I had a perfect day. I don’t get many. I visited my son and new daughter-in-law up in Alameda over the weekend. Bruce, the cat pictured above, ignored me as usual. I managed to have a good time anyway. We had a picnic in a park on a perfect Saturday afternoon.
I played Frisbee with my sons, ate a great turkey sandwich, and soaked up the rays for three glorious and peaceful hours. It’s been years since I last enjoyed this level of peace and tranquility. The experience was like visiting a serene Buddhist temple like Horuy-ji in Nara. Of course, the company one keeps makes the day special too.
What I found hard to understand is how we found a park with almost no people around, sitting on the San Francisco bay with a view of the city on a cloudless, fogless, and windless day. And all this on a warm fall day too. It really was a perfect day. I need more like it.
One thing that made it all work was my son and his iPhone. He was able to stream music. We listened to Steely Dan while watching a more ambitious father shoot off model rockets for a pack of nine-year-old boys. The over excited boys would signal us each time a new rocket was about to reach for the sky. We were the cheering section.
I work hard for days like this. I want more.