Stingray alert!

Remember how my son Geoffrey got stung by a stingray here two years ago?  Well, my daughter-in-law Kendell got stung yesterday.

On the plus side we knew what to do this time around.  We didn't stand around, wondering whether or not my brother Jimmy should urinate on her foot.  We immediately got that foot into some hot water, ran her up to the ER, and pumped her full of antibiotics.  Because she is tough and awesome, she was even able to participate in the Family Olympics last night wherein she perfectly nailed my brother John with a water balloon.

Nice work, Kendell!

Boys of Summer, 1955

Every day an old man pulls up in a van with a picture on the back of five young men, holding surfboards while looking tan and trim in swimming trunks--the kind Barbie's boyfriend, Ken, wore back when Barbie and Ken were first invented.    Underneath the caption reads:  "Boys of Summer, 1955."

He sits in the van all day with his window down, looking out at Doheny Point, possibly remembering the summer he and Moondoggie and the Big Kahuna fell all over themselves in an effort to impress Gidget (short for "girl midget").   Part of me thinks this is sad.  Another part of me (and I'm very serious about this) thinks, dude.  What could be more awesome than to hang at the beach all day, thinking about good times?

I have the sense he wants people to stop and ask him about those days.  And maybe I will.  But I'm almost afraid he'll tell me more than I want to know.

Conversation overheard whilst sitting here at a McDonald's in Dana Point

One patron to another patron:  "Hell, I just got my third criminal trespassing notice.  I don't even know what that means."

Birds

Yesterday morning I took a long run on the beach from here to the San Clemente pier.  It's a nice beach to run because parts of it are quite secluded due to limited access from the road.  That's probably why I saw a single crane just standing there.  No one around to bother it.

Have you ever seen a crane up close?  They're HUGE.  And this one was standing as still as death.  As I approached, it didn't flinch.  Not a bit . . . until I was a few feet away.  And then with a flick of reptilian eye, it took flight, beating the air with broad prehistoric wings until it glided over the water and into sky.

Awesome.  Truly.

Reporting from the Beach

Beach Week!

Jimmy and I were remembering Vacations of Our Youth.  He remembered the time we stayed at a Motel 6, back in the day when you had to pay for air time by dropping quarters in the slot.  We were watching  THE BABE RUTH STORY (it seems like we were always watching baseball biopics) when the money ran out.  There were no more quarters to be had.  And so our dad told us how the movie ended.

"Babe Ruth dies," he said.

WIFYR 2012: The Final Day

Dear WIFYR 2012 Cannonballs,

You guys have been awesome.  THANK you for bringing your A-game to our class each day.  I have enjoyed getting to know you so very, very much.

Here are a few things I'll remember--

Jared's epic mullet
Linda's calming, intelligent presence
Elizabeth's willingness to step outside her comfort zone
Tabitha's rockin' lyrics
Rebecca's great southern dialogue
Katy's rendering of TOUGH BORIS
Heather's moving story about her experience in China
Fatma's kind eyes and elegant stories from another country

Keep writing.  I mean it.

WIFYR DAY FOUR (yesterday)

Yesterday Trent Reedy spoke in the plenary session.  A veteran of the Afghanistan war, Reedy has written an acclaimed novel about an Afghani girl called WORDS IN THE DUST.  His personal story is nothing short of electrifying.  And, of course, when you listen to someone like Trent, you have that moment where you say to yourself, "I haven't been a soldier in Afghanistan.  What do I have to write about?"

I do take comfort in David Sedaris's words:  "My students were middle-class kids who were ashamed of their background.  They felt like unless they grew up in poverty, they had nothing to write about .. . I felt sorry for these kids, that they thought their whole past was absolutely worthless because it was less than remarkable."

We all have stories.  That is all.