What a long strange trip it's been

The past few days have been the kind that bring tears with the realization of how truly beautiful your life is. And nothing spectacular has occured, just one beautiful thing after another, but that indeed is what a resplendent life is about, is it not?
I made my parents a wonderful dinner the other night and we shared it over a bottle of delicious zinfindel and the usual conversation. THough it is often a conscious effort, I am beggining it use more patience with those two so I can more enjoy my time with them...which really is getting farther inbetween visits that grow shorter. THere is just so many incredible things to do around this time and general area that I find myself not wanting to sit still.
So then I headed to my pals Matt and Mike's beer leauge saoftball game, in which I got a couple base hits...oh, good times. Randy, Sarah, and Lo showed up. I forget how much fun I have playing softball. I have been craving team sports so much lately. That night I found myself laying for hours on the heat of my parent's concrete driveway under a sky alive with stars with a dog for a pillow. Talked to Jesse for quite a while. His serenity has a way of stirring spirit within me, getting me on fire. He has been dating a gal the past couple months, who excites him a lot, but her little annoyances and conversations like his and mine make him over anylize and question the relationship. hmmmm, that reminds me of a little someone I know.
So the next day, the gals and I headed up for our anual Ta-hoes reuion. ANd what a blast that was. We played frisbee and beachvollyball at Zepher over a few beers then snuck our behinds into Harveys. We got all dolled up, then headed out for a night on the town. Which was not as wild as our many previous years of nights together. We all claim that we are all getting a bit older, slower. But I think we just enjoy our time together. What a great group of gals we are. Pretty lucky, pretty lucky. Larkyn, Lauren, and I talk of getting some land and starting a sort of community. Well, yes, a commune, who are we kidding. ANyway, the drive home was great, after the traditional breakfast at the Red Hut.
On a coffee break during the drive around that awe-inspiring lake, I caught eyes with a smaller black man, sitting quitely wawaiting his lunch. He immediately stopped writing, stood up, and said "Come here, sister." We exchanged a hug and he said, "Some people are just worth standing up for." It was a great moment between gentle souls. The pool welcomed us back, then we all got ready for the fair. Oh, the fair. Now a days it consists of schmoozing and boozing at the beer gardens...little else. But it is always a blast, none the less, to run into people you havn't seen in years. When the place shut down, we brought back the old times and brought a party to the Robertson Hotel.
My brother, his girlfriend, Caroline, my dad, dog and I went to the American river the next day. We stopped and saw Carl's property on the way home. What a breath-taking view. The Forest Hill bridge is a little eiry, yes, but the dam on lake Clementine to the left brings a peaceful balance. We stopped at Ikeada's for smoothies, jumped off of Eagle's point and floated down the Bear River.
I have fallen in love all over again with water. No wonder they use it for thearapy. THe weightlessness. Like a child. I bounce. Floating. Watching through a dreamy lense. I learned to do the butterfly. What an incredible feeling. The motion. As well as knowing I can really do almost anything I really want, with some time and effort. Just have to decide what you want. Deliberation.
Anyway, we had a feast that night, after which I met the Robertsons at Coopers to watch the Mermen. It was a beautiful night. Scotty and his pals, Laurie and her sister and boyfriend, Meghan and her's, and many others showed up and we all just danced the night away. Simply beautiful. Kate schofered all our silly drunken butts home.
Yesterday morning the power was out. My mama and I did facials and ate pancakes, then I played Life with the kids of the clients my dad was meeting with. Then Rose and I took the surf board out on Eric Rakestraw's $80,000 boat and we all had a blast. Rose and I impressed the lads with our tandem boarding. Surfboarding. WHat silly humans we were, entertaining ourselves. But with the georgous company of Jonny B, Eric, nathen, and Kyle Rutherford, everyone with a beer in hand, the glassy lake and the music of a new AMAZING artis, Donovan frankenster? it was a dream-like afternoon. We zonked out that night watching the olympics, eating Keith's crazy hot chili and cherry garcia.
Today we decided we are going down to Encenatas to camp on the beach for a couple nights and surf. Oh, what a summer.
Peace, love, patience, kindness.