Road Gypsies - Val & Holland

Thursday, November 20, 2025

HANFORD-CA

This morning we were up bright and early - and on our way to Hanford-CA by 8:30 AM: I was going to order new glasses frames & lens - and to drop off the preemie/newborn items I had recently worked up for the pregnancy center. I had planned to go alone (though it's a freeway ordeal, the drive is not complicated), but I'm glad Holland opted to drive me.

BRR! 43-degrees 😳 this morning.

Clothes went on without a struggle - humidity was low, so fabric did not stick and refuse to budge upwards, every inch; that was a morning blessing 👏

Makeup stayed in place and did not melt off my face. Another morning blessing 👍

Glittery 'Illusion' browline; Sparkly burgundy eyeshadow & upper liner; Glittery 'Lionheart' eye crease; Sparkly lead bottom liner.

Auburn' brow gel; 'Deep Violet' Mascara; 'Nude Burn' blush gel; #127 L'Oréal Lipstick.

My hair, though, put up a fuss 😒 - there was so much static in the air, that any attempt to brush it into shape ended up resembling albert einstein's crazy hair:

I finally just let it lay where it would 🤷‍♀️, tamed it with hairspray … and off we drove.

Ready to roll …

The drive through orchard's between here and there got a little dicey as Holland drove carefully through heavy fog patches 🤠

Wal*Mart Superstore, Hanford-CA from Almond Oasis RV Park; 38 min (32.7 mi) via W Jayne Ave, Avenal Cutoff Rd and CA-198 E

Heavy, low-lying fog; Hwy #41-CA

The new frames I ordered - Holland said, "They are definitely you" 😁

Frames chosen 👓, Len's measured and added to the order form, & the tally settled, I joined Holland in the 4x and we went looking for the little diamonds 🙏 drop off 🎁 locale 😉

Pregnancy Center from Wal*Mart Superstore, Hanford-CA; 7 min (1.9 mi) via Mall Dr and W Lacey Blvd

Oooh! Holiday Decorations were going up all over old town Hanford.

Colorful little heralds of Fall, outside the Pregnancy Center building.

Then because I was oohing and ahhing over the architecture, Holland drove me 😘 around old town downtown, so I could drool over the old brickwork, ogle the Victorian homes, and school him on art deco construction .. and come home with collected 📸 memories 😊

Hanford, CA's history began as a Chinese sheepherder's camp before being established in 1877 when the Southern Pacific Railway arrived, with the city incorporated in 1891. The city was named after railroad auditor James Madison Hanford and grew into a significant agricultural and commercial center in the San Joaquin Valley. Noteworthy historical elements include the historic Kings County Courthouse (1896), China Alley (dating to 1877), and the 1925 Hanford Auditorium.

What's in a name? Hanford's history: https://hanfordsentinel.com/lifestyles/whats-in-a-name-hanfords-history-is-all-around-you/article_8e1d82aa-3424-5c5f-9921-56271e9b21ff.html

A relic from the Past we both remembered - Holland says it is being revamped.

Movie Theatre; Old Town, Hanford-CA

Hanford's Fox Theater, 1929 Original design with Spanish style tower.

Hanford's Fox Theater:

(https://www.historictheatrephotos.com/Theatre/Fox-Hanford.aspx)

Hanford Opera House Apartments on Main Street; & picture of the original three-story brick Opera House with Keller's Pharmacy on corner of Seventh and Irwin Streets: (https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/42729)
Opera House interior layout before it was converted into a housing development.
Can't find any history on this building, but today this building is now an antique thrift-store-community event center; Handford-CA
I love the look & feel of old brickwork.

