down in Monterey

(Oh, there have been cows everyday. Yay. And I finished Saturday’s Michael Connelley mystery I bought at Bart’s in Ojai. It now goes to Ann.)

Thursday, the 12th – Tired. Long days. Monterey all day. Much walking, miles and miles of it. We walked the Monterey pier – yes, the gift of another pier, before driving to a lot just before Cannery Row. Parking, we walked down to the water, where hundreds and hundreds of seals were gathered – on the sand sunning, in the water diving, splashing, playing, some rough-housing. Mostly barking. Crazy ongoing barking. A symphony of rubbery-skinned dark Pacific mammals.

Stunned – once again on this journey – I sat on a bench (I took the bench), while Ann created a film of it all, and pulled up my library app on the phone and placed holds on Steinbeck’s ‘Cannery Row’ and ‘Sweet Thursday.’ (They are now by my lop-sided recliner as I type this.)

We walked our way through ‘The Row’, veering offf again and again to rejoice in the greens and blues of the ocean, and uphill a couple of blocks to ‘Lighthouse Books,’ a find Ann spotted as we walked, not on the original list in our treasure hunt. Ann went in and I stepped out into the street to take the photo you see here, a shout catching my attention, me turning to see a Monterey motorcycle cop shaking his head at me. They way Zen teachers request in the dokusan room – show me, don’t tell me. His showing was clear – out of the street, doophus.

That bookstore was an interesting place, the owner, or a solo staff person, barely registering our presence. We each bought a book, mine being “Essental Zen” by Kazuaki Tanahashi. Used, eight dollars and ninety-five cents. Ann tucked both books in her over-the-shoulder bag and we walked down to and past the famous aquarium and well up into Pacific Grove. The coastline, the oceans, the colors, the sounds….it was all breathtaking.

Upon return to the rental we drove into the downtown area and walked to ‘Old Capitol Books’, which was on the list but unfortunately open Fridays through Sundays. This being our sweet Thursday.

Ann piloted us back toward Carmel and chose to take the famous 17-mile drive. Suffice it so say, it’s a dramatic and powerful drive, rugged coast, sheer cliffs, cypress forests of tunnels over the road. Eventually we pulled over to honor – and be honored by – the iconic “Lonely Cypress.”