MountainMornings

It’s raining this morning in Southern California. One can’t complain because the state has been experiencing six years of drought. In fact, the Rocker had us watch Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary film “Before the Flood” last night. It’s on Netflix and I highly recommend it. 

It’s about the astonishing rate of Climate Change our beloved planet is experiencing, and what steps we need to take immediately to stem the tide. To stop the tsunami toward damnation that H Bosch depicted in his 16th Century triptych “Garden of Earthly Delights.” http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=65670

And so we are ending our beautiful Thanksgiving week the way it began, driving during a deluge. We are grateful for this rain and the magnificent coastline just a few feet away. Yes the sea will continue to rise, but so shall we to its challenge. 

We are grateful for our family; for raising adult children who still want to hang out with us. For the Great Grandparents still living independently and with passion. 

For our Grandbabies – for their always astonishing love and free spirits! For our friends, near and far. And for you dear reader. You have been kind enough to lend me your ear all these years. We’ve been through quite a bit together; this started out with the Bride’s wedding and we are fast approaching the Rocker and Ms Cait’s big day. 

I am thankful for you. 

But before we head home, Bob and I will take a detour to my sister-in-law’s memorial in MN. Dr Jim’s wife, Anita, died suddenly after a devastating stroke right before Thanksgiving. They married when Jim returned from Vietnam in the early 1970s. 

He met his future bride while First Lieutenant Jim was studying at the Monterey Language School before his deployment. Anita was that rare California bird, native to Northern California, slender and sassy who always wore the boldest, shortest mini skirts with white gogo boots.

When he introduced her to his East Coast family, we were all dazzled. I remember thinking I was thankful Jim survived the war, but thought I would lose my brother forever to the kind of girl the Beach Boys immortalized. My sister Kay and I were sitting at a table outside a NYC cafe at twilight, I was sipping a Grand Marnier. 

We had arranged to meet them that night, and as she walked down Madison Avenue heads turned. A colorful exotic blonde bird of paradise had landed in our cement jungle. The smell of oranges has been forever associated with my handsome brother’s return alongside his beautiful West Coast bride. 

Anita was a designer, an artist who reluctantly left her Left Coast home to follow her husband to the arctic chill of Minneapolis. She was always opinionated, but soft spoken. She loved my brother fiercely, and she helped care for the Flapper in her old age with a sweet and calming kindness. I will always be thankful for her. 

May her legacy be an abundance of California sunshine with just the right amount of nourishing rain. Her love and laughter will continue through my brother, their daughter Lisa, her California nieces and nephews and my LA children. 

Here giraffes can graze in a garden that meets the ocean. After the memorial, Anita will be returning to her paradise.