Wanderers in Wonder

Maybe the most popular toy of all time, but legend has it that the first yo-yos were used as weapons by the Aztecs in Mexico and ancient tribes in the Philippines. The historic record is not very clear on these legends. A Greek vase, dated to 430 B.C., shows a boy playing with a yo-yo.

The modern history of the yo-yo dates to 1928 when a Filipino immigrant to the U.S., Pedro Flores, opened a yo-yo manufacturing plant in Los Angeles. Within a year Pedro had 600 employees and was producing 300,000 yo-yos a month.

In late 1929 entrepreneur Donald Duncan recognized the potential of the yo-yo and bought the yo-yo business from Mr. Flores. Duncan yo-yo’s are the most popular yo-yo’s to this day.

With a diameter of 5.5 feet, a weight of 256 pounds and a 75 foot long string, this is the world’s largest yo-yo. It actually works. Of course it takes a massive crane and a master crane operator, but it has been used as a yo-yo.

Douglas Boyd of the Oriental and Flume Art Glass studio in Chico. Doug started the business in the 1970’s. His work has been displayed at many glass museums throughout the United States, most notably at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY.

Which brings to mind our friend, Tina Oldknow, a renowned expert on glass…https://www.craftcouncil.org/recognition/tina-oldknow. Tina is the hardest working retiree I know. One of Tina’s more recent exhibits…https://www.psmuseum.org/events/curator-talk-tina-oldknow?date=2023-03-02.

I guess one of our favorite author friends, Sy Montgomery, is never going to stop traveling with us… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22609485-the-soul-of-an-octopus and https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-octopuses-upend-what-we-know-about-ourselves/id1548604447?i=1000528714007.

A DDD lunch recommendation. Guy had the Korean Salad. We opted for the Cubano lunch special. The bread makes the Cubano and this bakery makes unbelievably good bread.

What a delicious sandwich.

At Rick Satava’s studio in Chico.

Rick’s work was amazing. Jellyfish and a Southwestern inspired vase. The ‘Humped Back Flute Player’, KOKOPELLI is a common feature of the ancient rock art of the Southwest.

Peace…Wanderers in Wonder.