reunions and memory

Last night I went to dinner with people I haven't seen in 40 years or more. We're all from Montclair, NJ.

Left to right, the people in the photo are: Tim Andre (who I didn't know very well back then) Mike Albouy (who lived down the street from us), me, and Aaron Myatt (whose mom was a nurse with my mom and who I've known since I was five or so). This is the second get-together like this I've been to in three days because Aaron (who never travels) is here in California for a Trikke training.

Tim just moved out here a couple of months ago from Hawai'i and Mike lives in Novato. On Thursday, Mike couldn't make it, but Anna Oneglia (who I last saw maybe five years ago did). Her oldest daughter just had a boy at her (the daughter's) home in Berkeley, so Anna was up here just be chance when Aaron was in town. She lives in Santa Cruz. That's Anna to the left there. On Thursday afternoon-evening, we got some takeout from Birite over by Dolores Park and sat and ate and drank wine out of a bottle. This weekend, perhaps coincidentally, there was the all years MHS reunion at Eagle Rock Park.

I am not sorry to have missed that, but am glad we all got together.

Summer

Laine and I were up in Weaverville last weekend. On Sunday afternoon we were sitting in the local bar, having a beer. Someone turned out some money in the jukebox and "Piece of My Heart" started playing in the background.

I don't know why, but there's a certain electric guitar sound I associate with summer time, summer and heat. Other summer stuff - cold beer in dark bars, full of regulars (where I'm not one), peaches, the smell of charcoal fires and gunpowder after fireworks, the smell right before and after it rains, fireflies right at dusk, corn and tomatoes and blueberries.

oh and the heat.