The Pull of San Diego

The southern California call: San Diego

Ahhhhh. I feel like I’m home. 

I arrived at my sister Shannon’s house on Sunday, April 14th. In the dark. The following day, I wrote another blog, uploaded some photos from my camera, and my daughter Shannon and I checked out La Jolla and La Jolla Cove. I adore these little beach towns with all their cool cafes and wheatgrass shops! People dress casually, unless they are in the coffee shop in their business suits, working on their computers before they go into work or to make a sale. It’s a wonderful mix of the laid back I’ve-got-all-the-time-in-the-world people and the my-god-were-the-waves-good-today surfers with the thank-god-for-caffeine-and-a-good-internet-connection-before-I-face-the-clients stress junkies. Of course, there are the tourists too. I guess I’m one of those, even though I lived here through most of my developing years. 

I love the colors: brilliant flowers of reds, pinks, yellows, pinks, and purples; green of every shade permeating the grass, trees, bushes, palms; blue to green to gray of the ocean--reflecting what the sky holds; and the buildings--don’t forget the buildings. These funky little shops paint ‘em up. Signs with mermaids, flowers, fish, religious symbols, waves---all colorfully and artfully designed. Sidewalks with mosaics; tiled benches; inlaid stone. Statues and scupltures. 

And the smells. I could yammer on all day about the smells. Floral smells permeating your brain; foods from every culture; salty ocean water; and just FRESH. The smell of fresh. Do you know this smell?

Ahhhhh. Heaven.

Monday night I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Jamie, my bro-in-law’s beautiful daughter, and her main squeeze, Paul. Jamie and Paul met in the music scene, as they are both talented and dedicated musicians. They are in an indie rock band together and have done extensive road trips. Jamie has a “day job” at Aramark, managing or designing their website (or something like that). Paul has been working on passing all the tests and jumping through the hoops to be a “financial advisor” for State Farm Insurance. (I think that means he will sell life insurance!) Jamie and Paul came for dinner and we had a fun, loud time. That seems to happen whenever family members get together. I think this is almost universal. We had both the Irish and the Italian influence in this American family. Of course it was loud!

Jamie looks like my daughter. They could have been related by more than just marriage. Jamie is artistic, thoughtful, creative, driven, self-motivated. She is currently editing her first novel. She told me the basic story---it is a coming of age love story of a young man who falls for a young lady on a road trip. I think Jamie knows a thing or two about road trips. 

This woman can sing, play the guitar, write a book, design a house. Amazing. She loves creating through writing, whether it be writing a novel or writing song lyrics. She has a cat named Leroy; I understand he is a bit “round” but loves his mama. She finds architecture fascinating, both from a design and a historical standpoint. She lives in a home built in the late 1920’s or early 1930’s. She is not one to just say, “ummm, nice house”. No, she is now trying to learn about the architectural history and to follow up with decorating and redesigning. She loves art in numerous forms: from music, painting, photography, buildings, and movies.

I really love that girl!

Paul is her tall, thin man. He plays numerous instruments---percussion, string, wind. Just plain musically gifted. He is working on advancing his business skills too, though, with his training with State Farm. He enjoys making music; hanging out with his musical buddies who are like family to him; creating and tending his garden; learning to expand himself. He likes to learn about different music styles and genres and then working and creating to see if he can incorporate what he has learned into his own set of songs, etc. What gives him joy? Music. And waking up next to the woman he loves. What gets him up in the morning: the mystery of the day. He says it is the Possibilities inherent in each day as well as the Uncertainties. What will this day bring?

My brother-in-law, Jim, sells radiofrequency testing equipment. High end, complicated stuff. I’ve been asking him for years what he does, and he would quip with a “I sell microwaves” or “high tech cell phones”. Some high tech cell phone: his stuff sells for $350,000. He better get unlimited texting and internet in a cave. 

OK, so it really has nothing to do with cell phones, per se, except for the fact that electronics and waves are involved. 

But, dang, waves are involved in everthing. Like an electron. When you’re not looking, it’s a wave! Can’t live without em! I’m absolutely positive about that; mess up the ionic flow and it could be a real negative experience. 

I know, really lame puns. So, let’s move on.

