Muscle Beach Volleyball 2006

   I go to Walmart on Beach Blvd first thing in the morning at seven. MacDonald's has leased a small corner. The coffee used to be 86 cents but now has increased to 96 cents a cup. Oh well, I said to myself, just have to suck it up. 
   My banking is done at Walmart. They charge a few cents to cash my check and then give me a money order for Verizon or Edison. Both utilities have a lock on Huntington Beach...and as Frank Sinatra sung, "You can't have one without the other." 
   I sat at a back table. The young gal without a mouth interested me. She sat by the railing with her shopping cart in front of her. Too thin to stay  alive, I approached and lay a dollar on the table. I returned to my seat and began to eat my 25 cent banana. I had already had a small breakfast of eggs and herring. 
  My memories of 2006 were inside a booklet I had brought to copy on a new document. I was engrossed in a volleyball game I had played about ten years ago at Muscle Beach when a blond old lady, my age came my way. 
   "I took your example and gave the lady a dollar too. It is too bad our country is not taking care of our own. I will give a dollar from now on to those who are hanging on to life."
   "May God bless you...We are all from the same apple tree and nobody is better than the next. 
  She smiled and gave me a peck on my cheek and left. Another man gave her some change while he petted the car on top of her top heavy shopping car. I returned to my booklet and am now inside the Surf City Library copying what I had written on January 18th of 2006.  The following story was written at Ralph's on Pico when the store had a counter for patrons. I enjoyed noshing there after a day of volleyball. I did edited it a bit...can't you tell? 

I had played three games today. And the last was a nail-biter. But it was the last game that disturbed me-still. Muscle Beach,  Santa Monica, some say the birth place of beach volleyball was the set for this memorable game.
   We led 21 to 20,  and we had the serve. One more point and the game would be mine to relish over a hot dog and fries next door at the Hot-Dog-and a Stick. My partner, a "ringer" wound up and banged a hook just outside the lines. Of course,  when you have a point game in hand, and serve it out you don't deserve to win.  Nonetheless we still were ahead.
   The opposing team had the serve. We had a close rally and I heard somebody say, "Thanks."  I thought the point had finished, so I just watched. The opposing player shot up and hooked a winner to the corner. They beat us 23 to 21. I took the loss hard since I like to win close games.
    The weather was in the upper sixties today but cloudy the rest of the day, according to the weather channel. I removed my soaked shirt and sat on the bleachers that blocked the wind but not the sun. The wooden bleacher seats are about five degrees warmer than the courts below.
    After about one hour, I wrapped my nap sack over my shoulders and trudged up the pier to the waiting number 7 blue bus on Ocean. The blue was an adventure as I climbed aboard. Several Latinos slept in the rear of the bus. A cowboy did hot have change and needed to exchange a dollar for quarters.  He wore a wide beaten-up cowboy hat along with jeans that hung half-way down his buttocks.  . I must say he had wonderful Texas smile. The gals laughed and took a gander at his  falling arches. A few teenagers got on board and began to cuss. I ignored them as usual. Martin Luther King Day  would be tomorrow.
    My breathing was labored but my body felt tired but totally relaxed. I got off at the Persian Market and bought a few tangerines. They were forty four cents a pound whereas Ralph's  wished for $3.95 a pound for fruit picked too soon.
    I returned to Ralph's for their fried chicken and jotted down what you are reading now. 

Nuts and Bolts for Today: In life, like volleyball,  you seldom get another chance -- so when the opportunity comes, take it.