Monday, February 8, 2016

THIS & THAT #7

Super Sunday

At 5:30 AM, the San Jose Mercury News landed on our doorstep. Since every section had stories devoted to an activity taking place fifty miles away in Santa Clara, we devoted a minimal amount of tine to the newspaper.

As usual, the only worthwhile stories I read summarized the basketball game I saw the night before. They described how our Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, bringing their record to 46-4. They had knocked off another NBA pretender to the Golden State throne. It’s a blessing to live in Santa Cruz, and view all of the home and away games on television.

Early On
 I went to the hot tub outside our kitchen door, and was greeted by the thundering sounds of the ocean, and then by the chirping of the early birds, who regularly visit our feeders and us. I left the hot tub, as dawn was delightfully breaking.

After breakfast, while Carmen tended her garden, I continued to trim our eight-foot tall pine tree, creatively shaping it to resemble a miniature bonsai.

The temperature in Santa Cruz slowly rose beneath a warm sun, and settled comfortably at seventy-three degrees, while the temperature in Miami rese to a comfortable high of sixty-six degrees.

Ador-Ab-Lay
After lunch, we drove downtown and saw a most interesting movie “Lady in the Van,” about an eighty-year-old homeless woman in London As usual, Carmen and I walked hand in hand toward our car. At the first crosswalk, a car stopped and waved us across. All of the car’s windows were opened, and we could see the smiling faces of the four twenty-five year-old men inside. The driver, whose arms were bedecked with tattoos, warmly shouted, “You are fucking adorable,” and I replied, “So are you.” Carmen beamed, since no one had ever said that to her, except for me. But when I say it, I interject a Spanish pronunciation and say, “Carmen, you are ador-ab-lay.”

While strolling to our car, we stopped at Logo’s huge used and new bookstore, and after I found the paperback Ukulele Heroes for a mere $7.98. I prevailed with Carmen that insisted that we have to get a book for her, and she selected the hardcover book, European Cookies for Every Occasion, for the same price.

We did a bit of window-shopping at the Santa Cruz Warrior’s downtown store on Pacific Avenue, for it was closed, and continued walking to our car.

Sand and See
We drove down to the Boardwalk, and it and the nearby beach was crowded with people far from Santa Clara. It was the same story at other beaches in the area. Who would want to be anywhere else?

We did, and so we went to a nearby park, and walked through the woods and fields on un-crowded trails. Then we stopped at a health club near our house, for our new insurance plan provided us with a free Silver Sneakers membership. Less than ten people occupied the two-story, three-building structure. Perhaps the others were still enjoying the marvelous weather elsewhere.  

When we came home, while I waited for salmon being cooked on our grill at the end of our Super Sunday, I remember that there was some activity taking place that day in Santa Clara. When I turned on my computer, I discovered that a team from Denver had beaten a team from North Carolina.

Why Fly Away?

Today, on this marvelous Monday, the temperature in Miami climbed to sixty-six degrees. At 3:30 PM, it’s now eighty degrees in Santa Cruz.