The Ojai Post

What'd you have at Papa L's last night? We had BBQ chicken pizza and oriental chicken salad. And we couldn't leave w/o gelato!

I accidently ordered the Margherita pizza instead of Ali-Sun's preferred Mediterranean, but it was still great. Nicely complemented by a Pesto Pasta Primavera and a house salad. Oh yeah, and a large gelato - dark chocolate and coconut/macadamia. We have a surprisingly small amount of leftovers...

Letter sent to family and friends regarding the recent death of a severely handicapped and very bright cerebral palsied brother:

"Hi, All.

Art went surfing day before yesterday - in imagination and symbolic gesture. Ashes sprinkled on the nose of the 9'8" Carrico polyester single-fin longboard became embedded in the sun-melted surface wax. He'll be there a while. Out on the water Friday, he shrieked gleefully, chortled as he does, and cursed with profane gratitude - hanging on with talons in response to the characteristic rush from surge and breaking white-water, from up there and low down on the nose. He took in a little water, coughed, smiled crazily and said, "Let's do it again!"

Would that in life I were so generous with my energy and relating. And, yet, this also feels a bit sweet in the swirling human land and consciousness of temporariness and ever-presence, of substance, bone and sinew, and insubstantiality.

I know each of you knew Art and had felt varying degrees of love and awe and other feeling-thoughts. He was a mensch, a crippled mensch, and happier in-those-errant-tissues mensch than I and many people who I know. In the after-life that so few of us know much about, I wish you the surfing equivalent of 'the wind at your back' - sweet riding - you, athlete, gymnast, dancer and rascal poet of the spastic and heavenly spheres.

Hey! The best to us all in our remaining time and movement. Hear, hear! Doug

PS – If you haven’t seen the feature length DVD, “Music Within”, in which Art is a character, you’ll probably dig it."

Thanks for sharing, Doug. I appreciate these stories from our community here on the Post.

I'm off to get some work done at Coffee Roasting Co. from 9-10am, if anyone wants to pop over and say hi.

I've been having great fun playing music with George Lemire at the Deer Lodge on Thurs. Sat. & Sun. and at Full O' Beans every other Sun. Like today 12-4pm. Last night at the Deer Lodge Suzanne Paris sat in, which was a treat, and Deina Santoyo sang a tune as well.

We play an eclectic mix of classics by James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Genesis, John Mayer, Nora Jones, Soggy Bottom Boys, America, Rod Stewart, Joni Mitchell, CSN, Tom Petty, Allman Brothers and more.

Been really fun for me to have friends show up, sit in or just listen.

Oh, I had lunch at Papa Lennon's yesterday. Cesar Chicken wrap, side of fries and split mocha/ coconut macadamia gelato. Unlike Tyler, I did have 1/2 my sandwich left over. :)