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In the morning I loafed and lazed, squeezed in a grocery shop, and then reverted to dawdling and doodling; around 1 Mike came and fetched me in the convertible, and then we went down to New West to get Katie and Kashka. (One half of the reality show girls). Kashka is covered with ink from her ears to her ankles, including Betty Boop as a skeleton, which is freaky, because Betty Boop’s skull looks exactly how I would imagine Margot’s skull to look.
It was very pleasant on the beach. There was a kicking breeze all day, and it was not from the usual angle, and pushed the incoming tide up the beach.
At first Mike tried to fly his approx 4 square meter kite but the breeze was so stiff he was getting dragged 10 and 15 meters down the beach, which I watched with the kind of chill consternation which is all you can muster when you’re feeling so mellow. Then he tried smaller kites, which was much more successful, and provided us all with much in the way of aesthetics.
Liz, Kashka’s ex, joined us. I’d met her when we were still living at the Augur Inn and really liked her; I still do.
As the tide came in (Mike always checks the tide tables and parked us WELL up the beach) the breeze shifted until it was straight onshore. Surf’s up kids! The girls were bobbing up and down in the waves several times – they’d come back out to warm up and then go back in. I asked Katie if it was awkward to go the the beach with mom and she just laughed and said after ten years she was used to it. And it’s been ten years since we started going as a family.
Odd, isn’t it? I got in to waist height and let a couple of waves slam into me, because I wanted to say I had gone in and had some idea of the physical exhilaration of it all, but I’m 50, and the idea of trashing the bottoms of my feet and then having to climb all 407 stairs (counts vary!) had very little appeal, and at the end, the girls complained that their boobs had been thrown around so much they were all sore. Mmmm… My kind of fun doesn’t have that kind of toll, but that’s just me being lazy again. Also, Mike and Liz and Kashka and Katie all complained about how much salt water they swallowed. Ick.
A man with t shirts and beaters went by; one showed a parody of a Starbucks logo with beers and WRECK BEACH instead of STARBUCKS, and the mermaid wearing sunglasses. Kashka leaped up and said, “I want one!” so I obliged her. I laughed, “All your mother’s many kindnesses to Katie are coming back for YOUR benefit, how annoyed Suzanne will be!” But no probs, I’ll be seeing Suzanne later this week to catch up on the buzz. Katie is living rent free at Kat and Kashka’s, so I am being politic.
I ate the best hotdog ever on the beach. Those three jalapeños I added made for just the right amount of heat.
I wrote a song on Mike’s parlour Larrivée – no lyrics yet. Which reminds me I should pick up my guitar and make sure the tune is still there. I believe so.
The GVRD but not the cops were on the beach.
All in all, it was a lovely, lovely day, and I got home around 7:45, very crisp around the edges. Tonight, off to see Patricia for the long promised Cavalcade of Cheese.
