Life of Wry

Went to a very lovely memorial gathering this afternoon for a friend, Jim Eaton, who died last March at age 74.

Jim was a legend in our community, and the State of California as well. He was a fierce environmentalist and co-founder, in 1976, of the California Wilderness Coalition (now called CalWild). As its director for many years, he was responsible for converting a whole bunch of California land to protected status, including huge swatches of desert, mountains, and, as it turns out, a good part of the land used for the Pacific Crest Trail! He was remembered fondly today for his passion, humor, and an amazing legacy.

But my relationship with Jim was at Davis Community Television. He was a board member for seven years (1997-2004) and our board chair for three. I remember him as a gentle and easy going leader, and an interested, contributing, (very) reliable board member. He even went to a conference or two. He was always supportive of my work and vision and I really liked working with him. I was extremely delighted to see the plaque and gavel I gave him, in thanks for his years of service, displayed on one of the tables.

Frankly, I was even more delighted to learn that great big Jim Eaton was a SPRINTER in high school! This article is pretty impressive and his time in the 220 is solid for a high school kid! I ran all those races in high school and college (though by college, 1979 for me, we’d made the switch to meters).

I have to believe we would have discovered this shared experience and bragged about our respective best races, times, meets, and medals! I have no memory of such conversations, however (bummer!). I wish I could talk with him about track now!

Anyway… good man, well loved, life well-lived.

I could not be happier with today’s news of an indictment. I know not to believe that THIS is the end, but today is a good one… feels like a real nail in the coffin. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the next year or two — political news-wise — but the good guys are on far better footing than the brazen hypocrites on the other side. As always, it’s nice to be on the side of the facts, the law, integrity, and justice. The other side has only spin.

I searched high and low for a good meme. I needed one that didn’t have his creepy mug on it.. hard to find. I’m choosing this one, even thought the resolution is low. Mostly because I loved this book when I was pregnant.

Oh.. I should probably clarify.. for those reading this long after I’m gone: today’s indictment is the one related to the stolen documents. The one where the former president left the Whitehouse with boxes full of classified documents that he refused to give back. Documents that he showed to other people (and god knows what else). And lied about. And conspired with others to lie about. And lied to his lawyers about. Etc. LOL. What a dope.

This doesn’t seem good. A low heart rate is usually a good thing, a sign of a healthy heart. but… this seems too low.

It’s been weird for a while.

Also: my watch is dirty!

Claire and Lisa joined Peter and Maya last weekend as they drove down to Indianapolis to watch Maya’s sister Linnea play in an ultimate frisbee game. Linnea plays semi-pro and I believe her team won that day! May have been the last game of the season. Here’re a few shots (thanks L&C for sending pics!).

I love it when we throw a quick dinner together and it looks like this.

Spinach, walnuts, blueberries, avocado, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberry, croutons (one must), olive oil, raspberry balsamic. Had some chunks of cantaloupe on the side. Oh.. and a piece of toast. I meant — but forgot — to add parmesan cheese.

I spend a lot of time standing at this butcher block island.. working my way through snacks. Wish it weren’t so, but it’s actually one of my favorite things to do.

[I won’t go into how my snack habit (which I’ve always had) in combination with age-related metabolism slow-down and post-menopausal hormonal shifts are one big pile-on that serves to undermine rational and effective weight management. But there it is.]

Today’s little snack-a-palooza.

Those are cheese crackers, by the way, not peanut butter cookies. (Mumsie’s FAMOUS cheese crackers — thank you Susan. These are minus the cayenne, by accident.)

Anyway… so: cheese crackers, grapes, walnuts and roasted pecans. I was also drinking a late afternoon decaf latte that I whipped up w/ my fancy Nespresso gizmo. Heaven.

I’ve got more to say about this weekend… and it’ll have to wait. Until then, a so-called strawberry moon rose over Davis tonight (and apparently last night, as well). It was cloudy tonight on our walk home from Sabrina’s and Bill’s (Sabrina and Bill’s?).. but the moon was still there.. just a bit hidden. It was 68 degrees at 11:00pm.. such a pleasant walk. We talked about the weekend.

Saturday, June 3 was a memorable day. I will write about it later. In the meantime, a couple of sunset photos taken on a drive home from Woodland….

I was walking home yesterday after spending a good part of the day either walking and reflecting, or standing and reflecting (see yesterday’s blog about the Davis Day of Reflection). Lots of walking, lots of reflecting/shaing/listening. Lot of sun, sorta sweaty, definitely tired, and emotionally a big wrung out.

Anyway.. I was walking home, and as I rounded the corner at 3rd and University, I found myself sorta pining for a tall, cool glass of beer on a very shady patio.. mostly because I saw a number of folks sitting on the patio at Guad’s eating chips and drinking beer and all of the sudden that seemed exactly what the doctor ordered. (What doctor?)

I’d actually passed Guad’s, but then held up, thought for a moment, backed up, and went right in.

I eat by myself a lot at lunch time… usually at Cloud Forest these days, but that is different.. it’s a cafe. Seems different anyway.

But I gotta say… this was so lovely.

Also had a couple fish tacos. Muchos yummy.

Guad’s is literally the closest restaurant to our home.. just about four blocks. I could def get used to this.

I experienced a pleasant and moving morning with Vicki as we participated in the Davis Day of Reflection, organized by the University in partnership with the City. We walked a ~4.5 mile loop that started and ended at Sycamore Park (where Karim Abou Najm, a 20-year old student, was murdered in late April). We spent a long time at the Compassion Corner Earthbench to honor David Breaux (murdered two days before Karim while sleeping on a bench in Central Park). Along the way, we passed dozens of signs placed to mark the route and offer mental health messages, and reflection stations strategically located that invited people to share reflections and remember people they’d lost. I think the whole thing was nominally about honoring David and Karim, but I also think it was more generally about mental health awareness. We are certainly a community traumatized by two senseless murders, and the attempted murder of another woman (Kimberlee Guillory, unhoused, sleeping in a tent near the railroad tracks). I believe the UCD Health folks thought it timely to engage the community in an activity that would focus on mental health.

We started here.. in Sycamore Park. This is the spontaneous memorial that has been in place since Karim’s death:

Karim..

These are what the signs along the way looked like..

The Compassion Corner Earthbench has been covered and cleaned up (in an appropriate way) several times over. Here are a couple remembrances that sat today on the bench…

Some stations provided ribbons for people’s thoughts, which were hung on trees (for example); the one at 3rd and C provided sticky notes. People here (including me) answered the question, “how can you bring hope to others.”

Ran into lots of folks, including Maria (David’s sister), Robb and Carrie (from our organizing and David celebrating days) and a number of friends. It was just lovely to hang out at the corner.

[Note: the picture at the top is a rock painted with David’s image that sits besides the bench… very nice!]