(Hold on, what happened to 1994, or 1984 or 1974—where did they all go?)

10. A project that is just underway, with a September completion, is the putting together of a photo show of images of the early Monterey Jazz Festival and Sunset Center Jazz concerts. All are photos taken over forty years ago by my late uncle, Peter Breinig, who was a photographer for both the Monterey Herald and San Francisco Chronicle.

9. A new toy that every car lover lusts after came in pieces, but is now assembled in my garage. It’s a lift so I can stand up rather than crawl on the floor when I work on my cars.

8. Sleep at night when my stepson returned from his second tour in Iraq with the Marines.

7. The laughs brought on by the head of the Monterey County Elections Department as he said on all news broadcasts, “We’re ready to go!” Only what happened? Gee, just like every year, a computer problem was all that was ready to go, and it was morning before results were available.

6. The most beautiful send off of the year had to be Miles Williams of the New Christy Minstrels with his musical goodbye to Sam Karas.

5. Must have been a year for music to provide some relief from the national news. Christmas music by the Blind Boys of Alabama almost taking the new roof off the Sunset.

4. Hearing the Stock family and friends salute Papa Jake Stock at Jake’s Bake. Good times were here again.

3. The sight of a well-dressed audience, that looked like they were going to a symphony concert, as they danced out of their seats and brought the Sunset to a new level in response to the Monterey Jazz Festival’s presentation of Poncho Sanchez.

2. Quite possibly number one on the list should be the three weeks my wife, Jeanne, and I spent in Africa. But what comes first, the chimps at Gombi (known from the programs about Jane Goodall), or elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras and all those other animals up close?

1. Waking up the morning after the November election to find that I was Mayor of Pacific Grove.

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