Flypaper thoughts back in the state park editon

• Back at the campsite in the Florida state park after a great week in Berkeley
• It's taken me a couple of visits to get into the Berkeley groove
• But I think I am there now
• It is a place for gardeners
• And folks writing novels that don't require completion
• For shrub pruners
• And ferment makers
• For doctorates and migrants
• For non-conformity as ordinary
• The only thing I did not see there
• Was a human in a suit
• Anyone power walking
• Or a briefcase
• I did see
• A store that sold only typewriters
• Like the Royal down the basement at home
• Gluten free bread made with ethically sourced oat milk
• Worried four-year-olds asking if the weiners were vegan
• "Read the labels sweetie, remember Mommy said read the labels"
• I saw a blinding white painted high school in the sun
• And teenagers indifferent to walking home in paradise
• Not knowing they had been brought up on dessert
• As if they didn't know that not everywhere has Crème Brulee for breakfast
• So much natural beauty in California it knocks me out
• It's like a drink where all the sugar has settled to the bottom
• And someone lives there
• I saw End Homelessness spray painted on the dome of a synagogue
• And everyone smiled at me
• No need to hustle when there is room to be anyone you are
• I saw elderly women in the fabric store in knitted berets and wearable art skirts
• Holding forth with authority among bolts of linen
• Artists improve with age
• Don't they know that everywhere?
• I saw older women lead not follow behind
• I drank cappuccino and opened my laptop
• Like everyone else
• Working on that novel I guess
• I dropped sustainable crumbs on my keys while I search fabric sites
• Sort of my novel
• But more than that
• I spent wonderful hours with a wonderful child
• Hours looking at the birdies
• And examining the rocks
• At 66 I met my 1 year-old soul mate
• Who would have thought?
• Who would have thought?
• I hope you all know that at any time
• Life can mail you a great gift
• The trick is to never not believe it won't happen
• Yes I know all those days you trudge to the mail box
• Thinking nothing there is what it is now
• But the intermission is just that
• The best can always come
• The trick is understanding that life is generous
• With a timetable still at the printers
• But that doesn't mean 
• You can't wait for the birdies
• They always come