A Blast in California—and the Real Thing in Bangkok

While Doris and I were having a blast visiting family members in California over the holidays, Thailand was experiencing the real thing. Eight bombs exploded in several locations throughout Bangkok on New Year’s Eve, some of them not too far from our apartment. Three people died, and 42 were injured. Thai authorities cancelled all public celebrations for New Year’s Eve after the first devices went off. As I’m writing this, no one has yet claimed responsibility for the explosions. The most likely candidates are politicians who lost power in the coup that toppled the government last September, as well as Muslim insurgents from the three southernmost provinces in Thailand. The latter group has denied any involvement, and police investigations are continuing.

I frankly don’t feel too concerned about our safety here in Bangkok. I naturally hope the bombings don’t continue, and so far they haven’t. To put them in perspective, though, it’s worth considering that, according to the Bangkok Post, the number of people killed on highways throughout Thailand over four days of New Year’s celebrations totaled 275 (11 died in Bangkok alone), with an additional 3,067 people being hospitalized for injuries.

In any event, we're still glad we missed the excitement here in Bangkok. We instead were thoroughly enjoying visits with family members and friends in the States. We celebrated Christmas with Jeff/Katy, and Kurt/Karen/Peter, in Sunnyvale, California. I’m including a few pictures below from our time there. Our excruciatingly cute eight-month-old grandson Peter naturally was the focus of much of our attention.

We then traveled with Jeff and Katy to Lake Arrowhead, CA, where Katy’s parents (George and Ann) own a spacious and beautiful house in the mountains above Los Angeles. Among other things, we had some great meals together...

... watched the Rose Parade floats being constructed and attended the Rose Parade (in gorgeous but nippy weather) ...

... and endured watching on TV as UM lost another Rose Bowl game. We all were decked out in UM regalia, courtesy of George and Ann, but this obviously wasn't enough to prevent a humiliating performance against USC.