Wednesday, May 18, 2011 — Had a happy birthday

Birthday songs began coming in by phone before 9:00. Ate bites of breakfast in between calls. Lovely to hear from family and friends. Amazed to hear Peter Gradjansky's voice after so many years. I first met Peter when I was teaching a fiber program at "Haystack at Arcosanti." This was a stimulating session at Arcosanti in Arizona brought about because Fran Merritt of Haystack and Paulo Soleri decided that their students would benefit by being exposed to the arts disciplines and ways that weren't offered by their own centers. What a fun time working in the midst of all that innovative architecture. It was a very memorable month I spent teaching there just before I began my graduate work in Design with Ed Rossbach. Peter's call this morning took me back to those joyful days working, eating and playing at that wondrous place. Thanks to all who called. It's been a good day.

Mike had a gig on Sunday so he was unable to be at the Taurus party. He arrived around noon on Monday and promptly began doing all the things a tall son can do for his mother. Light bulbs were replaced where needed. A small plastic cabinet with drawers was mounted to the furnace room wall so I can keep track of my growing number of electronic cords and chargers.

Mike helped me put coat of finish on the floors at Pacific Textile Arts. That definitely cut down on the time needed to get the job done. Then I decided that I'd like to go to the DMV and take the written test as well as the vision test to renew my driver's license. Otherwise I would have to have done it today. Hated that idea. I missed two questions and happily received my temporary license. From there we went to Redwood Health Club and swam our laps. What a great swimmer Mike has become. A pleasure to watch him in the water. I felt really hungry after that so we went to the Fort Bragg Steak House (An unfortunate choice of name because they have all kinds of things for the non-meat eaters). After my favorite summer chicken salad and a tasty taco I felt much better. We finished the evening at Headlands Coffee Shop listening to Peter, Francis and Gabe making lovely music. This is the same jazz trio who entertained us Sunday at the party. Mike really liked their sound.

Speaking of the Taurus party .......... all's well that ends well. Kathy had come down Saturday to help me bring it all together. We awoke to a patch of blue sky and sun on the tree tops. Expectations ran high but soon needed adjusting. By 10:00 all the forecast we had been hearing for days began to come to pass. First a little rain on the chairs and tables Kath and I had just arranged on the lawn. Soon after that it began coming down in buckets. That lasted for about a half hour. Long enough to assure us that we needed to regroup. We decided that the band could play in the dining room. The food would go at the front of the house under the porch roof. And, happily, the drinks could be placed under the porch roof on the north end of the house. I began working on final food projects and while standing at the sink, the heavens opened up and began dropping some serious hail. I stood there and couldn't stop laughing. Just a few hours later we were to greet those hearty souls who would come, rain or shine. I was feeling sorry for the boule players and wondering how it was all going to turn out.

Unbelievably, about 1:00 the rain and hail ceased and it began to warm up a bit. Is that the luck of the Irish or what? Frank and Larou arrived to set up the barbeque operation and we surveyed the whole situation with a little more positive outlook than just an hour before. Slowly, guests bearing luscious dishes began arriving and filling up the table tops. What a feast it became. Some even played boule while the Gealey girls creatively batted a very damaged ping pong ball back and forth at the table in front of the garage. (Heather, there are a dozen new balls awaiting your next game). Some gathered in the studio and others sat in the dining room and enjoyed the musical entertainment. Others sat where ever they could in the living room and outside. I circulated as much as possible but missed a few departures by good friends like the Sato's. Today is also Shozo's birthday and I missed calling him. So happy birthday, Shozo.

As the last guests departed, Kathy and I realized that the first Taurus party since Skip departed had gone well and we were happy about having done it. Oh, these moments are mixed with emotion. But it was heartwarming to see so many good friends. After I said, "Skip would have enjoyed this," Maureen E. said, "I'm sure he did." And I thinks she was right.