bg/ag publishing

chair: camps. foreals

contrary to popular belief and prediction, i was not hungover this weekend! i almost said i didn't drink, but that would be a total lie. gone are the days where the term drinking, air quotes and all, meant getting completely plastered and blacking out. now i'm sipping on alcohol of choice with most of my meals and ending my day with a cold one is the norm (yo). is that progress? or regress? i'm an optimist so let's go with progress.

i've had the outdoor itch for a while, now. maybe it's the nice cali sun burning me brain cells silly; i actually want to be outside, doing stuff. this weekend, i went camping with some girls i've known for over a decade at our 6th grade teacher's ranch in temecula. on the drive up, i noticed we were all constantly checking our blackberries. once in the mountains we lost reception and so we had a nice divorce from those addicting lil fuckers for almost 24 hours!

our teacher, charlie and his wife elivie, are probably the two most nice and generous people i've ever had the chance of knowing. for a few years, i lost touch but they welcomed us back without mentioning anything except they were glad to see us again. charlie is building a dream villa for his wife, a nice two-story clay and wood creation with custom doors from mexico and a charming antique stove. my friend's brother and his friends were there helping charlie install steps on the patio. his ranch is huge and filled with different fruits, but the season is limited to citrus so we just hiked and ate tangerines and kumquats til our bellies expanded and protested (won't say in what manner heehee) for us to stop.

one of the very first times i camped here, we named an oak tree across the stream after me. it's still standing and makes me all nostalgic and shit. i remember admiring sycamore trees on that hike, but he said that despite them growing to be handsome and tall, they also tend to break easily. oak trees are firm and grow to be hundreds of years in age.

charlie is now retired from teaching; elvie is a part-time mental ward nurse. they take care of the thousand-acre ranch by themselves and plan to sell fruits at the local farmer's market once they are both retired. i can't wait to come back this summer to all the flowering fruits, eaten right off the branch. boisenberries, jujubees, peaches oh my~