Some SoCal Healing

Monday in Southern California was a picture perfect day. 

The kind of day that almost make you forget the catastrophic destruction the fire and the winds brought last week. There were no plumes of smoke. No Wind, to speak of. No signs of the thousands of lives that were upended. And will likely continue to be thanks to a fat, silver spoon, fascist who sits in the White House with the goal of retribution -- in this case, denying relief funds for a Blue state that doesn't kowtow to his fascist sensibilities.

To escape, if only momentarily, Ms. Muse and I took a late afternoon bike ride. We had intended to go from Ventura to Ojai, a 35 mile jaunt, but due to the severe wind warnings up the coast, called an audible and rode south.  

There, we crossed paths into my old partner, John Shirley. We met and started working together close to 30 years ago in 1996. Wait, what? I look 50 years older than I did then. And John, through the magic of beach living, Cabernet Sauvignon and hours spent surfing at Trestles or Rincon Point, hasn't aged a day.

"Do you Goofy Foot when get in the barrel?"

Tossing around surfer talk is always good for a laugh. Maybe not for John, but I'm easily amused.

This picture was taken a mere 100 yards away from the Pacific Ocean. Unless there's a tsunami coming, John has the enviable privilege of living in earshot of the crashing waves. Even the ankle biters.

Ms. Muse loves running into John, who was, for all for all intents and purposes, my work wife. Mostly because he can dish up stories of my not-so-finer moments. My disinclination for air travel. My contentious interactions with Planners. And my less than pristine automotive maintenance. 

Once on a trip to visit a client, he got in my old Lexus, which doubled as a family car, then bachelor John queried ...

"What's that smell?"

"That my friend is the Stench of Responsibility." 

It is safe to say, even evidenced by the bikes we are on, that he and I are polar opposites. I would posit that is why we worked so well together. To give you an even better idea, at the time of our rendezvous on Monday, John was in the middle of his latest DIY project. 

He was resurfacing the leather seats of his Porsche. I wouldn't know the first tool to pick up to begin bringing leather back to its former high Teutonic standards. Apparently he does. Here's a picture of his meticulously art directed work bench.

I have a work bench too. But you can rest assured, apart from standing on 4 wooden legs, it looks nothing like this.