I saw that he was slicing a tomato and each slice was like the last one: same size, clean cut, and not a waste of the tomato. I asked him, how he did it. " Very easy," was his reply, "I will show you."

"You do not grab the tomato and just start cutting. First, you wash the tomato and place it on a cutting board." He said while drying his hands. "Don't cut it on the sink, you can dull your knife. Always, if you can, use a cutting board." he said while taking his knife and checking to see how sharp it is.

"Do not hold the tomato in your hand or with your fingers, place the tomato on your board and then press on it with you finger tips--finger tips curved inward, cut next to the knuckles with a sliding method, while pressing slightly down with the finger tips, so the tomato does not slip out." By cutting a tomato, or any vegetable this way, you would not cut your hand, fingers, finger tips, or your knuckles.

The cutting blades on knives are made to do different things: Knives with teeth are made to do sawing; no teeth, are made to cut when pushed down. When you go to carve a piece of meat and you want each piece to look good, you first make a sideway cut--make sure that this slice is clean to the middle of the meat. Then cut little slices straight down. Do not use a knife, if you can, with teeth--most of the time it will chop-up the meat

This local Foster City chef said, "I showed you the basic cutting technique, and now it's up to you to observe and practice.

After trying what he explained to me, my cutting skills showed great improvement: it was easier to slice meat, and I became faster in slicing food.

This small skill, about carving, gave me more confidence and skill in preparing food. Try it, and let me know what you think.

There are many places to go to in Northern California: the beach, the mountains, or the city. From Foster City, you can take a short ride to the beach, forty-five minutes; to the Sierras, about two and half-hours; or a city, thirty minutes.

Because the weather turned nice and because of the cost of gas, we decided to go to a place where it's nice in the morning, warm in the afternoon, and somewhat cool at night--that's right, Yosemite: In Yosemite Valley, you park your car because you can't drive around, it is one way to save gas.

After we drove in to the parking lot at Yosemite Lodge, we registered and settled in to our room. Now we are here in Yosemite, what is there to do? We could spend time walking around, we could rent bicycles, or we could take a tour on the tour buses. Because we could take a quick tour around Yosemite Valley to get an idea on where we could spend time investigating--Mirror Lake, Half-Dome, the valley meadow, the museum,etc., we decided to take a tour bus.

When you go to Yosemite, you can have several adventures. One, getting there, if you stop to visit California's history sites; two, just walking around the valley floor and observe what's going on.

The best way, in our opinion, to go to Yosemite is on Highway 120. It is cooler and more scenic. If you go in on Highway 40, you have to spend more time in the California Central Valley's heat, which could get up into three-digits. On one of our trips to Yosemite, along Highway 120, we stopped at the Moccasin Fish Hatchery, and looked at the trout that they were going to plant the next day.

These trout, several hundred, were kept in a holding tank. In the morning, they would be placed in a special truck: a big regulated type of tank, on the bed of the truck, that would take the fish to an area like a lake, a stream, a river, or a pond to be released. These trout, from the fish hatchery, would be planted early in the summer and sometimes late in the year so that they could grow all summer or all winter, before a fisherman catches them.

Several years ago, a fish poacher tried fishing at the fish hatchery, of course he was arrested--illegal fishing, fishing without a fishing license, and fishing late at night. But what he did not know, with a trout license, and permission, you can fish below the fish hatchery spillway.

After our tour on the bus, we went back to our room. My wife was going to take a nap, and I decided, with my daughter, to take a walk to a close-by meadow. It was late in the afternoon, and we were told that the animals would be there feeding.

As we were walking along the side of the road, to the meadow, we past a ranger's patrol car with the park ranger standing along side it. As we passed, he yelled, "High Sid!" I turned around and it was a ranger, who I worked with several times, when I was a sheriff deputy for Tuolumne County.