Jim is a handsome man, very fit, who gets up at 5 a.m. every morning to run. He watches his calories and he makes me want to eat something. I’ve only seen him eat a few, salty pretzels and a light dinner in the 3 days I stayed there. He thinks I’m disciplined? I only do what I want. It just so happens that I want alot! Lol! This man is driven. He works in and out of the home. When he is working at home, he is one of those people who is actually working. I mean, in his upstairs office at 8 am and you don’t see him till about 6 pm. Sometimes he has to make a call to Germany, which may mean he works long outside of regular working hours. He would like to retire in a year. 

I don’t blame him. I want to retire too. To Costa Rica and get a job as a shaman. Do you know where I can get an interview?

Jim enjoys watching hockey. He will sit like the typical American male on his couch wearing a sweatshirt and coaching the players from the sidelines, yell at the ref, and tell the players that even he, himself, could’ve made that shot. I feel at home listening to his rants.

Apparently, he can play some mean strings. I was not privileged, however, to be treated to a personal concert. He is actually a bit shy in some ways. He has a soft voice and is a good salesman because he knows how to build relationships with his customers. However, he is an East Coaster---a Philly, actually. Thus, he says he loves to complain and rant. He does it well. He also is a fantastic host, a wonderful brother-in-law, and he loves my sister. 

He has a great sense of humor and makes me laugh.

Jim is my family.

My sister Shannon is a gorgeous, witty, kind woman. Everyone loves her. Especially me. She enjoys getting together with family and friends and she keeps track of the entire family, and families of families, through Facebook. She is SO good at this. 

She has been working for the same geological firm for several years. I think you could say that her favorite part of that job is when the geologists want to present their findings and they give her numbers and stats and they ask her to make a marketable package out of it. Then her creative skills get cracking. She makes them look good. 

You know, you can be good at what you do, but if you can’t present it correctly, no one knows how good you are. Shannon fills that role for them. In fact, she fills that role for our family, too. I love it when she handles the camera. We all look good when she posts a photo. She has an eye. And knows how to cover our flaws!

A more truly loving person I have never met. She makes people feel good about themselves and makes them realize how special they are. What a gift she is. She makes us feel special. And loved.

Shannon enjoys the creative process. She loves photography and has taken a few classes in it at the college level. Everyone thinks her photography is phenomenal and she has done several professional jobs, but she now declines them and says she wants to do the photography just for the sheer pleasure of it. The pressure of presenting a product that is ultimately pleasing to the customer takes the pleasure out of it, she says. That, and the fact that she wants updated equipment keeps her from doing more than her wonderful family shots. Her house is filled with incredible photographs of family; she captures so much in a single frame. Like a thousand words.

She loves people. Point blank. She loves hearing their stories. We share that in common.

She loves the surfing culture. She can ride a mean boogie board but states she takes pleasure in being the audience of a good surfing movie or watching her son surf (he is passionate about the sport) or taking walks on the beach and marveling at the skill of the surfers. I share that fascination with her. Harkens back to my youth. How they can balance on that board through a spinning wave amazes me. I also am fascinated by skateboarders. When Shaun White killed the Winter Olympics in snowboarding in 2006, I thought---now there is an American kid who ignored the adults who told him not to skateboard on school property. (Some rules should be ignored!) Poetry in motion, man, poetry in motion. That kind of skill boggles my mind: surfing, skating, snowboarding. Balancing on a board while doing crazy tricks. Humans are really incredible. 

Shannon is a morning person. What gives her the motivation to get up in the morning? She loves her life. She is grateful for everything and every one in her life. She is grateful to life in San Diego near the ocean. She loves relationships. The pull of the Ocean. Having a job ahead of her that requires her creativity. Encouraging others. 

She loves a lot of things. And I love her. 

On my last day in San Diego, my daughter Shannon (Shannon Jr!) and I went to Torrey Pines State Beach. It was cold and windy and I was happy to look out the dirty window of her Hyundai Tucson mini SUV (she was holding onto the sandstorm dirt from Gila Bend). I got out once to shoot a photo but jumped back in the vehicle. You’d think I was a wimp! I will cycle my trike through the wind and cold. But ask me to just stand out there and I will run for cover!

That night, Shannon Jr drove back to LA. I stayed one more night with Shannon Sr and Jim and took off on Henry David at 8:10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 17th. 

It was a delightful visit and now the road beckoned and my legs felt great. Good thing; there were some crazy steep hills I had to climb to get back to the coast. Next destination: San Clemente.