I finally landed with my full body in the cold Pacific. That was one of my main goals on this trip. Living in a country without any oceans, but mountains and money banks, the sight of sandbanks make my heart sing. The skinny-dipping also turned into a long walk. First I boarded a bus out to the ocean beach. On the way, I stopped for coffee in Richmond at Clement and 32nd Ave. This coffee shop is so pleasant, very friendly service, great interior with nice home painted paintings, the New Yorker on the table, and Bing Crosby singing I'm dreaming of a White Christmas. While I was enjoying my hot coffee, reading the bad news and the good news: the sunny weather for the next five days, and writing a short letter. I got on the bus again, a young guy came in with a surfboard on Ocean Beach. It turns out that he is Swiss from Moléson, spent 5 months in San Francisco, doesn't like it here at all, he is a show boarder. Well then it figured to me his small mindedness. Tastes are different. Another guy came in, started to read a thick heavy book, but he always glanced over to the beach to check out the surf, and the waves were big. I asked what he is reading, he was at the end, it's Tolstoy, War and Peace. He said tomorrow the waves will be even bigger, so I'm going back to Ocean Beach tomorrow. Glancing out the bus, a Ferrari club was on the next lane, spiced with a Lamborghini and a Lotus.
I stopped quickly at the * Aqua * surf shop, nice shop, nice boards, nice staff, but no grrrrls. So where then are all these California surf grrrrls the beach boys were singing me in the sixties? But i flew to California so i can hit the pacific, and i wanted to try this at China Beach, so i started to walk. I passed Cliff House, the Palace of Legion of Honor, where Hitchcock filmed Vertigo, i walked along million of dollars houses with manicured greens, and there was China Beach, small, very few People. I checked out the water, the flow, the currant, the coldness, and with respect and precaution i plunged in. cold was the water, and powerful. What a rare feeling this is for me. In China Beach the waves are small, still they are powerful and can smash you right into the sand. Also I'm not a local and regular with open pacific water, i was careful. A couple of weeks ago, on a Sonoma county beach, a couple of people drowned there in a undercurrent. I didn't dare to swim, i just played, waded, and enjoyed the feeling of salt water on my skin, on my tongue, in my hair. At home i didn't shower, i want to keep the salty taste of my skin as long as possible.
I walked over to Baker Beach, where * Burning Man * started. Barefoot on
this great beach with great view of the golden gate, Golden Gate Bridge
toll plaza, and then I could walk all barefoot in shallow water to the
Marina. The tide was so low. In the bus to Haight/Ashbury into my
darling All You Knead place and I had again the same plate as
yesterday, because it is so yummy, and all the while they had John
Lennon singing! On the way to my hotel by bus, a Friday night crowd came in. It was a pure pleasure to see all these diverse people, styles, attitudes, class, and their excitement in what is coming up for them tonight. This MUNI bus ride was way better than any production of Parsifal opera staged in Los Angeles by Avant-garde director Robert Wilson.Now while hacking this, I'm supported by a bottle of Fetzer Wine, Vineyards Valley Oaks, Shiraz, California, vintage 2001, good, I had a great day, I enjoyed it.
