cant take the hippie outta the girl

Miah looked at me this past spring and said, "All of a sudden you just got so old…" Somewhere after the drugs and sex talk…. The in depth one. Of course I lied through my teeth about my history. Actually, I don't have to stretch it much. I have been a good girl… If you know me, you know that. Never smoked, drank or used drugs. The rest I'll leave alone.

I was cool for a minute. I would take my summers in Rehoboth from Philly. My friend Tim had a club at the Beach… He'd DJ and I was in his booth where, in my opinion, the real action was. I could stop by his house at any time and have access to the most tremendous album collection in the state! And then there was the night I met Todd Garcia. I had friends with me. We were just walking down the Ave. This hot guy with a guitar is covering everything from the blues to classics… I just started singing with him. Miah was on my shoulder and 3 years old. We sat on that bench for hours… that guitar case was making some serious money.

The next night, He was out again. I ran into him and he greeted me like a lifetime friend. Had me sit and sing with him another night.

So I'm telling Jake all about it. He's working at the Sands. He says, "That guy has a different chick in his room every night… Damn. You're hooking up with him?!" No. I wasn't hooking up with anyone! I was singing with him.

I give him my number.

The next summer, Todd calls. "I'm heading down to the beach." (He lived in Bethlehem, PA; I lived in Doylestown) This time, he wanted to arrange the songs. See if we could play at my dads restaurant. He was serious. I had never in my life considered singing for a living… or a pastime. I just sing for my kids, not my supper.

We found some coffee shops to play in. Enjoyed ourselves for a few long weekends…
Then I moved to San Francisco. Thought that would be it.

Todd calls. I'm coming out for the week of the 4th. And he did. We played at a 4th party in Jack London Square. It was the best birthday I have ever spent. We were in front a Blues Billiards, along side the bay. It was chilly and the air was filled with smells that bring me home. No kids on my hip… just Todd and myself… Dylan, Clapton, King . . . A week on the top of the list.

Now Todd is amazingly HOT. He has this iguana tattoo that wraps from his side, around his belly and up his back. Easy on the eyes and looks right into you when he appreciates you. It was amazing to know him. . . for him to look me up each year.

So by the next summer, I've had Nazy. She's about 8 weeks old. I'm nursing. I don't leave her yet. Todd has come down with his girlfriend for a week. We hit those old coffeehouses, but with Naz on the Tit, literally. Yes, I am a Nursing Nazi. But it was Todd who insisted I just take care of her and sing… So wearing my baby in no breast feeding allowed lower DE, we keep on playing.
Those days, I wish I had held on to. Him coming back to my house everyday to play… staying out half the night.

I moved to Maryland that Fall and he went off with the PeaceCorps. I never found him again. I'm sure he has a family and life is good. I hope he is still hammering "Blister in the Sun".
Miah thinks I suck cause I don't like Wilco and I have rules on all the stuff teens want to do. But I have a post card here, from Todd, that gives thanks for our summers… This Gorgeous girl on the back of this Hot guys bike… hair blowing in the wind. . .riding off into an unknown. I think I need to frame it!

I got old. But thanks to my summers with Todd, I feel like I lived. Now it's time for me to be their Mom. The Hippie in me is never far away. There's still nothing like the Haight in July and I go back every year. ( Even in January ) Just no playing on the curb anymore. Those summers were the best.

Thanks Todd.

arizona rain

I cleaned a house the greater part of the morning. Stopped at Caps, (Yes, we have a Capriotti's here in PHX, a little piece of home) for a Mushroom cheese steak. Picked up payment from a client. Checked on a few friends. We have A dad at his end in the hospital in NY. And A cat at the animal vet in VA. Got home. Opened all of the windows and turned off the air. It had been triple digits but it was cooling off fast. Jumped in the shower, washed off the day. While I was blowing my hair dry I could smell the rain rolling in…

Put on some jeans and a hoodie, made a quick cup of the traditional hot chocolate and grabbed my favorite seat on the patio…

And it poured. For a whole 12 minutes. I text Trin. She was jealous to not be on my porch. A few people were venturing to their cars with umbrellas. I'm still amazed at how snotty some folks are about the rain around here. We get all of 67 minutes of rain a year round these here parts. I am enjoying every second of 'em. Then the fella painting the house down the way steps out into the middle of the street and just gets drenched in it. Now those of you who know me know that I could have easily been naked in my back yard pool in this rain a year ago. Now I don't have a pool in my back yard. I had to settle for hoping the hot painter guy my get a wild hair up his butt and get naked. He didn't. But those 12 minutes were no less the most sensual and refreshing we'll have for another 98 days.

In Phoenix, we East Coast natives show our gills when it rains. Everything is beautifully renewed.

Could I have asked for a better day? Cheese steak and mmmm. . . a piece of banana cake for dessert.. I miss home.