Old Town Hanford-CA
Hanford, California:
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford,_California)

The Hanford Auditorium:
(https://hanfordsentinel.com/lifestyles/civic-auditorium-the-center-of-hanford-in-every-way/article_ce2e1931-450c-502d-9b74-f3f4e9cc1888.html#3)

Holiday prepping going on today …

Signs of Winter overhead …
Signs of Fall, at my feet.
Backside of the Kings County Courthouse.
The Kings County Courthouse was erected after Kings County was formed; it opened in 1896. Constructed in an eclectic mix of styles in a park in the center of Hanford, it was expanded in 1914. The building served as the county's courthouse until 1976 when it was replaced by the new Kings County Government Center on West Lacey Boulevard (https://kmph.com/news/local/sale-of-historic-hanford-building-finalized)

Vintage carousel set up in the Park surrounding the Kings County Courthouse. Built in 1939, this restored Allan Herschell wooden carousel features horses, 2 chariots & art deco details.
Leaving, I caught sight of this, and thought what a shame so much brickwork was covered over by something so plain and indurable.

We left Hanford for home, around 10:45 AM … and just lazed around the house after we got back home: light sandwich 🥖 lunch, individual pursuits ☕️💻🎬, a short refreshing 😴 period - and a comfortable domesticity 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 as the evening approached.

RV Park, from Pregnancy Center, Hanford-CA; 38 min (34.0 mi) via CA-198 W, Avenal Cutoff Rd and W Jayne Ave

Fog was still lingering over the fields as we returned home along Hw #41-CA

Soon these orchard trees will be bare limbed; CA-198 W, Avenal Cutoff Rd and W Jayne Ave

Back home and comfy, I listened to Victor Davis Hanson while working up more rows on my current WIP

Victor Davis Hanson:

(https://www.hoover.org/profiles/victor-davis-hanson)

We are both diamonds 😘 in the rough 🤠🙄 trying to strike ✌️ 🤝🤞 the perfect friction ☝️👌 needed to perfect the outcome - without burning the house down around us 🙏🕊️

Talking Heads - 'Burning Down the House' Lyrics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InwJPETSOnU

We both know, and have said in unison - tonight, as a matter of fact: "We know God knows our future, so when we keep our eyes on Him & trust His outcome, we'll be okay."

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

HANGING; Coalinga-CA

So true.

Holland & I had this very conversation the other Day.

I don't hang with people who treat me badly - and I don't waste my precious time on people who aren't worth my time (meaning they treat me badly to my face & behind my back): they don't hog my phone time, they don't cross my threshold, and they don't rent space in my head.

Doesn't matter who they are: parents, siblings, cousins, children, grandchildren, in-laws … ect. If they are rotten people, they do not get to foul up the Life I am creating in the Now.

My immediate circle is small - very small. It is made up of people who spread love like confetti because they have good souls. They will pray for me when asked … without phishing for details to gossip about, instead of praying as requested. We will walk beside each other in silence - just to share presence and offer loving support. We are kind and gentle with each other: because we have, individually, experienced unspeakable pain and gone through harrowing hardships others cannot even in their wildest dreams conceive of. We lavish each other with what the world has savagely withheld.

A wider circle with a larger number of people bringing so much turbulent chaos with them, would not be peaceful. Looking over my shoulder is not how I want to spend my time. Worrying about a Judas kiss, or who is an axe welder, is not how I want to engage with those I surround myself with.

And I don't understand WHY anyone would.

TREMORS; Coalinga-CA

I woke up this morning thinking we needed to get out of the house for a bit to breathe fresh air. There is a break in the rainfall, and it would be refreshing to get some outside air.

While drinking my coffee ☕️, noticing that Minerva had fully unfurled during the early morning hours, & watching my husband snooze 😴 (and thankful his body was resting) … I felt Independence rock 🤔🙏🤞 - not crazily, but definitely more intently than the nearby freeway vibration. I thought, "I think this is an earthquake tremor." But it wasn't concerning enough to wake Holland. I did mention it though when he woke up about an hour later.

Minerva has burst into bloom, overnight; weeks before Christmas & 12 days after purchase; Coalinga-CA

And sure enough: it had been an earthquake tremor:

{{An earthquake struck California's Central Coast on Tuesday, sending shockwaves hundreds of miles across the region.

