We walk the Big Trees Monday - many of these giants have been around before Jesus, for Christ's sake. A photo is difficult to capture their enormity. The sign-post next to the largest Seqouia in the North Grove says:
"The stump continues to be an attraction to thousands of park visitors annually. It is a testament to the longevity of theses redwood trees that the stump and log are still here after more than 150 years (since the groves discover)”
Moe is wearing them. Purchased BTW in '89. Who would have ever thought so stylish? A nice thing about the kids now is swimming - they can do it so we don't have to watch them or watch them at least as closely. This frees up time for Star and People magazines, the occasional Cosmo (me) and other rags left by the pool. Sonnet is now on Harry Potter's third book which she reads patiently (and pleasurably) to the entranced Shakespeares.
Pictured- Sloan and Mary at cocktail hour. It is generally understood that while Dad is on vacation, Dad is also working (couple hours maybe) and blogging (too much really). Eitan and I play ping pong and he berates me: "you should have got that one." I give him a mean look and he glares back at me. Yes, he be competitive. And stubborn. Last night we had a kerfuffle over bathing- again. He refuses and I tell him ten bucks - the established going rate from the day before. The boy is so angry he can barely contain himself and refuses me money or bath. It ends with a stare-down and I tell him I want $10 as he has made his decision. We are locked eyes for maybe 30 seconds which is a long time Dear Father. He finally wavers then asks Sonnet to help him undress. I feel this a moment of some importance as Eitan has been testing his boundaries which has been rather difficult going - and out of his character too, I might add. While I may or may not have proved myself an above average father, at least the kid is clean. For now anyway.
Sophie takes a splash, which I shoot from the lake, treading water and hoping I do not drop the camera Adam-style (but this another, more expensive story, oh boy). Sophie and I have a romance as she gives me her attention and chooses to take our SUV (the boys are generally teaming up against the girls - an age thing really). Indeed, we are a caravan of three enormous rides and I feel momentarily guilty about the carbons but somehow appeased by the number of people and goods transported. Plus it is vacation, for Pete's sake. We ride into town looking like a presidential motorcade and I think about Detroit's dying days: an hour at 60MPH and 30 miles per gallon at today's gas prices means 10 bucks which is more than the minimum wage. No wonder Toyota taking over the roads - and thank goodness too. The real pinch, and one reason for the sub-prime collapse in outer areas like Stockton, is the cost of a commute. Unfortunately affordable housing for many in the Bay Area comes with a two hour+ trade-off - this may no longer be tenable for those already stretched and so the commuters split leaving their under-water house behind. Driving through Stockton (which BTW is presented, along with Florida, as the center of the housing crises fiasco) one sees endless rows of same-style properties. I rather like Stockton's simple, historical skyline but the 'burbs are ghastly. And now they are becoming empty.
Madeleine knows how to pose (I think). Anyway the kids think alcohol tastes "gross, dad" and I get a barrel of grief from the Shakespeares about my beer drinking ways. Recall, Dear Mother, that Eitan and I had a bet some years ago that he would stop sucking his thumb if I stopped drinking beer. Well, I am caught out on this deal but argue lamely that the bet had a statute of limitations which has run out. When that does not work, I tell them dad's prerogative given life seniority. When that fails too of course I use the time tested fall-back: "we adults have different rules."
Sitting by the pool, Eitan tells me: "You will get a punch if you drink my Diet Coke."
Madeleine, who has watched Star Wars Episodes IV, V and VI these past few days, asks me: "Dad, is it true that you have The Force?" When I tell her yes, it is true, she continues: "do you want to go to The Dark Side too?"
There is definitely at summer vibe at the Big Trees rec centre and always a sexual frisson between the life guards, all teen-agers toned and tan. Sonnet and I (mostly I) observe the flirting and looking - I recall too the cocoon. It is reasonably clear who is having a summer romance or at least who is into whom. There ain't much else here for young people's pleasures, for sure - but life is good when it is not boring.
