of things Chinese, of backlash, of Georgia, of guns, of Amerika but WTF. The End of Empire but hey, who cares; last days, first vestige of Spring as the Globe Willows began to peek out while
others remained dormant but
not a lot else goin’ on
besides air, dirt,
chairs
and the near-full moon.
Next morning
the Repo,
the ’41Dodge,
Sand Pass,
Doyle,
gas at Hallelujah Junction [not shown] and over the hill to a depressing overabundance of humans and their manufactures as I negotiated ten miles of congestion from Roseville to Rancho Cordova’s used car lots to investigate a promising pre-owned Tundra which turned out,
despite being some years newer and having many miles fewer, to have endured a far more difficult life than the one I was driving.* East coast rust, east coast abuse…naah.
Took 50 to 80 to Benicia by afternoon and in the morning walked dogs only to abandon them
for the Fray by the Bay, where we met friends face to face for the first time in a long time [and eventually a whole lot of enthusiastic skateboarders] at Burlingame Point, site of not only the
future Oculus Campus but also “Spindrift” [if “Spindrift” looks familiar scroll back up**]
for a couple of hours in the waterfront sun before parting ways, we two to Benicia for a belated
quiche in the yard. The very next day we headed for the farthest reaches, almost, of green
West Marin for our beloved Patsy’s belated 80th birthday dinner. Three months late the dinner had turned into a distanced lunch in Inverness wherein we walked sylvan paths from her and
Jon’s home down to Saltwater, to be reminded of how how exquisite a meal could be…delights all around.
We returned via shaded twisty streets to tea in the garden outside P’s studio before
getting in line for Benicia, worrying of a Sunday over how merely
“believably” green the late March west country had been at a time it should be UN-believably green…End of Empire ‘n’ all.
*hard to believe, but maintenance does seem to count for something after all.
**that would be “Grey Matter”, an earlier, more diminutive iteration.
Such a curiously wonderful shot of our new trellis!
Always over the top good photos, Mike!!!!!
So glad for the link to Patsy Krebs’s work. And your photos tell the tale. Globe willows and all…
Loved seeing Spindrift in place(s), favorite tree with rosy clouds and moon, the start of a “moon landing” under golden clouds, and flat fallen “pedestalled” shrub shapes (?). Really enjoyed seeing Patsy’s work.
I’d forgotten she and I are 1940 babies—perhaps both even “phony war babies” if before May 10.
What was so phony about that war? I was reading Steinbeck’s “The Log from the Sea of Cortez” last summer wherein he describes San Diego harbor in the spring of 1940 with naval preparations were in full militant swing for..something.
I especially loved the chairs. They were both surprisingly out of place and perfectly at home, showing art changing the world.
Those chairs, V., all have their histories, some going back as far as Radar Ranch in the eighties…and have been our evening destinations, depending on mud, for more than a decade. “Perfectly at home”, yes.
Definitely an excellent missive with a variety of hits from Wall to Bay to Saltwater. Thanks for the detour of links too; great stuff! As usual, your photos document all with clever compositions, even in midday light (Spindrift). I always love those Smoke Creek clouds, the ‘41 Dodge and cheerful chairs. The b&w archeological excavation of those things-appearing-to-be-dinosaur-scales-emerging-from-dried-mud are a bit foreboding in the context of not-as-green-as-West-Marin-should-be, a 59% Sierra snowpack and general End-of-Empire events. Hmm, could be a very smoky summer, enjoy blue skies while they’re there!