In a Morro Bay State of Mind

Home from a roadtrip. One which was just that, a journey, a moving on, to another phase in my life.

We got going at a nice pace as I’m not fascinated with speed. It got a little slow through L.A. but, indeed, it wasn’t too bad. I approached it with a “low rider” attitude, set my own mood. Hey, my novia’s at my side so I couldn’t help but low ride as she rubbed her sexy little hands on my knee. Made me go “Good googily wooglily” like back in my teens wearing white t-shirts and levi blue jeans.

Next thing I know we’re in Carpinteria and when I looked around I couldn’t help but swoon and sway as I stood there in view of an almost criminally beautiful day. It was like the sun was showing off.

Soon I’m hugging old friends… wining and dining, overlooking the sea at the Cliff House Inn… sitting at a wedding in the sand, a wedding of style and grace with stunningly handsome and attractive human beings of all ages all over the place… listening to vows that rose from deeply literate places in the souls of the newly weds to be… getting down to the sounds of everybody from Earth Wind and Fire to James Brown… chowing down on food that was as delicious as any vittles around…

The wedding’s vibes made this old dude feel so alive and having known the bride and a couple of her cousins for most of their lives I couldn’t help but think of how time flies. It seemed that it wasn’t so long ago that I was as young and on fire as they on the outside but nothing has changed on the inside as there I was the night before dancing my boo-tay off at age 74.

The next day, another marvelous day, we headed up the coast to Morro Bay and along the way, we just kicked back and listened to CD’s and basked in the joy of just being in each other’s company at the early stages of a journey – a journey beginning with the loss of our soul mates’ lives, to our entering each other’s lives, to this moment in our lives when we’re letting someone else in where someone else dwelled for a long long time.

I’m embarking on that journey in a Morro Bay state of mind as I’ll always remember how from the time we left this dear new woman in my life’s home until we returned to her front door I found her filling more spaces in my heart although I don’t know if I could care about her more.

For one thing the effect she has on people is downright attractive to me. We stopped at a friend of her’s in Oceano who lit up at the sight of her like a bulb in a light show, like everyone else in her world does when she arrives on the scene. I love being around someone who is that loved, someone who motivates people as she does, inspiring them as they consider counseling as a way to contribute to the world, to do so with a highly respectful understanding of the diversity of people in that world, with a love that is real, with passion, as she does endlessly. Whoo. Viva la mujer.

Ah, Morro Bay was about the nicest getaway I’ve had in a long long time. Eating with an ocean view. A little boating jaunt along the bay. Reading in the room. Swimming laps in the pool. Day dreaming in the jacuzzi. Hanging out with a doozy – a woman with a dazzling smile and beliefs and outlooks that mirror mine. Wake me up if this ain’t a good time.
We both have fond memories of earlier days at Morro Bay, camping with family, laughs, soaking in the beauty of it all. We miss those days with our past loves and we sense feelings in ourselves that seem familiar. A nice form of deja vu.

We left that relaxing world and headed home with a stop at a place on the beach in Malibu. The sun was still doing the boogaloo. Sleeping to the sound of waves is something wonderful to do.

After returning we later went out to celebrate my son’s 30th birthday with a delightful gathering of his sisters and friends. May such good times never end.

“I’ve missed you,” we both said of our approximately four hours apart. And something occured to me in my heart: I’m going to love this journey. Such is the way it goes when you’re in a Morro Bay state of mind.

This first appeared at San Diego Free Press.