Monday, May 19, 2008

Redwood Blues















We have been in the grips of an unseasonably warm heat wave this past week. I suppose it's good times being at home with nothing at all to do other than go to the beach. I found this spot somewhere between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay that turned out to be a pretty jumping nude beach. It was your usual enclave of big, round, roast turkey complexioned men stumbling through the surf, trailed by a handful of dismayed tourists. It was hot, and within fifteen minutes my skin was pink. Ah, summer.















There was some family folk in town recently which involves, among plenty of other things, the ceremonial covering of things in the apartment that say shit, fuck, ass and balls. I think maybe that's the worst of it. I decided that printing out pictures of Jesus and pasting them over the offending material might be good for a laugh, as well as being rather functional and artistic in a Mexican homestead-type way. I ran out of Jesus pictures, so the next best thing (in my mind) was a still from the movie Teen Wolf. I mean, to the lay person like myself it's pretty much the same guy.















As luck would have it a few friends of mine were headed up to Mendocino County this weekend for some camping. It was exactly what I had been missing. I drove up through the sweltering heat, into the cool canopy of the Redwood forests. Chad, Erin, and John had already made camp and gone out to jump in the ocean by the time I arrived.

























The campground was busy with kids and dogs and the occasional game of horseshoes, but I also managed to miss most of the alcohol-fueled joy that is the annual bay to breakers run in SF. I'll just be in my tent, thanks. It was a pretty fair trade off, I think.















I made some sausages for dinner, stuffed in fresh baguettes, had a few marshmallows over the fire and then went to bed, and slept better than I had in weeks.















I woke up early, and we caravaned into Boonville for breakfast before the trip home. When I made it back to the city I found my apartment socked in by a thick fog that has dropped the temperature about 20 degrees, whited out the sun, and now refuses to leave.
















It sure is nice to be at home when home is a nice place to be.