Alan Fox

The good news is that my son invited me to join him at the first game of the World Series on Friday evening.  More good news – we had great seats behind home plate. Even more good news – the Dodgers came from behind to win on a grand slam home run at the bottom of the 10^th inning.  And in what should have been good news – I got a lot of walking in after the game.

But, that is also the bad news.  I regularly walk about 3,500 steps every day. I expected I would get in all my steps tramping to and from the car in the Dodger parking lot.  What I didn’t expect is that after the game none of us could remember exactly where the car was parked.  The Dodgers Stadium parking lot must hold more than 25,000 cars, including many red Teslas.

So we walked.  And we walked.  And we walked. To no avail.

Finally, I asked Craig and his friend to find the car and then find me. My legs, after about 8,000 steps, felt like rubber.  While I was leaning against a concrete parking cone, I was asked twice by concerned Dodger fans if I needed a ride.  The answer is that I did, but it was coming.  Hopefully soon.

I remember my father, at 95, vowing to never attend a Rose Bowl game with me again – “Too much walking,” he said.

Well, now I feel the same way about the World Series.  The games look great on TV, the commentary is helpful, and the moment they are over I’m already in bed, not walking through the dark to the car.

Daveen was understanding, but then she usually walks more than 8,000 steps every day. (What is she thinking?!!?)

At any rate, I plan to enjoy watching the World Series game tonight in the comfort of my own home.  I will exercise by walking to the kitchen and back.

Alan

Sunday morning Daveen noticed a lot of cars parked on the street in front of our house.

“Someone must be having a party,” she said.

As it turned out, it was a party. A big party! A Street Fair that stretched for many city blocks along Ventura Boulevard.

For lunch Daveen was ordering take-out, but apparently Door Dash wouldn’t allow me to remove the blue cheese from my preferred BLT.  But since I like to kill as many birds as possible with a single stone – I had a bright idea.

Last week ACF signed a new lease at a shopping center we manage in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Our new tenant there is Dave’s Hot Chicken. There is also a Dave’s on Ventura Boulevard not far from our house.

So I decided to take my daily walk to Dave’s, check them out for myself, and enjoy the street fair on my way. Isn’t it wonderful when you can turn an obstacle into an opportunity?

I’m happy to report that Dave’s fried chicken is pretty good, although they seem to think that “light spice” means “lots of spice.”  (It could be me. I just don’t like much spice on my chicken.)  I now believe that their new store in Arkansas will perform well.

Daveen is vegan, so no fried chicken for her. But I appreciated my brief experience of the street fair and next year I’m looking forward to enjoying the fair with Daveen.

Though I’ll probably stick to tacos, and maybe some ice cream.

I’ve lived in Sherman Oaks for more than fifty years. My homes have, until now, always been located on steep hills.  One was even on an unpaved cull de sac. In all those years, I’ve never needed to purchase candy to hand out to trick or treaters.  On Halloween, my doorbell remained unused.

Even four year old children realize that they can collect more CPS (candy per step) on flat streets with many houses close together than on a steep hill with houses further apart.

But last November we moved to a house on a level street only two blocks south of Ventura Boulevard, a major thoroughfare. This year on Halloween, I’m sure we’ll be hearing the doorbell ring often.

When I was a kid my brother and I loved Halloween. But our mother was a stickler about candy. Even at dinner we had to eat all our salad and vegetables to qualify for dessert. But Halloween candy did not appear to be on her radar.  We could gobble down our fill — so long as we did it in our bedroom and not in the kitchen.

I realize now that Mom’s concern about eating sweets was for our benefit. But to this day I check to be sure that vegetables are NOT overcooked (Mom was easily distracted). I’ve also discovered that salad can taste wonderful — when the dressing is more than either lemon juice or just plain vinegar used by Mom. Yuck!

So Daveen — if you’re reading this blog – let’s be sure to buy a bunch of Mars bars (my favorite) at Costco. We don’t want to wake up on November first with TP (toilet paper) dangling from the trees in our front yard.

I may even sample our candy hoard myself.

Alan