I Don’t Much Like Old People

JWise Thoughts

Fly

I’m an old guy now, so why do I dislike old people? Old people are anathema to progress and far too often dwell in the lament that puts their inability to adapt on display. In this sense, they represent an obsession with an idealized time that no longer exists and can no longer be brought out of the decaying past. What was is not what is.

So what was it about this moment when things were perfect? I’d venture to say it was the time when the now old person was quite young, and their mind was wide open to exploring what was new in their day. What made that day “their” day? They were likely still exploring the things that would form their outlook as an adult, but then routine jammed its reality into their existence, and they never escaped its clutches.

Out of that routine, people emerge when the boredom of their lives becomes overbearing, but then they realize they are out of sync with all the changes that happened while they were working or raising children. Now, they resent a world they no longer understand.

Sea Grass on the Seashore

JWise Photo of the Day

Sea Grass in San Diego, California

Not a sandpiper in sight but the curlew, seagull, and occasional pelican make random appearances. The marine layer hung out longer this morning but that’s the norm in summer when inland temperatures are getting hotter. Along with it, low clouds and spots of fog can linger till near midday.

Plenty of surfers are out in the water but nary a swimmer. There are no seashells, no sea monsters, more helicopters than boats, but there is no Caroline. A solitary cormorant frantically flaps its wings as it maneuvers up the coast, alone like me.

As the sun burns a hole through the overcast sky to the sea a speckled curlew on its descent opens its wings wide with its orange-ish tan and brown colors standing in contrast to the teal water and white surf. Just before the bird sets down there’s a quick flutter of its wings and then it plops down to start looking for signs of food.

Small clumps of seaweed and seagrass dot the line between wet and dry sand while further up the shore large piles of decaying sea plants attract the flies. With the sun quickly evaporating the shade I’m feeling vulnerable to the burning that while taking place even when overcast, is made worse by direct sunlight. Seems like a good time to take Drake on another walk.

23:30

JWise Photo of the Day

Painting supplies from Dion Terry in San Diego, California

It’s late and I’m too tired to write something meaningful. It’s been a productive day though it feels as though I spent the majority of it driving Dion and Ylva up to Los Angeles to catch their flight to Stockholm, Sweden. After a very late lunch of Korean BBQ in Huntington Beach, I sleepily finished off my drive in heavy traffic back to Solana Beach.

Drake the Dog and I went for a couple of walks; I took one to the grocery store by myself and then busied myself with stuff that gave me a good workout. With Friday nearly at hand, I’m hoping for a more of a “John” day of walking around, writing, thinking, taking some photos, more time with Drake, and hopefully something random or other. For now, though I need to try to fall asleep in another unfamiliar bed and, while it’s a pleasant 65 degrees outside, the humidity is raging at 91% which I’m so unfamiliar with that I’m sweating worse than when I’m home in Phoenix and it’s 50 degrees hotter.

I drift off to sleep with the soft sound of the delicate crickets chirping in the background as opposed to the Arizona type that bleat and bark.

Lost 40 Degrees

JWise Photo of the Day

Del Mar in Southern California

With some reluctance, I drove west until I could go no further. I’m here in Del Mar just north of San Diego, but I’m here without Caroline. This is where the reluctance comes in because I agreed to be a house sitter and watch Drake the Dog while a couple of friends head over to Sweden for some vacation. It’s not that I’m reluctant to watch the dog and chill in the cool coastal air found over here, but without Caroline, the experience will be bittersweet.

When I finally got out of Phoenix the mercury was heading north and by the time I was about halfway to the ocean, it was a solid 116 degrees or about 47c. Here at the seashore, a pleasant 76 degrees greeted me; the 40-degree difference in temperature made for a stark contrast from the desert I was in just about 90 minutes prior.

Los Angeles

JWise Photo of the Day

Caroline Wise at Cafe Gunul 2 in Los Angeles, California

It’s time to renew Caroline’s German passport and the only place to do that nearby is over in Los Angeles at the German Consulate. With an appointment for early Monday morning and not a lot found to entertain us this weekend we were in no rush to make the drive to California. So on Saturday morning we woke without the assistance of the alarm, straightened up our place so we’d return to a relatively clean apartment, and headed out for breakfast and the nearly six-hour drive west.

