Back To The Real World

Vacation is not the real world. We work hard all year long and then if we're lucky for a couple of weeks we pack up more posessions than we will ever need and hit the road, the high seas, and the air for destinations that we've determined will make our lives better for going there.

That is the way it was for Geraldine, our dog Frida, and myself last week. We went up the California coastline and stayed at our friend Erwin's in Bodega Bay, land of Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds, then up to Mendocino, back again to Bodega Bay, and last but not least east to Elk Grove for a house concert at my dear old friend Gerry Cassidy's home.

Elk Grove is the land of strip malls. Four at every corner and every stop light. It is also home to some of the biggest people on the planet. We had breakfast at a diner that had canned fruit proudly labeled on the menu. This is in the Sacramento Valley one of the biggest producers of fruit and  produce in the world. We saw one person walking on the sidewalk and one Hispanic man in cowboy regalia riding a bicycle. Gerry's home is an oasis in an otherwise wasteland of mediocrity.

I was not on any diet plan last week, and I know I put on at least 3 or 4 pounds in five days. I also didn't exercise as much as I would if we had just stayed at home in Oakland. We did a lot of driving.

We had a nice time, but I'm glad to be home. The pictures below were taken from our trip.

The name of the band that played at the house concert was called Western Skies Orchestra aka Faster Rattler. The leader of the band is Brendan Phillips, son of the late great Utah Phillips.

Some photos are included in this blog. I think our lives were better for going to these places and seeing some old friends.

Thanks to Erwin, Gerry and Heidi.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War

What I ate today;

Breakfast; black tea w/agave

Lunch: nothing

Dinner; 3 pop over muffins hot from the oven made by Geri, turkey sandwich w/mayo, tomato and a small salad

Exercise; 3.5 miles walking

Mendocino

Mendocino

wild flowers

Brendan Phillips and Utah's old friends backing him up