". Now, if you can get groceries at Home Depot, I'm good. I know where everything is at Home Depot, but when I go to Vons grocery store, I'm lost. So, I really appreciate all that Joe and Hilda do for me.

Which brings to mind all the kindnesses that Harriet did for my dad. My mother died in 1985 and my father lived for another 23 years. Harriet was so kind to him. My dad loved Harriet's enchiladas. Harriet would do for my dad, all the things that Hilda is doing for me. I'm very thankful for Joe and Hilda and of course Harriet, taking care of my dad was very special. Harruet also made some of the Hungarian cookies and desserts that my mom used to make. My mom showed Harriet how to make certain desserts and of course one Harrit made those desserts I would take some over to my dad and he had this cute little saying, "these are too good for me". My father communicated pretty well, but he was an adult when he came to the United States so there was always some problems in sentence structure. Heck I still have problems with sentence structure. I'm going to give you a classic, line that my dad used to say. "You know more, then I don't know"
think about it........

With those words of wisdom, I leave you for another month.

Maranatha,
Frank

Some of my favorite Pictures

April 1, Sat./Sun.

I told you I was going to write this blog on the first Saturday of the month but since April 1 is tomorrow I thought I would do the blog today while things are still fresh in my mind (sort of).

Our dear Sister Lois Spain went home to be with the Lord a little over a week ago. If you know Lois, you know that she was a hard-working lady and I believe we all enjoyed her blog posts every Thursday morning. She will be missed, but as Paul the apostle would say, "We are not like those who have no hope". Our hope and trust is in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he is the firstfruits of the resurrection. Can I hear and amen?

Our daughter Sarah and her husband and kids came to San Diego for a week and they just left this past Tuesday. We had a really nice time. I promised Lilly, their oldest daughter that we would eat our way across San Diego from one Mexican restaurant to another and we did. We didn't get to try them all, but we kept everyone well fed.

My plan was to feed them breakfast each morning before we went on the outing so I set the dining room table as you can see with all the important things as Harriet would and I of course added the Mountain Dew for breakfast nothing like that hits the spot.

The kids all wanted to go to the ocean, so we drove up to Del Mar and drove north on the old Pacific Highway. We ended up having lunch at Las Olas which of course is a Mexican restaurant almost across the street from Cardiff state beach.

Going around the table starting from the front left side is Madeleine, then we have Lilly who is the oldest, Morgan who's next oldest and Aunree who is the youngest. At the head of the table is our son Daniel, then we have Hans and Sarah. After lunch we went to Cardiff and the kids got to put their toes in the water. Really the water was too cold for them to go in because they're not used to 58° water temperature. 

The next day we had lunch at Sarah's favorite Mexican restaurant. It is called Ponce's and it's in Kensington. She grew up eating this food and she really loves it. We invited on the right-hand side of the table you will see Larry, Diana and her husband Bob whose just starting to grow beard. Great food!

 Last Saturday, I had all the kids over to my house and we had movie time at grandpas. I usually take Samuel and Ethan who are at the right end of the sofa and I thought it would be fun to add the cousins. I made Natchoes for them and they ate and ate and loved it along with popsicles and cherry coke. Do I know how to spoil these kids are what?

 Later on that day we met at Marietta in Santee. Unfortunately I did not get a picture. Joe and Hilda and the boys met us at Marietta's. We had a really nice time. I really enjoyed having them here and I thought the kids were just fantastic! Now I know everybody thinks their grandkids are the best,  right?

My only regret, as I told Sarah is that her mother was not here to enjoy seeing her and the entire family. It's hard to do family things when your spouse is not here anymore and we used to do all these things together.

Okay enough of that emotional dribble. Here's a picture of my favorite wife. Boy I was really a porker in this picture. But you'll notice Harriet is looking good!

 That's it for this month, I hope that you'll be able to go to church tomorrow morning, it is Easter and if you only go once or twice a year this is your time. Reflect on what Jesus did and because of the hope that we have in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can be alive with him.

Frank

3-3-18 Sat.

Good morning everybody! Things are going pretty well. I don't think I've mentioned this but before I went to Hawaii in November my primary physician talk me into getting a flu shot, which I've never had before. I guess it's working because so many people have gotten sick with the flu and this is the first time I've dodged the bullet. I don't know how you feel about those shots, but not sure how well they work.

I made a number of surf videos earlier this month and then the waves went flat. From 0 to 2 feet, very small. Looking forward to a winter swell. Larry and I have been going up to Cardiff during the month of February. I miss my friends from Del Mar. I surf with my friend Ken for over 20 years, he's really a good guy and I miss those mornings where we'd paddle out together and sit out in the lineup at dawn. Now we're going up to Cardiff state beach and we get up there about 9:45 AM. It's completely different videoing with the sun shining, we've not had to deal with that because we would go so early in the morning. But, I will say that it is a lot nicer to video when the sun is out, shining on the water and look so beautiful and Larry & I are not freezing.

Today I get to go and pick up Samuel and Ethan. I'm bringing them over to my home this morning. We will watch an episode of The Flash, superhero on Netflix. There's no bad language or nudity, so it's safe for my boys. I've got of couple of pictures from the last time they were at my house. I feed him Natchoes, popcorn and a cherry coke. Today after our little outing I will take them to In-N-Out hamburgers, one of Ethan's favorite places to eat, isn't it everybody's?

