Marin County, California. Judyann and I spent the morning walking the streets of the old fishing village of Tiburon, now a place of upscale shops. Our topic: how did we get to where we are and where are we going. I tell her I have studied History, Theology and Science for 30 years in an attempt to understand the human condition and how we got to where we are today. She has spent 30 years studying and getting in contact with the spirit world in order to understand herself and others around her. It was a meeting of great minds and our heads didn’t explode. We discuss the missions we have already been on in life and how we each feel there is at least one more mission left in each of us. We have been put here for some very specific reasons and it is our responsibility to discover and pursue. The one area that seems to coincide with science is the idea that spirits don’t operate in just "A" spirit world but in multiple worlds with many dimensions. This coincides with cutting edge theories in science which postulate the multiverse and where string theory predicts about 18 dimensions of existence. We conclude (and I think string theory predicted this) that my humor is more prominent from past times and I feel my brother Skip is responsible for this and is becoming more present in my life.
Just to prove that those with their head in the clouds should not take themselves too seriously, while taking a photo of the bay and the golden gate bridge, I step in dog crap and we spend a ridiculous moment spraying it off my shoes in Heathers back yard so we don’t get thrown out of Devan’s club where we are going for lunch. This seems like a scene out of Pulp Fiction where they are trying to get rid of the blood in a car from an accidental killing. I feel like I should be Samuel L. Jackson, quoting the bible before I pull the trigger.
For the afternoon we are going to Sonoma, land of beautiful vistas and eternal warm sunshine. Of course you also have the wine. We belly up to a very nice wine bar. Not wanting to be wandering in the wilderness when we are done, we share the tasting. A very interesting cast of characters eventually reveal themselves to us: The swishy young man in farmers clothes who calls me “honey”, I say “don’t call me honey, I ain’t sweet”. The 25ish host who works 5 jobs, including; Vineyard manager, winemaker, host, construction and handyman. I guess he can’t make up his mind who he is. The old floozy in the cape with too much makeup who is visiting with Heinz, a German ex pat who is living in California for the weather. My take: Heinz is wanted in Germany for running a ponzi scheme and escaped to America, the land of ponzi schemers, with plenty of money and is now hanging out with floozies. Come on, there is great weather all over the Mediterranean. The floozy regales us with stories of her days as a young floozy hanging out with Whitey Litchfield, the muscle for a shady character in Oakland, a place of shady characters. She staggers out of the wine bar when she forgets what she has to say, thanking me for being a kind man after I lay some charm on her (I am always kind to dogs, kids and old floozies). We stop and visit with the proprietor of The Lonesome Cowboy shop and he tells us his story of going to film school and then working on the set of Northern Exposure. He has the wings from the totem pole used in the episode where Marilyn's family has trouble with what a new totem pole says. He also has a fabulous array of reconditioned boots and the most interesting cowboy hats I have ever seen. They look used but are actually new. They have auto mechanics come in and handle them so they look used. I see a hat that is “Billy Jack” style with the round top and flat wide brim. I think that one is for me, I look in the mirror and I see a really ridiculous looking old guy looking back. Judyann almost buys a tricked out high school band leaders top because she has a fantasy about directing Neal in his guitar picking (just kidding Millers).We finally come out of fantasyland back to the real world and had pizza with Neil. Jon