We walked back and talked for a few minutes. I introduced my daughter to the ranger. He said, "You want to see something? Look at that deer. Now, look at the people who stopped their car. See them getting out, the driver has food in his hand. He, probably, going to approach the deer to give it the food. Look, the deer is going to take it." When the deer went to take the food, the driver yank it away. He looked at the people from the car and started to laugh. Again, he held out his hand for the deer to take the food, and when the deer went to take it, he pulled it away. He turned to the car, where the passengers were standing outside and laughed. For the third time, he held out the food for the deer. This time, the deer leaned on its hind legs and jumped towards the man, with its front hoofs aimed at him--but missed by a few inches.

The driver saw us standing near the patrol car talking, and he ran up to us screaming, "The...deer attacked me, the deer attacked me! Did you see that?" The ranger said that he saw what happened, "What do you want me to do?" "Shoot it, it's dangerous." "Ok, but first, I'm giving you two citations: one, for feeding wild animals; and two, for teasing wild animals. Now, I take your suggestion under consideration."

I said to the ranger, "Your busy. I will talk to you later. Here's our room number at the lodge." My daughter and I stayed at the meadow for a while longer, and them went back to the lodge.

Like I said earlier, you can always find adventure, if you want to, when you go on a family vacation.

Several days earlier a carnival comes into town and sets up its rides, so the local safety-agencies can make sure everything is safe. Discount tickets are sold at the local recreation center from the fifth of May until the 30th of May.

It's fun to walk up and down Shell Blvd, where the crafts booths are set up, just to hear the barter that people use to sell their goods. The smell of the different types of food drives a normal person to the food booths: Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Hawaiian, and Foster City's famous Rotary Club Barbeque are sold near the recreation center's parking lot.

The wine tasting booths, which have wine from several California's vineyards, where you can get your wine in memorial type glasses, are located through out the festival. We have our memorial wine glasses from the first time we set foot in Foster City, 1980.

Demonstrations--dance groups, police dogs, and the local fire department--are performed near the recreation center and near Shell and East. Hillsdale Blvd. As I said that this is a great time to spend in Foster City, California. For more information about Foster City's "Arts and Wine Festival" dial: (650) 573-7600.

It's free for the residents of Foster City, as long as they obey the rules that they have set: keep the gates close and secured; pick up all the poop; and keep an eye on your dog so that there's no dog-fights.

My daughter and her husband took our little dog, Sparky, and his little friend, Angelina, their daughter, to the park. No sooner that they got there, Sparky jumped out of my daughters hand and took of running. They said that the dog just wanted to run, run, and run. When they caught Sparky they gave him to their little daughter to hold. Within minutes, he got away and took off running. "He would not stop," according to my daughter, "he just kept on running."

Talking to a man sitting in a chair--he was reading a book( Kerplunk, by Pat McManus) while his dog was playing; and he did not want his name mentioned), said, " I like bringing my dog to the dog-run. I can sit and read a book or newspaper
and not be too worried about 'Bro', my dog. Darn it! He did it again. Excuse me!"

That is the only real problem, according to several people, that there is here at the run. The other one is to make sure that the gates are closed and secured.

Oh! I forgot to mention: there are two sections for dogs. One is for big dogs, and one for small dogs. Can you guess which one looks like it gets the most use? That's right! The area for the small dogs. Does this indicate that there are more small dogs in Foster City than big ones?

It's the second time in three days "The Flower Of The Woods" have let us known that they are in Foster City, CA.

When the weather gets warm and animals roam for food, when an eye-bothering oder strikes your eyes--you can almost be sure that a skunk is around.

Many of these little critters, skunks, look and act cute, but two things go wrong when they are near-by. One, the smell would drive you and your friend up a raging river; and second, most dangerous, when they are rabid--which can be a deadly virus to other animals and to human beings too, if they are not treated right away.

So far this year, rabid skunks have been found in the foothills of the Sierras. But the alarming thing is that rabid skunks spike almost every seven-plus-years. There were about fourteen rabid skunks in the last spike--seven-years ago. So far, according to the report, in this month, April, many many sick baby skunks have been found. " Does this indicate one of the spike years?"

