Today is Sunday. On Thursday I drove from Pinole to San Jose to stand in front of a judge. It was strange. Athanasia and her lawyer were on one side. I was on the other (I can't afford a lawyer.
Lara (I lived with her for two weeks after I moved out of Athanasia's apartment, but now I live with my friend Jeff in Pinole.) and I saw a movie at the Stanford Theater. The film was "The Devil to Pay" with Ronald Coleman and Loretta Young. I wasn't feeling well (I'll blame it on having to be in court earlier) so we left before the start of the second feature. Then I drove back to Pinole.
On Friday I had a job interview in San Jose, so I drove down the side of the Bay again and pitched myself. If I get the job I'll be paid for writing. It would be the first time for that. I really hope I get it. Well, I was paid for writing in the past, but it was always in a sales context. This job would be writing for a company blog and all of their social media.
I can't remember what I did after the job interview. It is strange. It is like several hours are just gone.
I spent Friday night with my sister in Sunnyvale. They have a very comfortable house. On Saturday morning I picked up the boys at Athanasia's work, the Stanford Guest House, and had fun with them all day. We went to the athletic field at Palo Alto High School were for Scout promotion requirements I recorded their ability in sit-ups, push-ups, standing long jump, and 1/4 mile run. We watched a little bit of a girls water-polo match (Water polo might be the most physically demanding sport I have ever seen.) in the school's pool. Then we went to Café Barrone in Menlo Park. There I bought the boys lemonade and a frosted mocha. The lemonade is real and made fresh daily. The frosted mocha is an amazing blend of chocolate ice cream and dark roasted coffee beans.
After the drinks we went to Kepler's bookstore. It is much reduced in size from it's previous glory. But the children's section is still good. While there I read a book to the boys that was much fun. It was, I think, their introduction to non-Biblical epistolary literature. It is a fun book and worth reading. I also saw a copy of The Year at Maple Hill Farm, a book I read often to the boys. Basil, especially, was excited to see it again. His remembering with such happiness my reading it to him made me happy.
From there we went to the Gamble Garden. We used to go there often when Basil was just very little, when Anselm was only five or six. Now Basil is 7 and Anselm is 11. Basil had no memory of the place but Anselm was super happy to be there again. We played hide-and-go-seek. Several varieties of apples and pears were ripe. We picked and ate. There was a Washington navel orange with ripe fruit on it. We tried that, too. We concluded that the Washington is sweeter, but California navel oranges are easier to eat.
After playing in the garden I showed the boys were I used to live on Middlefield road in Palo Alto, where I went to school at Fairmeadow Elementary School, and Mitchell Park which is situated between where I lived and where I went to school. Basil said "you got to go to the park every day after school!" They wanted to play in the fountain. I let them.
We left the park and I took them to their house in San Jose (It used to be my house, too) to change clothes. Athanasia wasn't home so it was okay. I made them something to eat, they showered and changed clothes and we went to Saratoga for Great Vespers at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church. We all went to Confession. Basil served in the altar. Each boy asked me to buy them a candle so they could pray. After church I thought to ask what they were praying for. Basil said he prayed for his brother Billy. Anselm said he was praying for me and his mother.
After vespers I dropped them off at their house (Athanasia was home) and went to see Lara. We talked briefly in a park near her house. She is buying a new house. Then I made the long trip back to Pinole. Caltrans was working on the freeway and had closed half the lanes. Instead of driving 65 mph the whole way I had to drive 40 for about 2/3 of it. during the drive I had a strange experience. I was on the elevated portion of the freeway in Oakland when all of a sudden I thought the road in front of me was gone! It was very frightening. I guess it was a combination of darkness and the way the road curved and dipped. I slammed on my brakes and nearly caused a wreck behind me. It was so strange. I hope nothing like that ever happens again.
When I got to Pinole there was a black out in the neighborhood were I am staying. PG&E trucks were all over the place and men were working furiously on fixing what ever the problem was. When I woke up this morning there was still no power. I am writing this at a coffee shop.
4 comments:
Wow - you have had a busy few days. Thanks for the book recommendation - I will get that crayon book now. Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm is so wonderful, it makes me happy just remembering it.
I think most navels grown in California 50 years ago were Washington navels. My father was an orange-grower and that's what he had, and YES, they are the most delicious. That was before they started breeding oranges for everything except flavor.
I'm praying with Anselm.
That's an action=packed and stressful few days, but I am glad you had such fun with the boys. Take good care of yourself, and my prayers for you and those great boys of yours.
very interesting! Good luck with the new job!
I'm catching up on blogs... Life after divorce is definitely a displacement and foggy. I hope you find some place to be centered again soon. Hang in there.
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