There’s a lot to love about Southern California and every once in while even she surprises you with a gift. For the next seven days, I see that the weather forecast says that the average high temperature will be 75 degrees, the emoji attached indicates sunny skies and there is 0% chance of any rain with humidity running at about 20-25%. I’m not sure that it gets much better than that. This pattern was supposed to start today and while its still early, the look outside seems in keeping with the forecast. The sunrise to the east has a golden quality to it. The sky above is a light blue that promises to brighten as the sun rises. And to the west there is a rather strange and almost ethereal look about the horizon as though the slightly darker blue of nighttime is fading into the ocean while above it is a layer of mauve and pink that runs the full length of the western sky. I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a more perfect morning except maybe a few times in the dry desert air during some long ago trip. The light this morning seems to be saying that all is well with the earth and that there is absolutely nothing to worry about that could possibly overcome this natural beauty and wellbeing that embraces us in this moment.
It all leaves me so breathless that I’m unsure what else to write about for fear that whatever it is will be of lesser import than the beauty of the morning glow. So instead I have gone about my regular Sunday morning routine of going out for bagels for the neighborhood. My routine is to spend the ride down into Escondido catching up with my oldest son, Roger. All is well in Delaware, which is a good thing. I checked in with daughter Carolyn yesterday and all was well there after granddaughter Evelyn’s 10th birthday party. As for youngest son, Tom, I know enough about his schedule not to try to call him on the weekend. He seems (per Instagram) to be out skiing with his wife Jenna, I’m happy that they are enjoying the outdoor life that Colorado affords them. Meanwhile, I have made my rounds with the bagel deliveries. Mike & Melisa are preparing for a day of three football playoff games. Mike is my vehicle for staying in touch with the favored American sporting games. Even though I don’t think much of a game that rewards brutality and sacrifices its best to the horrors of permanent brain injury, I do acknowledge its place in American culture, so I like to at least know who is playing as we approach the vaunted Super Bowl spectacle next month. It seems that four of the eight quarter round playoff spots are decided and the other four will get decided between today and tomorrow, with three of those games on TV today. I forced Mike to review the lineups for me and used the excuse of choosing favorites as a contest between the three of us, so that I could lock in who might be ascending to the throne. It’s hard to be in the news cycle at this time of year and not be at least a little plugged into the primary actors in the kabuki. I recently watched a film clip of the coach of the Baltimore Ravens, who got fired, giving his exit interview to the press, declaring how much he disliked the city that was rejecting him after twenty years of franchise building that culminated in a Super Bowl win last year. The drama of watching a bitter $17 million per year coach stamping his feet over being set free to go earn even more money from one of the other five teams that are vying for his affections was a fitting statement about the sport that I so much dislike.
My second bagel stop was at Faraj & Yasuko’s. Faraj is a gardener in the tradition of those from the Tigris/Euphrates breadbasket region and Yasuko is of the Japanese tradition of bonsai art, both in terms of growing and training miniature trees, but also in terms of throwing her own pottery. The two of them combine the craftsmanship and sensibility of artistry and nature and both were on full display this morning. I toured Faraj’s lower orchard with its various citrus and fruit trees. He has helped me plant two Oroblanco grapefruit trees of my own that I await their initial ripening. To give me a preview, he gave me a more ripened one from one his several more mature trees. I find it one of the sweetest and tastiest fruits I know. We are currently looking for both a tangerine or tangelo tree for me and a hybrid pear tree that has multiple pear varietals grafted to a common trunk. Slowly but surely, Faraj is turning me into an orchard tender and fruit lover.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone, I toured the various bonsai plants in process that include a series of mugo pines in training and an entire array of red Japanese maple sprigs that have been banded together to create small clusters of trees that will eventually grow into lovely miniature forrest’s of red maples. The creativity, ingenuity, artistry and sensibility of these wonderful neighbors are a great pleasure to me and I find inspiration in their diligence and calm demeanor. Before leaving with my ripe Oroblanco grapefruit, Yasuko, knowing that Kim had been feeling poorly yesterday, sent me off with a cutting of a fragrant early blossoming tree branch to give to her and aid in her convalescence. We agreed to meet out on the road after noon for a walk through the neighborhood, which is increasingly becoming a routine for Kim, Buddy and me. In this perfect weather, on this perfect hilltop, with such perfect neighbors, it all makes for a perfect way to spend a Sunday. All that and I can say that I have educated myself about what the gridiron will produce for results that will be important to the rest of the hilltop that is not communing with nature as we will be. All that adds to the perfection of the day.