Item 1: Summer is upon us, the Father’s Day Festival is knocking at the door,and what better time to close our eyes, let our minds wander to the joyous simpler times of our youth, and that wonderful five day event our parents were fortunate enough to send their precious children to summer camp. The joys of summer camp. Sing along to the wonderful words of the late great Mr. Allan Sherman and his memories of summer camp.
Hello Muddah, hello Fadduh Here I am at Camp Grenada
Camp is very entertaining
and they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining.
I went hiking with Joe Spivy
He developed poison ivy
You remember Leonard Skinner
He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner.
All the counselors hate the waiters
And the lake has alligators
And the head coach wants no sissies
So he reads to us from something called Ulysses.
Now I don’t want this should scare ya
But my bunkmate has malaria
You remember Jeffrey Hardy
They’re about to organize a searching party.
Take me home, oh muddah fadduh, take me home, I hate Grenada
Don’t leave me out in the forest where I might get eaten by a bear.
Take me home, I promise I will not make noise or mess the house with
other boys, oh please don’t make me stay, I’ve been here one whole day.
Dearest fadduh, darling muddah,
How’s my precious little bruddah?
Let me come home if ya miss me
I will even let Aunt Bertha hug and kiss me.
Wait a minute, it stopped hailing,
Guys are swimming, guys are sailing,
Playing baseball, gee that’s better,
Muddah Fadduh kindly disregard this letter.
Item 2: Don’t you feel better? Speaking of feeling better, Rick Cornish has made it home after enduring trying and difficult times at the local hospital. I visited him a couple of weeks ago expecting the worst. When I walked in with my flowers and five pounds of See’s Chocolate I saw several copies of Rick’s book, “Why I Never Lie” on his night stand which he was proudly hawking to three of the nurses on the ward. As they were happily signing their checks, Rick was busily autographing their copies for them. Rick gave me a sly wink, and then told me he was being released the next day. Good news all around.
Item 3: Maria and I went to the Giants game last week on what turned out to be a glorious day. Sitting in the stands one can view McCovey Cove, our Bay Bridge, the Oakland Hills, the serene San Francisco skyline, and shimmering sunlight bouncing off the blue-green water with boats of all types and sizes silently skirting seamlessly around the Bay. Breathing all this in one begins to realize that the game is almost an afterthoght. Being here is like yoga for the soul.
Item 4: My daughter Jessica called and asked if I would like to go to the Fox Theater in a couple of weeks and see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with her. In 1991 Jessica and I watched Tom Petty at the Oakland Coliseum and a person should be able to see an excellent group once every twenty-five years.Then Jessica hit me with another surprise. She bought tickets for us at Shoreline Theater in September to see the epitome of grace, good faith, humility, and humor, the wonderful Dolly Parton.Someone pinch me.
Item 4: I was driving to the Bay Area the other day and the traffic is absolutely horrendous. I don’t understand how actual human beings are able to commute back and forth to the Bay Area from the Valley on a daily basis and remain sane and civil.
It takes me 90 minutes to reach my sister’s home in Hayward. The past three times I have gone to Hayward it has taken me over two hours due to accidents, construction, and just too many cars.The sad fact is that traffic is not going to get better. In fact it is going to get worse.
Item 5: While being stuck in this mess of metal,rubber,and human cargo I was thinking about what action or thoughts or beliefs could help insure world peace. The answer came to me as I was driving slowly up the Altamont. Two simple beliefs, two basic ideas, two easy to accomplish actions.
1: Love one another.
2: Treat others as you would want to be treated.
As we head into a rather difficult time these next few months, think about it.
My work is done here.
Item 6: If you are going to the Father’s Day Festival enjoy your music,your friends, the jams and all the trimmings. You earned it. Thanks again to all the volunteers in the CBA who make this great event happen year after year after year.
Until July 2, or the Twelfth of Never.
Read a book, hug a child, pet a dog, stroke a cat, eat a bar of chocolate, and make someones life better if only for a day.