The Election for San Diego Mayor

    San Diego would soon select a new mayor in a tight run-off election. At least it seemed nick-and tuck until Obama threw his support to Alvarez. Alvarez is the local Logan Heights resident. He is marshaling the support of many Latinos.  Now those on the sidelines would get out and vote for the other. Many Democrats now turned away from tradition and became Republican after our renowned President's announcement. Now it looks like Folklore is in-like-fin. Yet  I wonder if Sir Folk-lore put Obama up for this at the last moment.
   These were my thoughts sitting on the Santa Fe's Amtrak 567 train takes me to Old Town on early Saturday morning.  the early morning. The smell of the early morning dew and smell of the pepper trees sprang my dead body to life. I became overjoyed that we had one quarter of an inch of rain. I had forgotten the feeling of breathing clean oxygen.
  The fruit trees slept in the cold winter air-that is excpet the Loquat ones. Their brown fruit would soon ripen into a a bright yellow. Since my childhood, the Loquat and Fig had kept me alive with their nutrious sweetness.
  The church organ music took me into a different world at the Immaculate Conception Church.  The parish was packed, as usual, with no seat available. I had made one bad slip two weeks earlier and had paid the price. Dear me, I so much wanted to send a valentine card to somebody. Father Arnold's message about salt did not help. I will try to paraphrase what he told the congregation.
   "It is not enough to worship God. We must act on it. Just like salt makes food taste better, we need to share our love of God with others. We must act with kindness and love towards others."
  After this service, I donated ten dollars for blueberry pancake, scrambled eggs, diced potatoes, coffee and orange juice. My three good friends sat at the corner table. Al, the fighting Marine told me he forgot my draft of his life in a coat pocket. One member of this cast was upset.
  He would, like thousands of others, cast his vote for Alvarez's opponent. To be sure, any fool who wishes to lose an election should get our President to back him.
  An Old Samaritan, like myself, chimed in, "Those who live north of the eight freeway will vote Republican and those on the other side for the Democrat. It all depends on how many on the south side decided to physically get up and vote."
   "
   The rest of my Sunday could not have been choreographed any better. I played some volleyball at Moonlight Bay and later had enough energy to take dancing lessons at Balboa Park. Moonlight Bay lies in a hidden cove at the end of Encinitas Boulevard. Four years ago, a haggard and tired body drove into this North County San Diego Town looking for a place to rest.
    To my south was a botanical garden and a hidden tennis court. I had suffered through a love affair with the other telling me "You are Ugly and boring."  Besides all of this, my life had been impacted by two sick teeth.
     My appetite ripened with a game or two of volleyball. A restaurant up the street offered meat loaf and potatoes for three and change. In fact, that late afternoon, I returned for their $2.95 spaghetti meal later.
   Besides the clad in black wet suit surfers, many families came to enjoy the beach then as the fog lifted. It was a family beach with kids hauling boogie boards, umbrellas, and Mom's carrying their youngest tike.  That evening I took dancing lessons at the Balboa Bay Ballroom. I stayed at the Motel Six on A street just west of Park Blvd.