Upon arrival in Los Angeles, trying to deal with the aggressive driving, we were hungry and in need of a break. We knew well beforehand that we’d be stopping in at Cafe Gunul 2 for some army stew. After our visit here almost exactly a year ago when we first indulged on this Korean fusion comfort food we said we’d return for the stew that takes upwards of 30 minutes to prepare. Turns out that at 2:00 in the afternoon it only takes minutes for your gallon pot of tofu, sausage, spam, pork belly, ramen noodles, squash, mushrooms, kimchi, and cheese to be brought to your table while it is still nearly boiling. It was well worth the visit and agree that we wouldn’t mind sharing it again.

John Wise in reflection

This being summer finding a hotel at the last minute last week wasn’t easy plus I wanted us to be near the Consulate so we’d not have to deal with trying to cross even a small corner of this city on a Monday morning. Our couple of nights would be taken near the corners of Western and Wilshire Boulevards which was only about 3.5 miles east of Monday’s appointment. With our inertia having come to a complete stop following our trough of army stew, the last thing we wanted to do was venture out, but it was still so early in the afternoon it was silly to consider collapsing and so off to coffee we went. The photo is a screenshot of some synth related stuff that has to do with “Grainz” that I received while hanging out at Starbucks.

Korean Shopping Center in Los Angeles, California

For years we’ve been using smartphones but still, I’m enchanted by talking to my phone asking it for the nearest something or other, and its ability to zero in on making suggestions that are close to my current location. Today I was inquiring about a theater and a small place only five minutes away was at the top of the list. Turns out that it was a Korean theater showing The Lion King, not exactly what I had in mind. The film we ended up watching wasn’t something I had in mind either but the total lack of awareness about it was intriguing. The movie was called, “The King’s Letters” and though it was in Korean it was subtitled, sort of. I say that because the translation was sketchy at points. The story followed a thread of how the written Korean language might have been created.

Korean fast food in Los Angeles, California

Army stew, coffee, a film we’d never be able to watch in Phoenix, and then some shopping and snacking (pictured: egg, shrimp, and cheese on toast) in an Asian-centric outdoor mall made for a perfect Saturday in Los Angeles. Then there was also that dessert of cream puffs at Beard Papa’s. I have to admit that we were uncertain about leaving Arizona as in the days before our departure we couldn’t find anything to do over in Southern California but spontaneity and our interest in most all things (not including professional sports) let us be fully entertained with our choices.

Rothem and Liam in Los Angeles, California

Come Sunday we needed to wake early as the decision to avoid L.A. traffic had been made so we’d keep our car in the garage and walk where we wanted to go. Before leaving Phoenix the one thing that had been fixed on was meeting the Bravermans for breakfast. They suggested a place called Republique on La Brea which worked out fine for us as it was only 2.5 miles from our hotel. Liam, their 4-month old new baby boy was the toast of breakfast. While we talked about the general tensions of living in Los Angeles we mostly focused on Itay and Rotem’s new roles as parents and how many people have offered bad or unwanted advice on how to be a parent.

To the consternation of the bussers in uber-trendy hipster Republique, who by 10:00 had a line of probably 50 people down the sidewalk, we were there to camp out and catch up with our friends. After nearly 3 hours at our table, we couldn’t take the subtle harassment anymore and finally relinquished our grip and left.

Los Angeles, California

That was supposed to be it for visiting these friends who became a family in the intervening months since we last met, but after Caroline and I continued our walk north up La Brea stopping for coffee on the corner with Santa Monica Blvd., Itay reached out inviting us over should we be in the area this afternoon. Well, we were just a mile around the corner at this point. By 2:00 p.m. we were once again meeting with the Braverman family.

