Monday, July 04, 2005

Missing You (And The Festivities, Too) 

California Road Trip With Dad: Day 8

And on the eighth day there was email again, and it was so good to be heading towards cyberspace after three days on the unpopulated coastline we skipped the Mendocino Fourth of July parade and the San Francisco fireworks. Okay, really we just wanted to get an early start on the 180 mile drive. And we didn't want to walk up the hill with the crowds and stand for far too long in the chilly air just to see the sky explode, because who needs more exploding when the waves have been exploding around us for so many days now?

Nice supper at Zingari, though; Wild Boar osso bucco really hit the spot. And we did stop at Muir Woods National Park on the way into SanFran to hug redwoods, as promised. Damn, those things are huge: wide and deep and endlessly tall. And they really are red, a deep cedar inside and out. Meta alert, if you ever go: in the state park gift shop they sell tiny trees carved out of local fallen giants. Coolfactor: if you're limber enough, you can crawl inside a hollowed out trunk and get a hug from a redwood, too.

Called home from the parking lot and checked in with the wife and kid. Willow had little to say save are you still on your trip? Talking with me on the phone reminds her that I'm gone, so I keep it short. Darcie says she's been talking about being sad that I'm gone, now wants only me at her birthday party the weekend after we return. Other than a few ultimately unproductive overnights for interviews in the Spring, I've not been away from her overnight since she was a year old. It's not the same.

Back home at the hotel the mailbox was full of spousal send-alongs from the other coast: Willowisms (I don't want that [picture], I want my real Daddy!), photos (Darcie and the baby resting; Willow making jam with Grandma; Cassia grinning for the camera), and a lovely note from the ever-supportive and wonderful Darcie too personal to recap here in the bloggiverse, complete with an anecdote about some folks (hi, folks!) Darcie met at church who seem to have been dedicated listeners all those radioland years now sadly behind me. They have little tykes, too; Darcie suggested dinner with them when I return and I'm all for it.

Dad and I spend much of our time talking about the family, now. I want to and I don't, if you know what I mean, but it turns out to be one of the many, many wonderful things we have in common, and I guess if you have to miss the ones you love, it's best to do so with someone you love.

But late at night when the city sleeps I take out the picture of my three girls and send kisses into the air, just like I promised I would. In the morning, they come down gentle in Vermont, settle on their soft cheeks like breezes. I just know it.

posted by boyhowdy | 11:59 PM |

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