Blog 7: Lucy and Desi

I had other plans for my blog that was supposed to be posted last Friday. No such luck. What a week. I don't know where to start, much of life seems like a dream these days. So I hopped a blog because even though I intended to breeze through 5th and 6th grade at St. James Academy I didn't get it done. I decided to fast forward to one of the carnivals we had at St. James. Perhaps you will recognize the handsome man above in the center of the picture. That's right, none other than Desi Arnaz.

Here, Desi is photographing his wife, Lucille Ball, riding in a ferris wheel with their daughter Lucy.  Love his captive audience. Mom of course was the photographer here.

Below, Lucy is watching Desi on the Ferris Wheel. Her smile is unmistakable. Lucy and Desi weren't just visiting Del Mar though. They lived there. Everyone knew which house was theirs along the shoreline. Just about anytime we had guests in town we would point that out. It was fun. It was a glamorous statistic to our town.

St James Church goes back several years. Lucy and Desi weren't the only ones to be involved in our church or attend masses there. During the summer months as I remember, the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie Fisher, and Jimmy Durante, would create rubber necks in the pews. I have provided a link with a bit more history of St. James Church.

https://visitdelmarvillage.com/delmarlibrary/

From church to restaurant, to a computer business, to the Del Mar Library the building wore many faces. I made my First Communion there and had my Confirmation at St. James. I used to clean the church on Saturdays. My experiences with clergy were always warm and kind.   

I eventually went to the Albatross Restaurant and couldn't help but try to place the pews and confessional in the space from memory. There were richly carved booths and stained glass as I remember. It was very pretty but I couldn't escape the fact it was my church, where we sang in Latin, and attended many a Sunday mass. On the weekend, there was live music. We liked the band that played there, Nova.  We began to see the space as something other than a church, but even then it always seemed a bit weird.

The races were a huge draw for celebrities  too. The voices of Bing Crosby, and the numerous celebrities that frequented the track are forever seared in my memory. 

Life hasn't always like this, but maybe the virus has changed our mental patterns and speed limit.  Slow down and smell the roses.  Maybe good advice for these times.  

Blurry shot of my brother and I 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed a walk down memory lane.  Feel free to share a comment!