All We Are

[A sign of middle age: the kitten you and your sister gave your parents to replace the one they got around the time you sister was born (and which died of old age) had to be "put to sleep" last week...because of old age. The Cat Bo: R.I.P.]

[But...my sister seems to coming along gestating my second niece. Time passes. Don't make me start singing "Dust in the Wind." I hung with the family and Sean (who is, you know, also family) on the 4th at the Sis and Bro-in-Law lovely home in Alameda. The Niece Audrey and I ran down to the water's edge at Crown Memorial State Beach and flung sticks into the bay to see them float. She loves her Uncle Bill, and the feeling is mutual.]

[Speaking of time's passage, I believe I remember a picture of my grandmother hanging out on that same beach (back when its name was Neptune) before 1930. When Sis and Bro-in-Law decided to buy a house in the East Bay, it really was a matter of going back to some kind of roots.]

[Also this weekend: A nostalgic Greek salad to celebrate five years since the trip that in some ways really did change my life; laundry; budgetary tightening again (I need to learn to say "no" to big outlays, even if I know I'm getting paid back); found a job lead for Sean; went on a third date (saw a better-than-expected Hancock), and yes, we're taking it slooooow. Fourth date is tomorrow to see Yaz at the Paramount. That's all you get about that for now, because really, that's all I've got to share.]

[I think I'll go outside and absorb some vitamin D now.]

Previously Next

[Later: No, apparently Crown Beach's old, rather unimaginative name was Alameda Beach. The Neptune Beach on which Grandma was photographed digging in the sand was on the other end of the island. It closed as a result of the Great Depression and was paved over during World War II as part of Alameda Naval Air Station; that was closed in turn as part of the military downsizing of the Clinton Administration. (No more "nuclear wessels.") Part of Kate and Mike's decision to settle in Alameda was driven by that closure, in fact; the town is no longer particularly military in character, and suits them better.]