Friday, April 18, 2008

SPARKLING IN THE SAND

This week I took a lunchtime walk on the beach to send birthday greetings to my dad and wish my parents a happy anniversary. Their ashes were scattered off Santa Cruz but I know the currents have carried them up here to enjoy our bay. After 45 years of marriage, I’m sure they’re still out there together. Someone’s dad, or maybe grandpa was fishing off the jetty, reminding me of my dad. He would take us fishing off the SC wharf or occasionally the cement ship in Aptos. But on his own, he would fish from the rocks or in the surf.

I’m missing both my folks these days, the smell of Dad’s pipe filled with Cherry-Blend tobacco, my Mom humming along with Tony Bennett in the kitchen as she prepared dinner. And from her, I got my love of "puttering" in the garden. They would have enjoyed watching the girls grow up. My mom would have made that “ssssssst” sound (accompanied by a very sharp inhale), with a death-grip on the dash as Gloria learns to drive but would have given her a big hug when they made it safely to their destination. Probably would have bought her an ice cream to boot. And Dad would have taken them fishing.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your entry made me choke-up a little. How nice and sad all at once. I'm sure they're still looking in on you today - especially when you're providing Driver's Education 101 :o). The pic was neat too. Did you run some sort of action on it because it looks almost painted unless that's just my eyeballs not working for me this earl!

hucktunes said...

That is a real nice treatment on the photo, and a very nice post. I miss my folks too. I love it when they visit my dreams. Hey, I wonder if our folks might have known one another. My mom was from Aptos, my dad from Freedom and they both went to Watsonville High.

beachcomber said...

As much as I'd like to say I set up my easel and brushes at King Salmon, I can only lay claim to the photo. Embellishments were done in Photoshop. I didn't think this man, who may have ditched work to commune with the fishies from the jetty, would appreciate his likeness being used on my blog.

And Huck, my parents moved to Santa Cruz around 1944, I think, after they were married. Both were raised and schooled elsewhere though my dad commuted for years to work at Watsonville Canning as the guy who kept the equipment running so the veggies could flow to our tables.

Monica... That One Girl said...

Ya know, even though Grandpa's been gone for 20 years (whoa), whenever I smell pipe tobacco, I know he's watching over me. Makes me feel a little better about whatever I'm doing, when it happens.

And the smell of Italian herbs in the kitchen... that's all Grandma.

There's no doubt in my mind that they both watch over us on a regular basis.