Friday, March 18, 2005

Rainy day synopsis

The ring of my cell phone woke me at 5:30 AM. Thus began a long day. Luckily, Bill wanted to drive so I layed down on the back seat of his Volvo. This made the trip infinitely more relaxing as I did not have to watch his driving. Eliza, on the otherhand, sat in the front seat and her "nerves were shot" by the time we pulled up to the airport departures. The lines of people were huge. I've never seen anything like it. The line at Continental had people waiting outside the door and down the sideawalk 2 hundred yards. Makes me want to avoid airlines. I drove back in silence as the radio was not working. Initially, traffic was crawling. On PCH, traffic turtled for twenty minutes due to a mudslide turning 2 lanes into 1 lane. Once I got passed it, the way was clear and I made it back to Ojai in record time. The trip back took just an hour and a half. I then crashed in the guest house for 90 minutes. I awaken gazing out the window and observing the fine rain falling. We have Oregon's weather now. When the guests arrive, my job becomes parking organizer. This lasts for 2 till 6. I have an umbrella and 3 newspapers to keep me company. I turn on a bunch of lights and then learn that Gates is the latest recipient of Skip's "Dirt Grant". I actually told Gates about Skip's philanthropic endeavor and predicted he'd be this year's recipient. Gates invites me to come on down to Farmer and the Cook for dinner for the impromtu celebration. My meal was scrumtious, salad, some grains, West African sweet potato soup on top and for dessert a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. It is not unusual for folks to ask me if Skip is homeless due to his dishevilled appearance and propensity for wearing t-shirts and shorts. Little do they know of his economic reality and generosity. Next on the random agenda was the viewing of a movie with Devin. "The Clearing" stars Redford and Defoe. Acting is very good but the story itself sucked, had no plausibility and the ending... was a flat tire. What's happened to the weather? Too much rain in So Cal, I want my money back. I spoke with brother Bri and he informed me that the temps in Hawaii have been low mid sixties. These are the lowest he has seen in the seven years of residing in the Rainbow state. I guess, all I'm trying to say is: I miss you sun, please come back home to So Cal. Love, Mike