I've been lucky in my career as a draftsman to have worked on some interesting projects, and not the least of which was the Carmel Mission Basilica in Carmel, California. In preparation of Pope John Paul II's visit in 1987, when he said Mass and laid a wreath at the grave of Father Junipero Serra, a loft was designed at the rear of the church to support an organ, and I had the distinction of drawing the structural plans for same. It was fascinating working with very old plans--24" thick adobe walls are something I usually don't deal with.

Coincidently, until about 1964, when I was a practicing Catholic and prior to becomming a Baha'i, I used to attend Mass there, and more often than not, I stood at the back of the Basilica beneath the spot the loft would eventually occupy.

Dance Hall at Arles

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Dance Hall at Arles –Vincent Van Gogh

The last dance at the Mountaineers Club, just down the street from the Space Needle in Seattle was held on Halloween, and I’m sure by now the wrecking ball has leveled the place to make way for the tower of condominiums planned for the site.


Last Dance in the Cascade Room

The place had a special significance for me, as I spent many hours on that hardwood floor dancing West Coast Swing.

Can you guess what this is?

I'm not sure whether it's the beauty of the machine, or the adventure I had every time I fired up my '84 FLH, but I want this Softail Deluxe.

All things considered, it aint gonna happen!

A Good Place to Start. *
This is a wonderful painting by S.C. Yuan of the Monterey Bay as seen from Carmel Hill. The significance of the place and the artist to my experience is extraordinary. Certainly most important to me is the fact that both my children were born on that hill near that spot. It is also the place where I officially declared myself a Bahá'í in the year 1968.

Coincidentally, in 1966, I was taking a geology class at Monterey Peninsula College, and when returning from a field trip to Point Lobos, one little man in the car proclaimed, as we crested the hill, "This looks exactly like my homeland!" I asked where that was, and he replied that it was Haifa, Israel.

How could I possibly know that 24 years later, on my Bahá'í pilgrimage, when standing atop Mount Carmel in Haifa, I would exclaim: "this looks exactly like my homeland!"













Haifa, Israel