The 4.1 magnitude shake was recorded at 9.45am PT (12.54pm ET), pinpointing the epicenter near Templeton.

Tremors were reported up and down the coastline, from Salinas in the north to Lompoc in the south.

The earthquake, according to the government's rating system, produced moderate, noticeable jolts that could have shattered windows and overturned unstable objects.

So far, more than 600 people have reported feeling the tremor to the US Geological Survey (USGS), and that number is still climbing.

The quake's location immediately sparked fears of a potential tsunami, but the USGS later confirmed there was 'No Tsunami Warning, Advisory, Watch, or Threat.'

Officials in British Columbia, Canada informed its citizens of the California earthquake, noting 'There is NO tsunami threat to BC.'

The USGS has warned there is a 21 percent chance of a magnitude 3 or higher earthquake striking in the next week, along with a three percent chance of a magnitude 4 or higher in the same timeframe.

Today's earthquake region.

Powerful earthquake slams California sending shockwaves hundreds of miles up the coast:

(https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/powerful-earthquake-slams-california-sending-shockwaves-hundreds-of-miles-up-the-coast/ar-AA1QGlQr?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=21060c7a0254413da6858a6f7bca25a2&ei=5)

Templeton is located near the San Andreas Fault, which is the major plate boundary responsible for California's seismic activity.

'The San Andreas Fault can generate the region's largest magnitude earthquakes (up to about M8.2),' said the USGS.

'The most recent 'Big One' on this fault in southern California was the M7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake of 1857, which was strongly felt throughout Los Angeles.'

Today's quake received a 'MMI V' rating, according to the USGS's ShakeMap.

Experts are 'fairly confident that there could be a pretty large earthquake at some point in the next 30 years,' Angie Lux, project scientist for Earthquake Early Warning at the Berkeley Seismology Lab, previously told the Daily Mail.

Experts predict the 'Big One' would cause roughly 1,800 deaths, 50,000 injuries and $200 billion in damages, according to the Great California Shakeout.

Based on historical trends, it's estimated that the San Andreas causes a major quake every 150 or so years, and the last one was 167 years ago.

California is the third most seismically active US state, following Hawaii and Alaska.

Data shows that so far this year, California has experienced more than 14,000 tremors, compared to Alaska, which is nearing 60,000.

Tremors outreach areas.

Coalinga-CA is located in the tremors outreach area.

However, California experiences more earthquakes that cause damage due to its higher population and extensive infrastructure.

'Southern California is also home to small areas of volcanic and geothermal activity, including Coso, north of Ridgecrest, and in the area south of the Salton Sea,' the USGS said.

'In these areas, hot fluid or magma is moving through the crust, causing local stresses and fracture movement.

'These areas frequently experience seismic swarms, which are clusters of earthquakes that have no clear mainshock.

'They may consist of many thousands of events and can last for hours, days, or years. Seismic swarms are also observed elsewhere in southern California, indicating localized movement of crustal fluids.'}}

After Holland had fully woken & drained his coffee mug, he had the same thought of getting out of the house or a bit 😊; so, we did 😘

As we were leaving the Park, I noticed an intriguing symbolism in the overhanging clouds …

Message in the clouds …

The Hebrew letter tav (ת) is the 22nd and final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, pronounced like the English 't'. It means "mark" or "sign" and is symbolically associated with completion, truth, and covenant faithfulness - it is also linked to the concept of a seal of a covenant, like the mark placed on the foreheads of the righteous in the Book of Ezekiel. The letter's ancient form was a cross, and it evolved from a pictograph of crossed sticks, later influencing the Greek and Latin T.

I love these love messages from Elohim 💖🕊️

Tomorrow I go into Hanford to see about new eyewear - I'm taking my fancy pair, too, in hopes 🙏 they can salvage the lens and order the same frames; I don't need a full exam, just a new frame, and I'm partial to the fancy glittery ones I wear, now 😉