On Rob's most excellent suggestion we drive to the lower mountains to visit New Melones Reservoir on the Stanislaus River in the California Central Valley, or about 60 miles upstream from the river's confluence with the San Joaquin River. This point forms the border between Calaveras County and Tuolumne County, home of Yosemite. It is about 30 miles or so from our cabin. The reservoir is huge - 2,400,000 acre-foot capacity - making it California's third largest. The stoppage was formed by the New Melones Dam, which was completed in '78 and built by the US Bureau of Reclamation for flood control and, of course, water skiing or tubing. I learn that the lake's depth is about 1,080 feet and now, thanks to the drought, is 100 feet below normal. It feeds the San Joaquin valley, the world's most productive agricultural land and without H-2-O a desert. We rent two boats for skiing and beer-drinking while the kiddies swim, jump and ride the day away. By the afternoon everybody beat-red (despite 50 sun-block) and happily exhausted. Sonnet stands up on her first pair of water skies and has the thrill of her life time... after me, of course. We agree: our white trash day a huge success.
Mary and Devon, who is a great kid. Devon is the oldest of three and these days his favorite sport is downhill racing which he does about every weekend in the Connecticut mountains nearby Mary and Amado's second home. He is also a swimmer and footballer, which he and Eitan bond over. Devon BTW is Eitan's self-proclaimed BBF and with brother Simon they have a blast rocketing about (there is a bit of a thing against girls right now but this will pass, oh boy).
I'm pretty much out of touch with the news and the world which is heavenly. I did see that Max won his libel case against News Of The World which I guess is interesting. Fleet Street is world class, God bless it, but goes too far on occasion - this why we love it dearly, Brother.
Here is the inside of Mercer Caverns. Without lighting there is complete darkness. Initially Madeleine wants nothing to do with the caves remember Wales but she joins in the end. The children as all sorts of interesting questions: "where do the rocks come from?" (Madeleine); "Why does that look like chocolate?" (Maya); "Is there any gold?" (Devon); "Is there any gold pylate? (Devon) This last question flummoxes our otherwise informed guide. From there we descend 208 steps - despite this depth it is not the bottom, where a breeze enters the caves providing oxygen and cool air. While there is general curiosity where the air source originates, it against California law to dig or damage the pristine below for discovery. Various methods BTW were used including blue smoke which, it was believed, would exit somewhere outside Mercer and provide the source. Fat chance, as the current kept the smoke inside and smoked everybody else out. Eitan BTW reports that there are only 192 steps to the bottom and if there was a bet I would put it with him.
Who is the center of everybody's attention I wonder? Grace has made the kids visit fun, fun! fun! bringing games and the Star Wars trilogy, which we enjoy equally. Last week she took us rose shopping and we returned to 1530 with flowers and plants happily placed in the back-yard. Eitan and Madeleine seemed to enjoy the activity and now they leave something of themselves behind. In the garden. I like gardening myself and England is the place to be for this particular pastime. The British love their backyards and there always seems to be a radio program on the subject covering winter chills, shrubs and various composts. Our garden is small and simple but I like tidying it up, cutting the lawn and clipping back the bushes. The kids just like the dirt. Back to here and dirt: they have not bathed in four days. Eitan flat out refuses my direct order to do so and I tell him what he will give me in return for The Missing. He proposes two-dollars. Then five and ten. I raise an eyebrow at ten which is a substantial portion of his saved $52. I note that ten bucks will get him ten ice cream cones, two DVDs or a CD. Says he: "ice cream cones are $1.50" and the deal is done.
Eitan discovers a new sport at the rec. Yes, he is obsessing (and pretty good too).
California is beset by forest fires including Big Sur where Sonnet and I spent our honeymoon. Closer to home, there is smoke coverage in Bear Valley at 7,000 feet due to an uncontrolled fire at Yosemite which has forced evacuations inside the park. The dry summer and lack of water hurt.
