It is a foggy day in Santa Monica Beach. The birds are rolling everywhere. The scooters have taken over the strand. I sit next to the famous Hot Dog on a Stick. In front of the bench are the volleyball courts, and to the south is the Fire Station. It is going on Ten o'clock. The saxophone player is setting up while I removed myself from reality. Karen has taken Li'l Nell for a stroll. At two years old, she needs a nap or else hell will break loose
I am one of the few left who had played volleyball into the eighties and nineties. can';t remember having such a time as my buddies, Bobby Barber, "Spider", "Bud' and others. A dollar and change was all I needed for a lemon drink then. Out of the corner of my eye I spot Karen and spot the eyes of my grand daughter Nell. Nell runs away from the Stroller and straws a sip out of my small cup. It is her first drinking lemonade but I can assure you it won't be her last.
The sax player has a good audience who show their pleasure by placing a bill into the box. He is professional. Nell begins to dance, with a wiggle there and a foot there. Music charms her the same way it does a cobra to the sound of a flute. She dances with her Micky doll and as always, many gaze at the rhythm of the twenty-month-year-old.
She spots the sand and as quick as one can blink an eye throws her body into it. She watches some volleyball with four on each team. She loves to play ball. She spots me I sit on the old wooden bleachers. She follows. A few harmless homeless share the wood with me but who cares I hear a loud voice that scares a few pigeons from the remains of a hot dog.
"Get her away from the trash...She'll bet germs."
I don't react but do grab Nell and retreat her to the sand. She is up again and this time to a large cement fish on a small incline park. It is dangerous as she might just fall. Her cries are muffled by the sight of the Merry-Go-Round. Nell is petrified of the real life looking wooden horses. I pay three dollars for tickets, two for adults and one for children
Karen decides to place Nell on a a horse that is glued to the ground. Nell sits on her lap as the horses go round and around, round and around to music. Nell, this time doesn't cry as a standing does not move. It is the movement that scares Nell.
Nell lives in her own world and tries to do everything an adult can do. No longer a baby, she fears the fire trucks, the backfires of cycles, but still takes chances. We stroll over to the Third Street Mall. Each entertainer has an hour to perform. The good entertainers can make out a daily living as the sax player.
Entranced by the sound of drums. She stops to play a few percussion instruments. A new store is opening and she sees some pails and stickers as a promotion. She plays there for a few minutes before both Karen and I decide to leave.
The number seven takes us home and as you can guess it. She falls fast asleep all the way home as the wheels on the bus go round and round as it puffs away from each station. She is still fast asleep as we stroll up Bagley to her Mom's home.
Nuts and Bolts for Today: Success comes before work only in the dictionary
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