Spontaneity Florentine
I think that is going to be my new drag name when I open up my all-bear chanteuse cabaret act! Doesn’t she sound like she’d be a traveling singer in the gay old west? Kind of a combination of Jeanette MacDonald and Marlene Dietrich
Well, or maybe it’s really just a description of my wonderful day. It started around 07:00 with a bowl of cinammon life cereal and a mug of coffee, and some grapes. Then in coversation with an online friend, I agreed to meet him for an impromptu brunch at the Castro location of Squat and Gobble.
As I sauntered down Fell toward Laguna Street, I spied standing at the corner, my neighbor and friend, the cute otter cub, Sam. I met him at the corner, and we started walking together up Laguna toward Market, a pleasant conversation flowing naturally and with animation. Once at Market, we turned up Market toward Noe Street, and we parted with well-wishes and we-should-d0-this-more-oftens.
Squat and Gobble was crowded, and I missed my friend, Peter, amidst the crowded tables, finally seeing him after I got perpendicular to him. He was already sitting with his meal, so I rushed inside and ordered my lunch, crabcake florentine and an iced tea, then rejoined him at the table.
He and I had been chatting on various sites for the past two years or so, and had an aborted attempt at meeting last year. But after being cooped up at home, except to work, all week, I could no longer stay home on enforced frugality. Maslow was calling!
So, we ate our meals and talked, playful banter and more serious topics. Words were like champagne, and our ears were the flutes. He offered to give me a ride after lunch, and I stumbled over talking about walking down to the Castro to see who was hanging out, but quickly recovered and said I didn’t have any plans at all, so he suggested we take a drive and talk more; I agreed and off we were in his black BMW – first to his place to pick up his camera, and then out to the Great Highway.
“Which way?” he inquired, with an undertone of wanting me to pick north and GG Bridge bound.
Turn left, please.
This answer surprised him, but our first stop was Fort Funston, where we noticed the Farralon Islands, not shrouded in mist, but like giant shark fins on the horizon, so clear was the sky. The crowds at Funston weren’t to our liking, and we continued south, passing Pacifica, then the sight of the new devil’s slide bypass tunnel construction site.
Soon we were in Half Moon Bay, laughing and enjoying the warm sun and air coming in the open windows. He showed me this romantic restaurant on the waterline and suggested it would be a good place to take someone for dinner sometime.
Continuing on to San Gregorio Beach, we parked and hiked a trail that led to a small thicket of short pine trees, where we laid down our flannel shirts and used them as a picnic blanket. It was rather warm, even in the shade, and I removed my t-shirt as well, and rolled onto my stomach, crossed-arms supporting my head, as we continue our conversation.
He works in academia and was full of storied about the politics and people who populate his work realm, and I talked about being a massage therapist and how much pleasure and satisfaction I derived from being able to help people be more relaxed and less pain.
Sometime around 15:00, we decided that we should start heading back, and we crossed over to 101 via 92, to 280 to downtown San Francisco, and finally to the Tenderloin where he dropped me off at my fellow Foggy City Dancers’ board member and friend, Steve, where we took care of a bit of club business, brainstormed on ideas for current and future events, had a pizza and watched the George Cukor version of The Women, which Steve had never seen before.
Once the movie was over, I bid Steve and Simon farewell and walked Sacramento to Polk Street to where it’s still closed off from that electrical fire – wow, it must have really been horrible underground for it to still be closed off a week or more later. So, I detoured up to Van Ness, walked to Grove to Octavia to Fell to home.
Soon as I got home, I did a draft of this t-shirt design I thought of when I was leaving Steve’s place, emailed it to the board, and wrote this post.
chipper
Dan says:
15 June 2009 at 2:01
Sounds like a great day