The Strand

today my parents and i walked along the beachside path in manhattan beach known as "the strand." lots of nice houses are being built; much construction. at the very least, they are pretty and tasteful.

i like manhattan beach a lot; one of the few places in socal i'd consider living.

i've heard all about my parents' former life down here; all their special friends and the fun times they had together. we're staying with joan fey, who is the widow of my dad's best friend. she's such a fun person; i've known her all my life as well. my dad's friend wayne and he met in the army; wayne had graduated from yale and my dad from penn. they absolutely hated the army and looked for whichever grad school started soonest as an excuse to get out.

together, they flew all over the country in my dad's plane. wayne built a boat, and they would go cruising around socal beaches, too.

i'm glad to have a bird's-eye view into my parents' life before i was born. their friends all sound so interesting, and nice. smart, educated, ivy league types who are down to earth and just plain fun and nice. smart for its own sake without pretension.

my dad and his friends were recruited into the aerospace industry at its very beginning. it was kind of like the "dot com" phenomenon of its day--very exciting new technology, on the forefront of science.

it really charges up my battery to be here. there is nothing in the world like old friends. their house reminds me of the house i grew up in; similar "vintage," even some similar artifacts and artwork from the lives they all shared together.

we went to a famous old restaurant called "lawry's" last night (of the seasoning salt), and had some amazing prime rib. we're going out tonight, too, though i don't know where.

tomorrow we drive home, and may stop at a winery where a friend of ours works.

i can't wait to get back to pilates; my back already hurts.

in august we head to tahoe for about a week, i'm SO excited. it's one of my favorite places in the world, and sentimental. such fond memories.

wayne died very suddenly and unexpectedly ten years ago and the tragedy is very much with us. my dad refers to him often, and joan does too. such a loss. he was a really amazing, unique guy. he and my dad were friends for 40 years.

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