Friends:

I had an adventure.  Saturday, for the first time in many, many months, I went more than 15 miles away.  I was suffering from terminal stircraziness, and thought I'd brave Devil's Slide and go to Half Moon Bay.  Well, having done that, I still felt pretty okay, so on a whim I continued to Bonny Doon, and visited my niece Kalena.

It was the most beautiful day we've had in a long time, and the wildflowers were everywhere.  As soon as I hit Montara, there were the banks of richest blue Douglas iris, and there were clouds of wild radish, all palest yellow, lavender, and pale rose.  Wild onions were nodding their dainty white bells.  Waves and waves of iceplant blossoms covered the dunes, all fuschia, pink and pale yellow. Fields of Bermuda buttercup as far as I could see, then round a bend, fields of endless popcorn.  Beach morning glories, Chinese houses, succulent lupines, every imaginable flower, covering every surface, the whole trip.  The ocean was wild, and each curve revealed another uproar of waves.  Lots of for-sale signs on isolated beach lots, and my Lotto fantasies became quite feverish.  As always on that trip, I anticipated my "friends'" appearances -- San Gregorio Beach, Pomponio Beach, Pescadero Beach, Butano, Gazos Creek, Arroyo de los Frijoles, Ano Nuevo.  My litany of ungraspable beauty.  Each with its own character -- driftwood, seabirds, roll-forever dunes, dancing sea grass.

I was in a great mood as I chugged up Pine Flat road on the final leg, glanced down at my dash, and saw that my gas was ... below empty!  Acck!  My old car would have done the trip & back easily on the quarter tank that I'd had starting out.  So I prayed that someone would be home, and that it would be anyone competent.  Well, Kalena and her two daughters, Kaikea & Kala'iakea, were the only ones home, but Kalena proved marvelously competent, and figured out where to find gas cans (city people don't have those), and found a hose (I stole it from my sister, haha), and figured out on the spot how to siphon.  I was and still am wildly impressed.  It was a tiny hose, like for a fishtank filter, so it took forever, but we triumphed.

She even found, to my amazement and delight, a funny clip thingee inside my gas flap that will hold my gas cap -- ahh, modern technology.  I'd had no idea that was there, and was always trying to balance the cap unsuccessfully on my sloped roof.

Kala'i, almost a year old, had a little cold and wasn't feeling well, but Kaikea was able to cheer her up.  Kaikea is such a Person.  She always was, but it just gets more marked with time.  Like David, she's good company, even at such a young age.  And she's so excellent with Kala'i.  We had grownup coffee, and Kalena fixed us cheese toasts, and exotic Odwalla drinks.  Malia & Kalena have been telling me how ugly the property's become since the tractor boys came to fix the flood/drainage problems, and, looking out across the flowers, fruit trees, and pines, the bluejays and barn swallows and juncos, I had to just laugh.  Everything's relative, yes?  All I can say is, it wasn't Newark or Gary.  Or Daly City.

We laughed about Maya Angelou's farts poem, and marvelled at her fullsome and royal beauty.  I showed Kaikea my now-healed burns, and showed off the duffle I'd made before my wrist collapsed.  Kalena & Kaikea waved at Ben as he went by.  And we talked about very important nothing.

I couldn't stay too long, I didn't want to push my luck, but Malia & Lon arrived just in time, as I was leaving, so I got my chance to cadge a few more hugs.

The drive back was as beautiful, but with gold-y afternoon light.  I'd listened to Fran Liebowicz on the way over, laughing till I hurt, and switched to K-wave (Monterrey) on the way back.  They play sort of the cream of the crop from current on back, and it was the perfect accompaniment to Mother Nature's excess.  And excess is the only word for it.  Way too much for a mere human to absorb.

Kalena's masterful rescue got me all the way home, but then I had to pump gas, the first time since surgery, and that was very ouchee.  And I proudly put the cap in the little holder thingee. I owe Kalena, BIG TIME!

I was very tired after that, but it was worth it.