Liam Braverman in Los Angeles, California

Mother’s milk, computers, mixed drinks, strong coffee, social issues surrounding politics, and family dynamics took us in conversation up to the early evening when hunger got us moving towards the exit. Not having eaten since breakfast I took Itay up on his offer to give us a ride back towards our hotel where a host of Korean BBQs with all-you-can-eat menus were found all over our neighborhood. Stuffed we waddled back to our hotel with hopes of getting to sleep early for our 8:00 a.m. appointment down the street.

Believe it or not, on Monday morning we had breakfast at McDonald’s and then in the blink of an eye, we were in and out of the consulate and just as quickly on our way back to Arizona.

Katharina – Salt River Wild Horses

JWise Photo of the Day

Wild Horses at Salt River in Arizona

Today is Kat’s last day in America but that didn’t mean we’d not try to do something spectacular to close out this leg of her gap year and brief three-week vacation in America. We woke shortly after 4:00 in the wee hours of the morning with about 90 minutes to go before the sun would rise. After dropping Caroline off at her office our niece and I continued across the Valley of the Sun over to the Salt River.

Since Katharina arrived on the first of July from New Zealand we have traveled over 2,192 miles with her here in the Southwest, which at 3,528 kilometers is about the same as driving from Barcelona, Spain, to Moscow, Russia. Our destinations have included the Petrified Forest National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, the Navajo and Zuni Reservations, the San Juan Mountains, Heard Museum, the Desert Botanical Garden, the Colorado River, Sedona, and a horse sanctuary right here in Phoenix. These places took us into the northeast corner of Arizona, the southwest corner of Colorado, northwest New Mexico, and we dipped into southern Utah.

Our niece has tried Mexican food, Korean food, a Piccadilly (Navajo shave ice), various pizzas, pancakes, pizza cookies, and cheesecake. All the while she was able to maintain being a vegetarian which she chose to practice while in New Zealand. She got a judo practice in, visited the gym a few times with her Aunt Caroline, rode a mule into the Grand Canyon, went horseback riding in Sedona, and obviously from these photos had the chance to photograph and visit with the wild horses of the Salt River.

Along the way she’s been offered countless cups of coffee (she doesn’t drink it), cigarettes (she doesn’t smoke), marijuana in Colorado (it’s legal for recreational use but she doesn’t smoke that either), tattoos weren’t appealing, we couldn’t get her to cuss so I made up for it by cussing all the time. Even when we tried to turn her to another kind of vice by offering her beer or hard alcohol she was able to abstain, good thing too, as she’s only 19 and we’d have been contributing to the delinquency of someone to whom it’s illegal to give alcohol. She didn’t want a haircut, she vigilantly wore sunblock, she stayed awake for our long drives, didn’t get car sick once (she’s quite prone to that), she didn’t complain about me listening to Rammstein or dubstep in the car but I don’t think she liked either. Boba tea didn’t go over well, nor did deep dish pizza but she made up for most everything with enthusiastic laughter.

Wild Horses at Salt River in Arizona

Like all young people, and creatures too, our niece is only now stepping out on her own and still has lots to learn. She may not know it yet but she’s got a big journey ahead of her where each step offers her experiences that will help define her evolving perspectives which will hopefully grow as she continues to mature. We learn best when others give us nudges that help keep us on the right path and just like with the horses she adores, sometimes a sharp bite or solid kick (metaphorically speaking) is needed to bring attention to a drifting awareness. Most of all though we need compassion and love and while we may not be well-practiced in how to best share that, it doesn’t mean we don’t try our best to give of ourselves and find compromise when we are not getting our way.

Wild Horses at Salt River in Arizona

It’s been nice to run around the Southwest with Katharina and show her a different way of life of two people she hardly knew when she landed here. She left the winter of New Zealand and dropped into our summer heat in the desert and has done great keeping up with us and helping us think about the way we do and see things so we might better understand a teenager. I’m guessing that the next time we spend some serious time with her she may likely be in her career following the next four years of university she’s returning to Germany for. For now, she still feels like an adolescent to us oldies but given a bit more time she’ll join the ranks of adults, and if she’s lucky she’ll still be laughing and ready for other adventures.