Pictures from the City

 So today we got home and I took the kids to dance so both Mate and I could get a nap.

Today we worried about whether the garbage would get collected and when the dogs had vets appointments and whether the laundry would get done.

There was dishes to do and word counts to reach and oh my God the house is still a disaster.

But for three nights and three days, we got to pretend there was only the two of us.

We went to the wharf like we had when we were kids, and remembered the first time we’d parked there and bought so much candy at one of the candy by the barrel places that we almost couldn’t afford our car’s parking. We remembered that there used to be a puppet store, and we used to buy the kids a puppet every time we went. We bought the kids candy and took pictures of bags marked “poo” which we went to the kids giggling, because we’re THAT family.

We remembered how every time one of us went driving in the city, somebody managed to go the wrong way down a one-way road.

We remembered that the first time one of us had driven there and the other had hidden their eyes had been when we’d gone to see the Journey concert, way back in December of 86.

And that Squish had been conceived in the hotel with the flat top, in the weird little corner room, when we could only afford one night and one meal, and tickets to a bizarre play about a guy who fucked a goat.

We took Lyfts and I talked to every driver to learn their story, while Mate listened and asked discerning questions and generally laughed at me, because I like to talk.

We went to the Academy of Sciences and marveled at dinosaur bones and creepy snakes that moved super slow and albino alligators and a planetarium that gave us a chance to nap. And a sod roof that was super smart and looked pretty as well.

We went to a restaurant with one of the best views in San Francisco and talked to a waiter who grew up in our hometown and even went to the same high school that three of our children went to, because the world is just that small.

 We went to Hamilton and talked about it for hours. (And then I forgot to get Chicken her merchandise which was supposed to be her reward for watching the kids and I will regret that for the rest of my life. She was so disappointed. I’m still sad.)

Anyway.

With that one exception, it was an amazing trip.

Good food, good view, good times.

The best company in the world.

My best friend.

My husband for thirty years.

My Mate.