Madeleine and I are at the Big Trees pool not far from my parent's house in Bear Valley. We are at the pool because Eitan wants to play inner-tube water polo which begins at 5PM. Only we arrive at 5:05 and he refuses to play. So. We. watch the game and... he. very.. upset.
The Orensteins have been visiting this area since '83 when Moe and Grace bought the house with two families including the Sapersteins. It has been a fabulous place for winters and summers which is my preferred time of the year since I do not sky downhill (Bear Valley has several good bowls and recently purchased by Vail Resorts and expected to be expanded). There is excellent cross country skiing and this we used to do often but not since London. Scenic HW4 is snow blocked for four to six months of the year at Ebbotts Pass making us a 60 mile dead-end which gratefully has curtailed development. Today it is the same as it ever was but us who are a bit older. The kids love it and we are soon to be joined by our Marine and New York friends for a grand reunion.
Sonnet and I walk to Duck Lake in Stanislaus National Forest. We split the house at 6AM where, BTW, Moe and Eitan awake preparing for the day: "swim lessons, 10AM!" Eitan shouts. Our hike is reasonably tame - only four miles - but the views of the mid-sierras brilliant and the alpine lake is isolated, surrounded by ridge-line and a deep meadow. We end with a four mile jog and I may report that my wife is a serious runner - she weighs less today than when I met her and the London marathon has her in all kinds of shape. Also her stride has changed - faster and better form. She's thinking about signing up for a few races in the fall.
Moe and I talk about the law - he retired in '97 at age 62 and notes that the business has changed since he practiced. "We used to bill maybe 1,200 hours a year and barely kept track" he says. "Now a top partner is expected to do twice that amount." (Moe watches Eitan and Madeleine in their swim class - what joy, no doubt).
We receive a scratchy NPR on the radio - enough to know that the Labour Party lost their third test in Scottish burough which three years ago was soundly pro-labour. Scotland of course is where Super Gee is from. While many of the UK's problems are not due to Brown, he was the chequer while these problems were in the works - like Britain's borrowing where we are the most leveraged consumers in the world or the housing market which is perhaps worse than the US. Brown has also made a hash of things like the non-dom and ten "p" tax and of course the withdrawn elections. His ass is grass.
We arrive in the sierras Wednesday and straight to the pool, of course. Eitan has highlighted the pool activities which include inner-tube water polo, swim lessons and bingo+the snack bar. Both kids have been saving their bucks for one full year to buy nachos, ice cream sandwiches, skittles and M&Ms. It is borderline obsessive behavior but now it bears fruit: Eitan screams at me when I tell him no junk-food before lunch. I relent. Yesterday we go for a family hike on Emigrant Trail to Alpine lake. Madeleine complains the first half non-stop but I don't pay attention to her who-is-me. Eitan, on the other hand, makes several attempts to block our progress by refusing to continue. I continue onward leaving him to himself. Once out of eye-sight I hear the patter of feet and he is two inches behind me practically walking on my feet. Everybody happy when we arrive at the lake which is beautiful as ever. The kids ease their return with walking sticks and seem to enjoy themselves - we are out for 1.5 hours which is a nice break-in effort. At the end I tell Madeleine we will walk it again and she: "You're mad."
Madeleine announces matter of factly that there are 17 miles in an hour. Sonnet and I are a bit surprised and she clarifies herself: "Penguins walk 17 miles in an hour" she reports, from "March Of The Pengquins."