 I was looking through my work computer which I brought to my home after I retired last year and I found some pictures that I can't remember if I've used these before, but if I did it was early on a few years ago so I'm using them again. When Harriet and I stayed in Waikiki, one of our earlier trips we found this little park that's about a 10 minute drive on the other side of Diamondhead in Kahala. Most of the times when we would go there there was hardly anybody around. We would take our books and read and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

 As you can see from these pictures looking down the beach in either direction, there's nobody around. It was a really nice place of solitude and beauty and we spent many hours there enjoying it.

Often times when we get there at the end of summer they would have a surf contest and Harriet enjoyed going down to the beach with me and watching the tandem surfers. Very talented and it was always amazing what they could do on the waves.

This is a picture of Harriet and her mother at my father's 94th birthday which would be in April 2008. I sure miss my girl! I really try not to dwell on it, because it makes me sad that she's not here. And I don't want to go down that dark hole. The good news is that we are not as those that have no hope, as Paul the apostle would write. This past Wednesday we had the funeral for my good friend Larry and Judy's mom died and went home to be with the Lord. Larry and Judy asked me to do the service and it's always a reminder of how fragile and short-lived our lives are, with no guarantee that will be here the next day.

The big news for the month of March is that our daughter Sarah, Hans and the entire family are coming to visit us for a week at the end of the month. So, I should have lots of pictures for you next month when I do this blog.

There is one more thing I want to say, Maranatha!
Frank

2-3-18 Sat.

Did you miss me? Just kidding. During this past month we started up our Bible study again at church on Monday nights. It's always great to have a Bible study.

During the past couple of weeks I've been heading up to a different surf spot. We been going up to Cardiff state beach. If you haven't seen any of the videos and you like surfing or the ocean, you might go to my YouTube channel, all you have to do is type in my name Frank Kovacs and click on my picture. Here's a couple of pictures I took.
The first picture was taken on 19 January.

The next picture is a guy I took this a couple of days ago and is hanging 5.

The next picture was taken yesterday morning by my friend Larry and this guy in the pictures name is Joel Tudor. I'm not sure about the spelling of his last name but I think that's close. This guy is really a fantastic surfer. He's hanging 10 and leaning out in front of his surfboard arching his back. I am uploading the video to YouTube right now and it should be ready later on today if you want to see the entire ride.

This morning I have a church function to go to so I'm won't be with the grandkids. I took him to the formally known as the Family Fun Center upon Clairemont Mesa Boulevard last Saturday. Samuel is old enough to drive one of the little go carts by himself and Ethan sits beside him very cute.

God bless you I hope that you have a great month and if anything exciting happens out of the normal I will let you know.

Maranatha,
Frank
Yes I Miss My Girl!

1-13-18 Sat.

How about the rain we got this week? I think we get about 2 1/2 inches of rain in 2 days in East County. Larry and I were going to go flying on Wednesday, but that is the day the rain really started to come down. It pretty much rained for 2 days and it takes a while for the ocean to come down from the storm. It looks like Tuesday will be a big day for surf. I'm sure Larry and I will be out there getting some videos.

I'm taking the boys to see a PG movie this morning called Pennington 2. It's one of those half animated half real people movies and it looks really cute.

On Monday evening we start our Bible study. It's very nice of Pastor Jack to let us use the sanctuary and will be starting off with the Book of Daniel. I know we've done this before, but there's been a lot of world events that have transpired and that like to bring it all together during the Bible study.

I've been thinking about this blog this past week and I'm going to go to a once a month blog post, the first Saturday of each month, that will recap the previous month. It's so hard to come up with interesting things when life is so repetitious. You know when I go to Hawaii on vacation, then there's some interesting pictures and things to share with you. But, as you know, when we're at home we pretty much do the same things each week.


Bill and Corinne took me to a little Mexican restaurant in barrio Logan. I've included a picture of the restaurant. We got there at 11 AM and there was a line out the front door and when we left an hour later there was a longer line out the front door. Very popular place to eat it was a very good experience. If you're ever down that way you might want to check it out.

I hope you have a great weekend and Maranatha!

Frank

1-6-18 Sat.

This past week I spent a few days working over at my dads house. My friend Bob, his been helping me. Doing some upgrades.

Larry and I went to the beach yesterday morning and it was such a beautiful morning! Ideal conditions. The waves were not aligned perfectly but it was better than it's been for a while. Here's a couple of pictures. The first one I took and there's about a three quarter moon still above the horizon when we got there.

 

This is what it look like 2 hours later, the sun was shining brightly, the water was glassy, just all around good conditions.

 

You know it really bugs me? When you're used to doing something and everything works out on your computer and then all of a sudden the next time you use the computer, that same technique does not work. I'll tell you what I'm talking about specifically I just inserted the 2nd picture from the beach and my computer would not allow me to get the cursor past the picture. I know, it sounds like no big deal. But, I've been doing this blog for over 2 years and doing it the same way and now something's changed, and it's not me. I guess I just like things to work the way they are supposed to. The way I got around it and got the picture where I wanted it I left a few blank lines and then started typing again. Then I inserted the picture into that space.

My grandchildren have recuperated from their colds. You know how it is in the family when someone gets a cold  and passes around. I really missed seeing them. I'm taking them to an outing this morning and it will be lots of fun. I really enjoy spending time with them, they're such great kids. But, I guess all grandparents say that don't they?

I'm looking forward to seeing Sarah and the family in February. They'll be a lot of fun. The kids want to learn how to fly the drones and go to the beach with me. I've already warned him it's dark when we leave the house.

I hope you have a great weekend, Maranatha!
Frank

Harriet and Ethan  

My Girl