Sunday Evening

Gifts from the sea, and from Anne (a book from her childhood).

A beautiful evening, but too foggy to see the harvest moon.

Tom calls while I'm walking and Peter appears out of the fog to say hello.

Vest Mania, Con't.

Kristin's daughter in vest. Cody in blue collar.

From: Aggles
To: Linda

Do you remember when we were growing up that only divorced ladies who smoked cigarettes wore leopard prints?

To: Aggles

From: Linda

I do remember Mrs. H. driving us to school in her leopardskin pants, smoking cigarettes and playing "Is That All There Is" over and over on her 8-track.

----

From: Barbara

To: Linda

I just love that vest, you know I have to have that one too now! ;o) We have a Costco here and I will look if it's there.
----

From: Waldrop
Subject: Vest inspection notice
To: Linda
 

Dear Ms. W. Davick,

It has come to my attention that you recently received a vest purchased at Costco, though you are not yourself a member of that esteemed establishment. While that is not expressly forbidden, as Vest Inspector for Costco it is my duty to inform you that all vests received by non-members must be inspected by me or my staff and certified with a little tiny stamp. Please send the vest to the Florida Vest Inspection Dept. located in Altamonte Springs, in care of Barbara, the Florida Vest Inspection Dept. Goods Receiver. You will be reimbursed for postage in full sometime.

Thenk yew.

Very sincerely,

Waldrop
Vest Inspector
Magnifying Glass #31092834759387883766 (All numbers are registered on the WEB somewhere for your protection.)

P.S. Inspection is guaranteed to be finished in time for Easter 2014, should you plan to wear it on the promenade.

P.P.S. Don't forget to send the Vest immediately. Thenk yew once again.

Sea Flower

Sleeping With My New Vest

Suddenly Tom decides he has to have a new vest, too.

A Very Good Day for a Monday

At the last meeting of our writing class msmasmush wore this unbelievably great vest. Black with leopardskin trim. "I MUST HAVE THAT VEST!" is how I greeted her after not having seen her for months.

She told me she bought it at Costco. I was shocked! I'm not a member of that exclusive club where you have to pay $50 even to enter, and one reason I'm not a member is because I thought all they carried was huge pallets of paper towels. Was I wrong.

I stared at the vest all through class. When class was over Mary Ann (that's msmasmush) took me to Progressive Grounds for lunch. I stared at the vest some more.

She took a photo of me with her phone and sent it to Kristin. So I took a photo of Mary Ann scowling and sent it to Kristin.

I said, "Kristin, isn't her vest the very greatest thing you have ever seen in your entire life? Are you a member of Costco? If you are, will you buy me one next time you're there and I'll pay you back and buy you a delicious lunch to boot next time you get a filling?" (Kristin lives in Half Moon Bay, but her dentist is right down the street from me.)

In my note to Kristin I tried not to use exclamation points, because neither one of them likes exclamation points. Mary Ann doesn't like commas either.

Anyway, guess what came in the mail today. The photo below holds a clue.

Thank you, Kristin. A special lunch awaits you & msmush.

And then the doorbell rang again and guess what else came in the mail. The photo below holds a clue:

Proofs for my new book!

Weekend

John, Tom's college buddy, and Other Tom. Oops! John's eating. Sorry.

He comes bearing gifts: books, pistachios, medjool dates, precious gems.

On the way to Pt. Reyes we stop at my favorite place on earth:

Muir Beach Overlook. It's easy to relax here. We'll take Katy here for sure.

It's very relaxing at Drake's Beach Cafe, too. (Waiting on fish tacos.)

The landscape at Drake's Beach is so different from our beach.

Two men I love, acting out.

Oh! I didn't want to forget this part: John and Tom live in Boulder, but John lived in Nepal for a while. So on Friday night we decided to eat at LittleNepal, a sweet restaurant in Bernal Heights. We over-ordered, but had great leftovers for breakfast and dinner the next day. If you go, make sure to order Mismas pakauda to start.

Coastal Trail 6:37 p.m.

Rundown

Saturday's mail! Beach glass from Sicily. Guess who from. Photo holds a clue.

Sunday: Last meeting of my wonderful writing class.

Monday: A villa on the beach.

Tuesday: A windy evening. A 66-yr. old man outruns me by a mile or two.

Lucille Takes Me on a Field Trip

Today Lucille took me to a members-only preview of the William Paley Collection at the de Young. I had a blast, as much because of Lucille as the wondrous paintings. She knows so much about art, and her motto is Have Fun and Lots Of It. I got reprimanded only twice by the Art Guards. Once for getting closer than 18 inches to a painting, and once for wielding a camera.

One of our favorite paintings: Paul Gauguin (1892)

Before I was asked to put my camera away.

Here Comes Another One

All right. Here comes another one, just like the other one (last post). But I had good timing this evening because I ran into my sweet neighbors on the way. And down on the beach I ran smack into Peter and Carmen.

Beth, Emmy, Myron, Zhaufun, and Ping

All This Beauty

You know, the song by The Weepies?

Invasion of the Octoploids

This wall of dahlias is a block long. It runs along the fence outside the Cabrillo Playground. I couldn't believe it! There must be a hundred varieties of this flower along the sidewalk, and all of them are labeled. One is called Dot Com.

Tom said the reason there are so many different kinds of dahlias is because they're octoploids. That means they have eight sets of chromosomes, whereas most plants have only two. Human beings (that's us) have only two.

The playground is at 38th and Cabrillo.

September

Today I was able to sneak away during the day and walk during low tide. Everything looks so different in the morning light! Sharp and bright. Or maybe it's just that September is here, San Francisco's favorite month.

Our 25th

Oh by the way! Monday was Tom's and my 25th wedding anniversary––the 2nd time around, that is.

What did we do Monday? We had popcorn and wine for dinner: we went to see Hope Springs at the Presidio (Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones).

What did we do 25 years ago? We went to the courthouse. Ben took photos with my Polaroid. I'm wearing CP Shades and Tom, a light yellow tie. On the way home we picked up a pizza at the Pizza Palace.

E-mail of the Week

JUST COMPLETED. Available for viewing anytime--daylight preferable.

That's the email I got from Anne yesterday. The painting, Garden Hose, is one she had been working on, on and off, for over a year.

I jumped in the car and zoomed over. I entered her studio and there it was on the wall, glowing.

In the foreground of the painting is the cinderblock wall that sits in front of their garden in the back yard. There's a bench by the wall, with a garden hose draped over it. I could look out her studio window and see the bench and the wall. The painting is about 2 x 3 feet, and full of tiny things.

By the bench in the painting is a watering can that Anne made into Picasso himself, directing the piece, wearing a striped shirt of course.

A big fat ground hog sits among flowers that bloom against a vivid red. The garden hose spirals down from the depths of the universe, unwinds through an ocean of creatures, and ends up in the garden, dripping from the bench onto the ground.

I got out my camera and started shooting little details:

the Picasso watering can

the end of the line

a striped octopus

a green hummingbird

a dolphin among the stars

a flying shoe!