Like Sand Through The Hourglass

I Can't Recall

Time has really slipped away from me, I'm having so many Hillary Clinton moments, I can't recall ...  July was another medical month, the calendar was filled with appointments, tests, evaluations, the weekend of the Fourth seemed to be the best time to get away, Conner, Janna, Colleen and Edward all had the time, so I rented a house near Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz for a week.  All the appliances in the place were new, we had to study the manuals, a lot of thought had gone into the design, it was definitely a vacation home.  The weather was off and on again sunny and overcast.

Jack

The big hit for me was taking a surfing lesson with Janna and Conner, it was the only time I went in the water.  Conner reserved a time for us and we caught a few waves at Pleasure Point, right below Jack O'Neill's house where Colleen and Jackie watched from the rocks we were crashing on.  I didn't know paddling a board could be so exhausting, but there was some place I went in my mind where nothing else existed, it was like totally clarifying Dude.

I was still trying to find a sunny getaway after we came back from there, in spite of everybody that kept suggesting we take a cruise to Alaska.  As soon as people go on a cruise they start telling you you HAVE to do it, they get really annoying about that.  Every time I checked the weather at all the ports up there, my phone showed a really depressing drippy cold screen shot.  I was planning the next stage of summer, a trip to Colorado Springs so Jackie took care of the details and rented a condo in Dana Point and we drove down there to The Real OC.  I couldn't get my directions right down there, it was like a magnetic pole shift in my brain, I always made the wrong turn.

The area between Laguna Beach and San Juan Capistrano is all gated communities, and everything has a Spanish name, but the names sound made up by a non Spanish speaker.  We saw some old friends, had a little dinner party with some Marine buddies from Vietnam, went to three beaches, the water was warmer but the surf was rough.

Ruby's Shake Shack

We had lunch at Crystal Cove, on the coast between Newport and Laguna, part of it still looks like that trailer park that Jim Rockford lived in on 'The Rockford Files'.  The Shake Shack we knew back in 1970, where we got date shakes, a quick ride from Orange Coast Community College (OCC) where we first met, is now part of a chain, but everything is still good.  The condo was OK, really cheap, there was a minor problem and the owner refunded the cleaning fee and promised us a couple free nights if we stay again. PCH between Laguna and Newport is dazzling, world class opulence, perfect looking people, The Real OC.

Pike's Peak

Road to the Wedding Venue

The first weekend in August Jackie and I accompanied her Mom to Colorado Springs for the wedding of Andrea Lee and Kevin Garcia. Never been there, beautiful place, high mountains and meadows, I felt like I could see for miles and miles. Andrea is the daughter of Giselle and Terry Lee, Terry is Jackie's brother and kidney donor and the groom Kevin is a former Marine, need I say more ?  Before we left Jackie went to Kaiser to learn the results of her latest round of tests.  Jackie's appointment was at Kaiser Hospital and the same Doctor from UCSF that told us two years ago that Jackie would die without a transplant was now telling us that she was normal !  The Doctor could hardly believe it, she doesn't always get to say that, Great News !

Garden of the Gods

So we went to Colorado and it was a beautiful ceremony and reception on a real ranch, The Younger Ranch , and Giselle and Terry asked me to walk Jackie's Mom down the aisle, which was really a kind of trail since we were out in the open.  Wow, what a privilege to be included in the wedding party.  Jackie is such a humble person, she wore her dark glasses and tried to stay in the back, she didn't want to distract attention from Andrea, the Bride, who was radiant. While we were there we went to The Garden Of The Gods, an unusual upthrust of interesting red rock formations.

We got home late Monday night, 8 August, Jackie had to start school the next morning, I had to unpack and repack because early on the morning of the 10th I left for Hawaii.  I went to Waimanalo on the windward side of Oahu to house sit and walk Sophie the Dog.  While I was gone Colleen and Edward pitched in to give Jackie any kind of help she needed, Teacher's Aides they were.  I only stayed two weeks, I got back on the 25th and jumped in the driver's seat for whatever curves the road of life was going to throw at us.  There were a few nights during this time when I woke up and had no idea where I was or why.

Napa Valley

Parker Guest House

In the middle of September Rachel Michelle Lauber, Terry's youngest daughter, came to stay with Grandma in Sacramento and her husband Luke arrived a little while later.  They started to adventure around Northern California, going up to the Napa Valley for some world class

Westfield Escalator- Nordstrom's

S.P. Taylor Redwoods

terroir and all that goes with that fabulous wine growing region. They came down to San Francisco where I was able to point out a few places of interest, driving them around better than Uber or Lyft.  The next day we rode up to Pt. Reyes by way of The Westfield Center, Chinatown, North Beach, The Presidio and Samuel P. Taylor Park where we all took a breath of redwood tree infused air in the silence of those giants.  A brief stop in Olema and we were on the road to the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse.  Wow, fog blowing about 40 mph, 600 feet down a razor ridge to the ocean, one side crashing surf, one side flat calm, and a deep sapphire blue and deer everywhere, I won't soon forget that ride or place, first time for me.  One thing is for sure, it was a family summer, Jackie's Family, Terry's Family, Our Family and all the invisible lines of relationship that stretch back to many lands and ancient times that weave the net that contains our fullness of joy of life and being here with each other.