What We Did This Summer

So I guess Summer is over, and it's now ... hum ... difficult to tell in this climate. If I were to make a guess, without actually knowing we're in November, I would say it was late Spring. It's certainly not the rainy, cold Fall I remember from B.C.

I don't know if the above paragraph makes any sense to anyone but me, but I needed a way to begin this blog entry....

This post is about all the cool things Mike and I did this past Summer. Here I go ....

We rescued a freaky, totally retarded baby bluejay and watched like proud parents as he (against all odds because he's retarded and seems to have a death wish) survived to become a handsome bird ....

We went to San Francisco many times - biked along the sea walk ... walked around the Presidio ... sat on a bench in the moonlight eating donuts and people watching ... nearly killed ourselves biking against thirty mile an hour winds ... watched parasailors ... kept an eye on the Golden Gate bridge in the *hope* that we would see a suicide (sick, but I don't care....) ... biked in Golden Gate Park ... wandered along Fisherman's Wharf ... ate crab cocktail while watching seagulls ... walked through Fort Point (under the bridge) with our camera's ... saw the Women Impressionist art display at the Legion of Honor museum ....

I suntanned nude on the deck ... grew killer tomatoes (no pun intended) ... pulled up carpet to reveal the hardwood floor ... made papier mache marionettes ... climbed to the tip of an evergreen tree in our back yard and watched the moon ... posed for Mike’s camera ... made jewelry for Mike and for myself ....

Mike learned to make throwing knives, and how to throw them (he's very sexy to watch) ... took nude photos of me ... cut my hair ....

We had long conversations ... watched great movies ... laughed our heads off ... made food together ... went for walks holding hands ... gave each other back rubs ... took long hot showers together ... fell asleep in our armchairs ... stayed in bed till ten thirty a.m., snuggling under the white feather blankets and listening to the radio ....

We biked along the beautiful paths of Howarth Park, to the lake where we swam with Canada Geese and ducks ... Mike taught me how to swim underwater without plugging my nose ... I taught Mike how to do underwater handstands ... I learned how to do a brisk logroll on the surface of the water (Mike saw a man photographing me doing it) ... we rode our bikes back to the car, wearing just our wet bathingsuits and shoes ....

We biked along the creek paths many times, past grape fields where we shared a flask of wine ... biked all the way to end of the creek path where we found: 1) a beautiful weeping willow tree overhanging the creek, where we stopped and skipped rocks
2) an army of plastic cowboys and Indians that we gathered up to bring home and arrange on the windowsill
3) a homeless person fast asleep under a bush

We drove to the coast and walked along the sand, where a wave snuck up on me and I nearly landed on my butt running away from it ... we crawled around on the sand, collecting pretty, tiny stones to use in art ... wandered through Andy's Market for fresh veggies and fruit ... stood outside Andy's, eating a juicy peach that a lady gave to Mike (juice dripping all over our fingers) ....

We went to free outdoor concerts, where I danced in front of the stage, and sat with Mike on a blanket, and stood with my back resting against his chest and his arms around me ... we went to art galleries, and museums ... we made music together ... we went to all our favorite libraries ... we talked with Mathew - our investment consultant at the bank (he’s like no other investment consultant in the world, he cracks us up) ....

We built a shed with an extended roof to give us a ten foot square shaded area to sit under ... bought a bow and arrows, some hay bales, and learned how to actually hit the bales instead of losing arrows in the creek ... we sat under the extended shed roof and watched the birds in the yard, and the ducks in the creek, and the way the leaves moved ... we made art together out there ....

We pulled up the deck to reveal the cement patio underneath ... bought a banana tree ... bought a grape plant ... I started a bonsai ... we found some super deals at yardsales (every saturday) ... watched with all the neighbors as the local abandoned house/junkie squat went up in flames ... made salad with our own tomatoes, swiss chard, garlic chives, and indian mustard ... bought a habatchi - barbequed a chicken and ate it with our fingers while sitting on the remains of the deck ... we bought bamboo ... we snuck into the yard of the abandoned house and cut giant armfuls of river reed and sang “Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go” as we walked back home single file with the rustling bundles of fifteen foot long reed on our shoulders ... we stripped the reed and braised some of it on the barbeque to bring out its natural beauty ....

Now we're learning chess, we play two hour games, and even though Mike has beat me nearly every game so far, I definitely give him a run for his money ....