It was late August. The countdown clock was ringing in my ears. School, regimen, schedules, the persistent ticking clock, it was all coming for us. My soul was restless, I’ve never felt more misplaced in a moment. I meditated on it, what was this persistent discomfort, and what can I do to ease it? It came to me, my boy, I needed to honor the spirit of my boy. We have been through so much change lately. We had spent some time homeschooling. It was my attempt at a response to his desperate plea, “Mom, why aren’t they teaching me how to save the world?” I didn’t have a good answer for him, and in fact, had been wondering the same thing. We had given it a good go, in our efforts to save the world. It is work that we will continue to pursue, always. His one wish for a very long time had been to visit California, so I decided it was time. I needed to honor him, and honor the work we had done. It was the least I could do to fortify him as he bravely dove back into the mainstream. I had some Jetblue credit, from a postponed vacation, and was more than happy to use it for this grand adventure.
We booked on Friday night, and left Saturday morning. When we booked they offered an upgrade to Mint on our flight out, I took it. That was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. We laughed, I slept (after packing most of the night), and he ate like a king. We were both in heaven, it was one of the best experiences of our life, right out of the gate.
Our trip was amazing in every way, but Sunday, oh, Sunday, was a particularly perfect day. We spent the day in La Jolla. We visited La Jolla cove. There were sea lions, pelicans, and life galore. My son was not into the thought of swimming there. There were too many people for his taste, and it did sort of smell like sea lion and pelican shit, but I couldn’t be there and NOT swim. I had to see what was happening under there. I changed into my swimsuit MacGyver style, under my clothes, grabbed my goggles, recruited a nice family from Michigan to be point people for my son (just in case I happened to be bitten by a shark), and jumped it. It was incredible. A seal swam just under me, shimmering gray, fast, and graceful. Someone recommended that I head out around the bend to the cave under Theodore Geisel’s house (Dr. Seuss!), so off I went, of course. I was out by the point and listening to a kayak guide talk to his tour group about the sharks in the area. There I was, alone in open water, in my green bathing suit, with bright white limbs, and I started to feel delicious. I decided to turn back. I had been away from my guy for a while, and couldn’t see him from where I was around the point. Next time I’ll go all the way. On my way back, a school of garibaldi swam beneath me. I felt like a sea turtle goddess, in an otherworldly place of magic.
We then took a lovely walk and found some delicious juice. We walked up and down hills, admiring the beautiful flowers, fresh air, and beautiful architecture. We landed on a grassy hill overlooking the Pacific, and rested there a while. They were setting up for a wedding. What a beautiful spot to celebrate. We moved down to Children’s Pool beach and swam for hours, playing in the waves. Neither of us ever wanted to leave. I spent most of the time under water.
Once we were good and tired we walked up the hill to El Pescador for a delicious dinner. We walked back down, stopped for ice cream, watched the sunset over the Pacific, and slept well that night, like two people who had just experienced a day close to heaven in life. It was the perfect Sunday. The whole trip was amazing from start to finish. I’m so glad that I was able to consult my angst and pacify it thoroughly. I sent my guy off, back into the mainstream, with a full cup, and a new taste for adventure.
Ms. Is 