Humboldt part 2: My brothers Alive
My big brother's alive. He's not in prison and not under a bridge in a van. He called me on my birthday so I had his number. I found him. He lives in a house with a couple other people who are hardly ever there, according to him. He's always been unpredictably predictable. Or, he's erratic enough to be reliably insane. When he babysat me as a kid, it was a spontaneous party at our house involving cheesy 80's heavy metal music and lots and lots of alcohol. He usually took my Dad's car on joyrides where he sideswiped ten cars, but he always got caught. In that way, he was never too lucky. He held up a hot dog stand with his finger in his jacket once. It was the place I always got a milkshake after a trip to the dentist. Now he's raising my niece who is 50% Karuk Indian and she just started preschool. I hope he'll stay out of jail for a while.
After my Dad's house in the Redwoods-
I went to stay at my mom's place in Samoa-the Arcata side of Humboldt where the crab boats are docked in the Marina and surfers shiver in the freezing rough waves. My mom's house was built by my Step Dad and my Grandpa in 1992. There's a pasture out back with horses and the chilly beach is two minutes away. My mom always had horses around her and you can hear the ocean from the deck. The air is windy and cold and wet.
As a teenager, we always skipped class when the sun came out and went to the beach. The beautiful Mormon boys surfed in black wet suits and their cars were always full of sand. Sometimes we were cruel. We'd sneak up on our friends who were camping on a date and scream bloody murder in black knit hats in the night. But, what's a couple of blood curdling screams between friends?
Samoa Beach Willow
For my birthday I met up with a friend who I've know for over 30 years. She was a Madonna impersonator and provocative rebel in High School (Janelle Elam). Now she's a cop and a mom. We ushered in the last phase of our thirties over lunch in Old Town and discovered play dough together when we were two years old. Our mom's were best friends.
The Stripper and the Cop The Barbie Cake Karen made!
To celebrate the last year of my thirties, I went to a casino on an Indian Reservation (Blue Lake) where the world famous circus school is also located (Del'Arte). At the casino, the rules don't apply. You can chain smoke and play slots next to dread locked meth-heads and drunk Indians. There's a big Karaoke bar with a huge stage. How's a girl to resist? I killed it to "Creep" by Radiohead and then a little Joan Jet and the Black Hearts. This is the wild west and the part of Northern California few know by heart, but those of us who do, never forget...
Marina Dec 2009
The REAL Northern California.
After my Dad's house in the Redwoods- As a teenager, we always skipped class when the sun came out and went to the beach. The beautiful Mormon boys surfed in black wet suits and their cars were always full of sand. Sometimes we were cruel. We'd sneak up on our friends who were camping on a date and scream bloody murder in black knit hats in the night. But, what's a couple of blood curdling screams between friends?
Samoa Beach Willow
For my birthday I met up with a friend who I've know for over 30 years. She was a Madonna impersonator and provocative rebel in High School (Janelle Elam). Now she's a cop and a mom. We ushered in the last phase of our thirties over lunch in Old Town and discovered play dough together when we were two years old. Our mom's were best friends.
The REAL Northern California.
Ah wow does this take me right into my life and back home in Humboldt again! We really did have a lot of beautiful mormon boy surfers in our high school years, didn't we? Glad to know you found your brother and I always wondered where Janelle landed. Lovely - thank you
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