SURFIN' SAFARI SUMMER TWO - DAY 5 (SOLSTICE) June 21, 2020

 


This picture is evidence I went surfing at Marina del Rey today without my wife. I am reading about the Impressionists so I noodled with the photo app in an effort at rendering something “tasteful," but my heart wasn't in it. On Saturdays, Anna has company and I get to go Coyote Wild for four hours. That wasn’t happening during the lockdown, and this weekend we gave it a shot. It was really great to surf in a carefree way. This was the fifth session in a short timespan so I was crisp. The water was clear and there were big mammals splashing about. (No, not me.) Don’t have too much to write because I have been mostly thinking about those hours spent on the waves. Would you believe I got a content writing gig for a surfing website thanks to this Safari series? The per word rate is modest, but I have all the money I need (for now). More importantly, the stint involves some reviewing of free surf swag. Joined with my classic (old) BMW, and electric guitar, the arrangement signals that I can, finally, be a happy 19-year old.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Organizing a Past

Image
ORGANIZING A PAST. Bathing and helping my wife in the bathroom is nothing that ever comes easy, but it’s a breeze in comparison to the task of organizing her dresser. This is what they call a “Fiddle Box” in Alzheimer’s parlance. Even a full-time caregiver is limited to what can be done with a person who has lost the ability to focus. The Fiddle Box is a place a patient can be left alone to spend hours screwing things up without doing much harm. For Anna, this is an altar at which she stands endlessly moving bits of her life around willy-nilly; expensive jewels, gloves of Spanish leather, scarves from India. My wallet is missing of a sudden, so this is one of those times when order must be restored and to do so is to pass through our life together. There are a thousand garments in different storage places around the apartment. I am trying to liquidate but can’t bring myself to throw away anything she designed. Anna was a prolific fashion designer. She not only had her signature Anna Hu...
Read more
THREE SURFIN’ SAFARI SUMMERS: In the summer of 2019, three years after my wife Anna Huling-Siciliano was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, it became clear that I was losing her. Time was precious, health precarious, money short, and I decided to mine the riches of Southern California and launch a defiant series of regional Surfin’ Safaris as health-driven, couple-shared adventures out of the mausoleum our home had become. As a family we’d always been beachgoers and it seemed a safe bet for my wife who was slowly losing her mind. She could sit on a blanket - as she always had - while I surfed. Things didn't work out to be so neat and clean, but that's the story. Reporting being of a second nature to me, I concocted Facebook posts after each outing through which I intended to keep friends and family apprised of Anna’s condition, and to put them at ease about her quality of life (ie; how I was treating her). Of course, others could read the posts, which were grouped under the ti...
Read more

SURFIN' SAFARI SUMMER ONE - DAY TWO - June 15, 2019

Image
      We went out to the Marina late afternoon. It was cold and windy and the water was mushy and I didn't want to go in, but have decided it's not a true Surfin' Safari Summer outing unless I get beat up by the ocean a bit. Managed to work into a wave that I'm still thinking about hours later.   We took Washington Blvd. out to the coast and stopped for lunch at an Oaxacan place. We shared a "Tlayuda." It is hard to make the case that Los Angeles is a handsome sort of city, but there are pockets where the best elements of Southern California are assembled to charming effect. This spot is one of them.  
Read more