Rick and Emily Francona wish you a better 2021!

Cabo San Lucas (before the trip was cut short by the Wuhan COVID-19)

Here is what 2020 brought us...

Francona Advisors, LLC is closing up shop

Speaking engagement for this cruise was cancelled
We've also gotten word that a cruise in 2021 has been cancelled as well.

Our train trip through the Canadian Rockies was cancelled,
but we're going in 2021 (hopefully)

Thank You, China!

Our annual trip to Sonoma wine country had to be cancelled

Rick was able to do an extended interview with French TV Channel 5 - a documentary on Iraq
Since travel was an issue, journalist Sonia Dridi and videographer Edward Bally came to Port Orford
Of course, there was wine on the deck afterwards - they are French, after all....

We did get in a short visit to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico...

Stayed at the Novaispania enclave on the Pueblo Bonito resort
(that's our place above)

Great time with friends Briggs and Cynthia Matsko,
and Nanci Johnson and Nancy Dowdy
(below at our favorite taqueria)

...and Thanksgiving with friends...

Briggs and Cynthia Matsko are the consummate hosts at their Casa y Casita in Rancho Murieta, California
(yes, we were in noncompliance with Governor "I eat at the French Laundry" Newsom's dictates)

A day of winetasting and a great dinner at one of favorite eateries - "Taste" in Plymouth, California

Briggs and Rick tried their hands at making a 16-pound brisket - 20 hours later, we were rewarded!
See the entire brisket saga here (requires Facebook)


...and Christmas with family

A quick trip to Las Vegas to spend Christmas with our goddaughter, her lucky husband, and their three-year old daughter

Food is always a big part of these gatherings - no, we did not need to call 911 for either firefighter or ambulance response

The good thing about the pandemic (if there is one) - we honed our cooking and mixology skills!

A full bar, a dry martini, and decent wine pairings help the isolation

A martini while wearing Emily's woodworking apron - Rick refinished the damaged wine barrel adirondack chairs
(Damaged on left - repaired on right)

Top left: Great produce in California helps / Top right: Italian sausage and cream tomato pasta sauce
Bottom left: Humus bi-lahmah (humus with ground lamb and pine nuts / Botton right: Frikah, a Syrian grain dish

Top left: Rick's French onion soup / Top right: Pollo a la mattone (chicken under a brick)
Bottom left: Rick's orange carrot soup / Botton right: A variation on pasta puttanesca
Rick took advantage of the COVID-19 isolation to develop his basic mixology skills. During the summer, Emily and he produced 24 "Cocktail of the Day" videos!

Check out the playlist on his YouTube channel!

Despite the pandemic restrictions, we still had a few visitors to Port Orford and La Quinta

Cathy Peschiera visited us in Port Orford and in La Quinta - even got her out to a polo match!

Goddaughter Melissa, husband Bernard, and their daughter Ellie visited us in Port Orford and in La Quinta

We met up with Mark and Barbara Parr in La Quinta
Rick and Barbara were in the same high school class
We haven't changed a bit!

Dinner in La Quinta with Linda and Clive Clark

What we call "the sound of freedom" over Port Orford
US Air Force KC-10 and E-3
US Coast Guard C-27, US Navy EP-3


Lunch with Pat Douglass in La Quinta
Pat was a staffer for Senator Dan Coates at the same time
Emily worked with him when she was a staff member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. We all met on one of Rick's cruise ship speaking engagements. Small world....

 

The O'Fallon family - Brian is Nancy Dowdy's son

Normally a gathering on the deck for the annual windosck launch
- this year a virtual gathering with Nikki assisting

Every year, we provide a home to a couple of swallows
Meet Samson and Delilah

A few months in the California desert at the begining and end of the year

Rick spoke at the local World Affairs Council

Indian Springs Golf Club - our (temporary) patio on the 18th fairway

Sunrise

President Trump and Air Force One inbound to Palm Springs

Polo at the Empire Club in Indio

Road runner - "Reggie"

A dusting of snow on the mountains west of Palm Springs - the Wolf Moon, the 13th full moon of 2020

December 31, 2020: A "good riddance" toast to 2020 and a wish for a better 2021 with good friends Linda and Clive Clark

Rick's grandkids

Back to school: Alexa - Bella - Dante, who will be 17
(Dom is in college)

In 2021, Alexa will be 12

 

In 2021, Bella will be 14
The other girl was OUT

In Memoriam

Miss Nikki
2000-2020

We had to say goodbye to Nikki in September - she would have been 20 in October. When she was born, she was the runt of the litter and not expected to survive. Of the 17 rescue kittens available that day, we picked her and her brother. We lost The Pasha at 19, also to complications from chronic kidney disease.

She was the sweetest little thing - and leaves a large hole in our lives.

An elderly Nikki with two of her favorite humans - Ellie Froehlich and Linda Clark

 

Rick and Emily Francona
P.O. Box 1421 - Port Orford, Oregon 97465
 rick@francona.net  - @MiddleEastGuy
 emily@francona.net
www.francona.com - www.rickfrancona.com

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