Memorial Day '06 -- fixed my bike & flashed back to California

First off, the people who fought -- and died -- for this country...THAT is what today is all about. I love the beach more than anyone, but too many don't give even a passing thought to the real reason today's a holiday. Ironic, then, that I cursed the parade this morning from bed...waking me up (after I'd gone to bed at 5am) at 9-something with their drums, horns, fire engines, and God knows what else. Much gratitude, though, to our military in Iraq and Afghanistan...our kids are dying over there as we conduct our selfish little lives over here. Just remember that.

And here's today's version OF my selfish little life...

Damn, I love gettin' things done! I should've done it on Friday, but I finally filled my bike's tires for the season today. It's ready to go! Yeah, so I missed all of spring...who cares. Let the bike riding commence! And I hit the gym again. And had a huge dinner at mom & dad's. And it was HOT! Only the third time in 20 years that all 3 days of Memorial Day weekend have been in the 80s...a little factoid courtesy of Ch. 2's weatherman. It WAS the perfect weather to kick off the summer! Today it hit 88 in Central Park...and 94 in Newark!! And it feels it...muggy, all the windows open, Dipshit putting his AC in. The best part of all day, though...flipping through my parents' pictures of our Epic Western Trip of '86. I realized this weekend that I haven't seen these pics in years...despite being in an easily accessible giant album in a living room drawer. And so I sat there in the chair by the window, slowly going west with Amtrak and the rental car...Chicago, New Mexico, The Grand Canyon, Vegas...and CALIFORNIA. Utterly surreal. It was great to see these pics again...and funny...but also very sad. It's just unreal to me that almost 20 years has flown by. I looked absolutely horrific...this trip coincided with me at my physical nadir. My brother, conversely, couldn't be cuter. He was such a cute -- and funny -- kid...blond, blue-eyed, athletic, enthusiastic. Pics of him feeding the goats at the San Diego Zoo particularly amused. We generally had a great time together as kids. Sure, we'd fight, and he'd punch me in the stomach -- knocking the wind out of me -- and spit in my mouth...but overall, LOVELY fraternal times together. For the record, i'd hurt him, too...till he cried. But I digress. So I was beyond excited to get to the Mojave Desert portion of the album...and RIGHT at the start, I came across a pic that SHOULD have been blown up and framed years ago...but better late than never. It's my brother and I on the Rt. 15 roadside at the Nevada-CA border...one of us on each side of a HUGE ASS sign that says WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY LINE. It is just incredible for me to see this picture, given everything i'm going through now about just YEARNING to get to CA. It's so completely dreamlike that I WAS actually there before. I remember taking that damn picture...it's like another life, though. Another galaxy. There I was running on the Santa Barbara beach...watching a sunset in the Grand Canyon...riding down Hollywood Blvd. I stayed on the Navajo Reservation one night in my life. Isn't that CRAZY?! It's just incredible. ONE night of my life was spent in the ONLY motel for miles on the Navajo Indian Reservation. And their restaurant was closed, so we all starved till morning. It's not like i'm just now appreciating this trip...it has ALWAYS been just off-the-charts incredible to me. But, I dunno, the way I'm feeling now in general...coinciding with it being 20 YEARS this summer...I guess it just has extra special resonance now. I can't WAIT to blow up that pic and hang that baby on my bedroom wall! It'll urge me on even more. And so it's been a really damn good holiday weekend. I forgot to mention that I wore flip-flops for the first time this season on Saturday. Riveting, I know. Well, here's a toast to THE SUMMER OF 2006!!