Therefore, if you happen to see a small cat like animal with a white stripe along its back, running around acting crazy, get away from it, it could be a rabid skunk, which they have been known to attack people.

Oh, by the way, that bad smell you get in Foster City, CA, is from several skunks that live somewhere along Beach Park Blvd. You can see them scavenging before sunrise, almost every hot morning, during the spring and summer months.

This was part of a conversation I overheard in Mc Donalds Foster City, California, when I was getting a chicken club sandwich for dinner.

The question is: "Was the mayor correct in what he did--change the route?"

From what I can gather in talking to several people who grew up in San Francisco and Berkeley, California, during the 60's and participated in many protest rallies. "Yes! He was right to change the route," they said.

From the actions of the protesting group, indicated something was going to happen: the clothes they wore (old levis, old sweat-clothes, tee-shirts,etc.), no I.D's, jamming of the streets, and attacking a bus woke up the police that they better do something before a big problem occurs. Much of this behavior was shown on television: spray painting a bus, jamming the front door, and breaking a window. Once the protestors found out there was nothing on the bus they wanted, they just kept on damaging the bus.

These protestors did not know because of their behavior the mayor and the chief of police would have the courage to, instantly, change the route of the torch--no matter who came to see it.

So, in the opinion of the people who I talked to and participated in riots during the 60's, it was the right thing to do--change the route. This way no one got (physically) hurt.

Anyway, the people who wanted to protested--protested; the people who stood-up for China--stood-up; and the Olympic Torch made its North American appearance without incident and headed to South America.

Only the people who came with peaceful intent to San Francisco to see the Olympic Torch were the ones who suffered. The money they spent, the time they spent, and the distance they came from, were wasted since they did not see the torch. Isn't it always something like this when an international event comes to the San Francisco Bay Area?

In the 1980s', roof-rats ran wild until they were cracked down on. Today, squirrels are running wild and they are being cracked down on: Foster City hired pest controllers to put blue, poison pellet containers along the city's levees: These little animals can damage the levees, which would cause a flood-risk and a health-risk to humans.

My daughter and I--when she was about three-years-old--had an experience, in the late eighties, with squirrels in the backyard of our house. I was baby-sitting her, on a Saturday while my wife was at work. When out of nowhere, I heard a big thug, or bang, against the back sliding, glass door. We ran to the door to see what happened.

Looking out the glass door, I could see a black squirrel laying on the patio. When we were standing there, watching the down squirrel, out the window, it stood up and shook it's little head, and again ran straight for the window. This went on for a few minutes. Meanwhile, another squirrel, gray in color, happened to be walking along the top of the back fence and past the house. Instantly, the black squirrel turned around and chased the other squirrel.

The next day, when I opened the curtains, a black squirrel was on the fence looking at me. He jumped down on to the patio, stopped, looked at me through the glass door window, turned around, and started to chase a gray squirrel that was running along the back fence.

I first thought that this little black squirrel could be rabid: affected with rabies. But since it was the only encounter that I heard about in Foster City, I forgot the whole thing: until I heard that several people where chased by squirrels. Most of the time, when a squirrel sees you, he would run away or up a tree. But these little black squirrels are very aggressive.

To get rid of these squirrels, the city had meetings, but hardly anyone attended them to discuss the squirrel problem. It was then decided to call in the pest controllers to cut down the squirrel population.

So, if you are in Foster City, California, you can be sure that you will be safe, in the near future, from these little aggressive animals.

As I said in an earlier article, "We would have rain in December, January, February, and one or two storms in March." So far, as far as I can see, this is happening. It has been almost four weeks since we have had a good, good rain storm and accountable snow in the Sierras. If we do not get more rain storms, California would be back in a drought.

Talking to several friends, the other day, in Foster City, California, I was told animals that have been extinct--hunted by the early gold miners and paid hunters--are now being seen in the high Sierras: example, the wolverine and the fisher. After talking to these friends, Channel 7, ABC, showed a picture of a wolverine on their nigh time news.