Madeleine takes off at Chordineses which, Dear Reader, I have been doing since 1976. The cool thing is to bring wax paper which really revs up the action. The next-door Berkeley Rose Garden has eight public tennis courts where many North Berkeley kids picked up the sport - I did anyway, batting a ball against a cement wall before I followed an endless lane-line down the middle of a 25 yard pool. Similarities I wonder? Sonnet and I have a "date" last night and head for a Japanese where I drink a lot of sake, thank you very much. Regardless we are up at dawn's crack to run the fire-trail near the kiddie farm - Sonnet is in super shape following the marathon and her training reg. She weighs five pounds less today then when we met in '93. Her body looks trained and beaurtiful and she has all the gear of the serious middle-aged runner = runners, shades, sweat-whisking materials... it is all good. Yesterday Eitan gets his wish and we spend two hours swimming at Strawberry Canyon. That box be checked.
Sonnet reads the kids Harry Potter and everybody entranced.
Berkeley is THE heart of liberal America - how could it not be? - and I have yet to meet one person who has a kind word about our government and the war (Moe is cautious in his criticism but it is there too). For many of Berkeley's '60s generation and my parents age, a life-time's work invested in public institutions like education or the judicial system or the environment has stalled or been set back. Oh boy. My generation takes these things for granted in large part because we did not have to fight for them - no civil rights movements, no assassinations... the '80s were Boom Times and distractions plenty. Today the apathy seems worse - at least no war going on during my college days - but maybe Barack will change this somehow if elected. Perhaps young people will go back to government instead of investment banking like I did in '89 when 75% of Yale's graduating class applied to Wall Street (I don't know about Brown). Berkeley too has gentrified and the hippies of then are the home owners of now and the properties here valuable: a house bought in the the '70s for less than a hundred grand is worth well over a million now. Telegraph has cleaned up - no drugs, comic book shops, pinball arcades or vinyl records like Rasputins. Despite such change the soul of this place is the UC which ties the community together as ever - for me, it is as simple as rooting for Cal football and our annual dogged cheer applies aptly to government today: "just wait 'til next year!"
Moe takes us to the Lawrence Hall of Science where I have not been since 1977. I am pretty sure of the year because my parents signed me up for computer programming at LHS and, on first day, I spotted Erin Oleigh who I had a huge crush on. Anyway, I chickened out and never went back. And so went my chance to found Microsoft. LHS is the public science museum and research center for K-12 education at the University of California, Berkeley. It's sweet and has all sorts of inter-active stuff which I may have enjoyed more than the kids. Now the focus is on nano-technology which makes sense as Berkeley is trying to become the Bio-tech center of the Bay Area ceding technologies to Stanford and the peninsula. Moe tells me that the leading nano-tech centre is not far from LHS and in fact visible from the hill-top which offers a wonderful panoramic view of the bay. LHS was built in '68 and reminds me of the early '70s funkiness and space agee programs like Space 1999. Ernesto Orlando Lawrence BTW was Cal's first Nobel laureate . He is up there with Pappy Waldorf who took the football team to three consecutive Rose Bowls ending in '51. Hey we lost all three - but go Bears!
Madeleine and Eitan way excited about the slide at Cordenices Park, where we be this morning. Eitan spies a football camp and is naturally fascinated - when I inquire whether he wishes to play he demures: "don't have my kit, dad." We watch from the sidelines and Eitan comments on "the skills". We then rough-house until he cries and I turn my attention to Madeleine and the long-slide - pictured. New glasses rejected by Sonnet but I get used to them.
Chordineses by the way is walking distance from my parents house and many touch-football games played their in my yuf. It was also a good place to get stoned or have birthday parties. It is adjacent to the Rose Garden and for a while was pretty run down but Berkeley has since re-invested in the park and now it is fab.
Eitan in the dining room. He, Madeleine and Sonnet arrive yesterday and I greet them at the airport - everybody happy and wired to be in "San Francisco!" they scream. We drive across the Bay Bridge to Bezerkeley and Sonnet makes several comments "only in Berkeley" as we drive by a VW bus painted flowers or the granola team planting shrubs in a round-about (this nearby Kee Tov where I used to go to camp - Kee Tov moved and it is now a theology school Go figure). Tabitha and her team come over for a BBQ and the kids hit the sack 8PM.
