ALL I WANT

ALL I WANT…

Before I drove up to Vallejo, I put a sticky note on my desktop with the following: A big house, on a quiet street, with a front porch, and view of the river.  Safe. Not expensive. 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  Big kitchen.

I walked beside the river yesterday, a lovely path in a park of protected wetlands, scanning the hillside homes whose windows reflect the setting sun and shimmering river, and thought about how much I want that view. 

OK, it’s not a river, but rather the Mare Island Straits in the mouth of the Napa River that empties into the San Pablo Bay in the northeast corner of San Francisco Bay.  But river sounds so much more poetic.  

Went to the Empress Theatre Wednesday night to hear blues and rock and roll, with the Daniel Castro Band, first class artists from the Bay area.  The music is sponsored by local businesses as a service to the community, and I thank them for it.  The band is as good as any I’ve ever heard, and Daniel’s blues guitar made me weep.

After living in Hollywood so many years you can imagine my shock when I saw grey-haired men of 60 years or more, get up and dance by themselves, rockin’ n rollin’ in front of the stage, same as they did 50 years ago, and women of all ages, who weren’t skinny, gyrating ecstatically to that hot wailing guitar.  Couples too, young and old, up on their feet. groovin’ to the music.  A fellow in a wheelchair joined in and wheeled himself wild.  I went to the bar during intermission and chatted with the band, who told me they love Vallejo.  People carried cocktails back into the theatre and drank in their seats, which is ok to do in the Empress Theatre.