As we hear and read in newspapers, cougars and bobcats have been seen near subdivisions. As example, near Manteca, California, around 500 Ft., for several days, a cougar was spotted and then track down. Near Oakdale, California, several years ago, a mammal that was not human was seen--it turned out to be a primate that escaped a carnival that was in Northern California.

In Foster City, late at night, you can see raccoons; little rabbits, near Beach Park Blvd; and you can smell the flower of the woods: a skunk roaming, but not this early in the year!

In the past, they would start roaming with their young in late April or early May, mostly at night. Of course they are out feeding all year at night, but not with their young. Several times, I have seen rabbits--around 6:00 o'clock--feeding along Beach Park Blvd. on my way home from shopping, again, not with their young.

Here is the question that I am asking,"Is California heading for a drought or just an early summer?"

After reading them--and thinking about them--I felt that I was getting older. Since I felt that way, I was wondering if you feel the same way after reading these sayings:

1. You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.

2. You sink your teeth in a steak and they stay there.

3. You know all the answers, but no one ask you the questions.

4. Your knees buckle, but your belt won't.

5. Your back goes out more than you do.

6. You get winded playing cards.

7. You have too much room in the house and not enough in the medicine chest.

8. You join a health club but don't go.

9. Everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work.

10. Your little black book only contains names ending in M.D.

So, after reading these sayings, do they make you feel older?

When we were putting on our cross-country ski boots, it started to snow lightly: small flakes twirling around like they had no place to go. By the time we were ready to go--boots and skis on--the snow flakes were a little larger and coming down heavier, which gave us an indication that the storm was going to let up for while.

The area we were in became very quiet and the littlest movement made a big sound, which could be heard for some distance. The ski trail led off and disappeared down a small hill and to the left. Because it was early in the morning, the snow was slightly frosted on top, but our small cross-country skis cut a new path in the freshly manicured trail.

When we looked back, along the trail, we could see the path that our skis cut, filling up with fresh falling snow, which made us a little more careful in remembering the trail. Each step we took, we heard the skis cut into the snow. The sound reminded us of walking on small cardboard boxes which were crushed by our weight.

After fifteen minutes, we learned we could move faster if we would slide our skis on the snow--this sliding motion also made it easier to ski up a small hill instead of walking. Because we could move faster by the sliding motion, we covered more distance in a shorter time. After thirty to forty minutes, we became tired and stopped to rest.

Sitting on a rock and looking around, we saw small animals and bird prints in the snow, which had not been covered by the falling snow. The quietness of the area was shattered by the sound that we thought was thunder. Looking toward the sound, we could see, in the distance, snow moving down hill at a fast pace, breaking and covering everything in its way--we were witnessing a Sierra avalanche that we haven't seen in several years. The last one was in Yosemite coming off one of the high cliffs. Where once stood a small group of pine trees, there was nothing left but tons of snow. The moving snow took everything in its path, even trees that were many feet tall. Just as quickly as it started, it was over.

A small white mist was moving around the avalanche area like a white sheet being thrown over a bed. Nothing moved, everything in the area seemed to be asleep like nothing happened. Here we saw nature doing its work of moving snow, and changing the looks of an area by the use of snow.

After seeing nature at work, we decided to head back to our car. But before we headed back, we ate our lunch, which we brought with us. The snow was softer and we sank down further, which made it a little harder to slide our skis.

While heading back, we came upon deer tracks that seemed to be new. These tracks were heading the same way we were going. Within several minutes, we saw a big buck moving about thirty yards in front of us. As we gained on the animal, it took off at an angle and disappeared into the woods.

A few minutes after we passed the area where the deer took of, we heard and saw snow hitting the ground and tree limbs moving. Then everything was quiet again. After thirty to forty minutes, we were back at the car. Our skis were put on the car rack, the snow was scraped off of the front and back windows, and we were on our way home--back to Foster City.

We had a day of cross-country skiing and saw nature doing her thing in changing the lay of the land by the use of an avalanche, which made us think how powerful and beautiful nature can be.