Gulf Shores

Gulf Shores
Photographer Patricia Gulick

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

7/22/19 RMB Treasured Friend



Dear Rita Mae Brown,

That winter night was cool as we leaned against her white ‘78 Chevrolet Camaro with the two pin stripes of black and maroon reaching from headlight to taillight. The shiny pavement glistened with recently fallen rain. Trees stood tall, full of leaves shiny with moisture. They waved in the wind, sparkling from the glow of the streetlights.

She tossed a coin over her head and a second later we heard it drop in the dark. “What are you doing?” I asked.

She shrugged, “I don’t know.” And tossed another coin.

“Don’t do that. You’re going to hit someone’s car and break a window or something.”

She laughed, “I hadn’t thought of that.” The fall of the next coin made more of a chinking sound.

“Seeee. Why are you throwing coins?”

“Well, look at this?” she said and showed me another coin before tossing it. “I won’t miss that coin. But tomorrow,” she shook a finger for emphasis, “some kid will find it and it will be like, ‘Wow! Look what I found!’”

Nearly 40 years have passed since that night. Yesterday we sat at a small table with another old friend on the third floor of the Marriott Hotel and talked about who had made it to the 50th reunion of the San Diego Comic Convention. She, a past Treasurer of the Con with her husband, a past President of the event, were flown here for the anniversary.

I could recall most of the people she mentioned. We three shared photos of family and took new ones of each other. That long-ago winter’s night comes to mind as I consider the whirlwind of our Comic Con weekend with its sprinkling of short visits, time between panels she was scheduled to attend and the parking meters or other obligations calling my name. 

Yes, there were treasures to be found on that street nearly four decades ago and mine was standing right beside me all the while.


Remembering,

Loraine


Monday, July 15, 2019

7/15/19 RMB Ankle Deep


7/15/19 RMB Ankle Deep

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

It is a sunny Monday morning, a brand-new week. Seven days stretch out before us. What will fill the 168 hours, indeed 10,080 minutes, that we are already ankle deep into?

San Diego has wrapped up our Pride Weekend and embarks on our upcoming Comic Con weekend. July is full of celebrations, starting with the 4th of July.

It is a good time to be alive and a this is a good country to call home. This year marks 50 years since Stonewall and also the 50th anniversary of Comic Con. I remember going to the Con as a teen and thinking that it was a wonderful environment of open minds, exploring and sharing ideas.

Yet, the phrase that comes to mind this morning is “And miles to go before I sleep” from the old Robert Frost poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. We have come far, but there is much work to do.

From border conflicts, to political hijinks, we have a lot to overcome, to rise above, to learn from and then move forward towards a smarter, kinder, better representation of humanity.

Each dawn begins anew our march into our future, with the moments we are in ankle deep, the direction we move in and the stance we take are the telling of who we are and who we will be.

Onward we go,
Loraine