25 April 2003
Now I'm on the way home from a fun two days with my most special old college friends from College of the Redwoods in Humboldt County. We met when we were all confused eighteen year olds. Now we're less confused forty-seven olds - and happy.
I'm on the plane. It's Southwest Airlines and the flight crew home based in Florida is having some fun at our expense.
"Ladies and gentlemen would you pretend to give us your attention."
She begins to explain the drill - seat belts, air masks, etc. I pick up my pen and begin to jot down what she's saying.
". . . If you need to use your seat cushion for flotation, kick paddle to shore and then you can keep the cushion with our compliments. Our flight attendants will be along with beer and cocktails. We're going to come through the cabin to check that your shoes match your outfits tonight and that your seat belts are securely fastened. If you don't know how to fasten your seat belt, you should not be out in public unsupervised. We're going to turn off the overhead lights now to enhance our beauty. If you want a reading light, push the button directly overhead. That would be the black one. The red one [to summon a cabin attendant] is not working tonight."
The lights go out; she whispers into the mic: "You're getting sleepy . . . sleepy . . . sleepy. You're not thirsty . . ."
Now we're airborne and I have some time to write about the reunion. I flew into Oakland on Thursday around 12:30 and Maggie was there in the luggage claim to get me. We jumped in her van and started off for Pt. Reyes Station on the coast. We talked so much that she took a wrong turn on the freeway and we ended up taking a slightly longer, slightly more scenic route. We drove through beautiful hills and a grove of redwoods.
Maggie
When we got to Pt. Reyes Station we found our little bed and breakfast, the Carriage House Bed and Breakfast, and they let us check in early, which consisted of walking up a flight of stairs and letting ourselves in. The place was clean and comfortable with food in the refrigerator and a bowl of chocolate chip cookies on the kitchen table. We sat around talking some more and our friend Jeanne turned up within an hour. We talked for a while and then headed into town to shop. Downtown Pt. Reyes Station consists of a main drag about two blocks long, lined with little shops. We went in the shops that were open and bought a few things, then we went to a Mexican restaurant and got dinner to go.
Back at the b&b we ate dinner, showed each other pictures, and talked until about 10 p.m. while watching "Oh Brother Where Art Thou." We closely watched the last half hour. I was the only one who had not seen it before. Maggie wanted the bedroom to herself because she's the only one who doesn't have her own room at home. Jeanne and I shared the living room, which had a twin bed and a fold out couch. We turned out the lights and talked for about another half hour. Slept soundly for about eight hours.
Jeanne and me about five years ago (last time we saw each other).
In the morning we munched on the goodies the B&b left for us and our leftover dinners. We built a fire in the wood burning stove and visited for a couple of hours. Then we decided where to hike, packed up, and headed out. It immediately started to pour rain. Instead of hiking, we went back to downtown and hit all the shops that had been closed the night before. We contributed money to the local economy in every shop and walked away with amazing stuff: books, boots, jewelry, organic cotton sheets, a hemp t-shirt, Tibetan dorji bells, bubble bath, two lamps, sixteen bamboo garden posts, and a scented candle.
In the last shop we told the shopkeeper of our predicament at having to cancel our hike and she suggested we go to Drake's Point, where there's a beach and visitor's center with a coffee shop. Then if it was still raining, at least we could enjoy the view. It was a great suggestion and a beautiful drive. It stopped raining so we walked along the beach. The sand was littered with beached sea creatures that Maggie said were a form of jelly fish. We also saw several real jelly fish and a dead seal that was decomposing. After walking north for some time, we went back to the visitor's center for some lunch, then we walked south on the beach and explored some rock formations.
The jelly fish creatures; Jeanne at Drake's Point.
Here are the things we talked about all day yesterday and today: our mothers and our relationships with them, our college days, how we've changed, our jobs, hobbies, kids, houses, travels, bodies, problems, pets, the publishing business, and our thoughts on drugs and the war in Iraq. In the cafe at the beach we talked about our fathers' deaths, because all of us have lost our fathers. Maggie's father just died two months ago.
After lunch we went back to Pt. Reyes Station and explored one more shop and an art gallery that we had missed the first two times. After that we said goodbye to Jeanne and Maggie and I drove back to Maggie's house in El Sobrante to waste some time before my flight. She and her husband have a cute little house with a huge yard, two cats, and twin sons (one is away at college, the other one was there). We sat outside in her garden, which she has cultivated for two years. When they moved in it was just grass but now it's an amazing array of flowers, vegetables, and trees. She said that last year she planted one hundred sunflowers and that some of them were as tall as the house with five inch round stalks. Her front yard is all native California plants.
Maggie was tired and had to pack for a previously planned camping trip the next day, so she asked me if I would mind taking Bart to the airport. I'd never taken Bart before, but it seemed like fun. She and her son took me to the Bart station and pointed me in the right direction. About an hour later I was checking in at the airport. Now I'm on my way home.
The hour flight went by quickly and now the flight attendant has picked up the mic again: "Everybody wake up, we are are making our final descent into Burbank . . . we're going to come through one more time and collect anything you don't want - diamond rings, cash - anything you wish to discard. . . . For your safety and the safety of the people you may fall on, please remain seated until the captain has turned off the seat belt light. . . . most important we don't want to have to spend a long time filling out paper work after our flight tonight. . . . If you have to make a connecting flight you need a new travel agent. The lights are going to go on now, but remain seated!
The lights go on, we pull into the terminal and her voice comes over the speakers: "All rise."
