Water’s Edge, Jean Cacicedo, 1980s. From Chris Scott’s collection
I was in the crosswalk crossing a busy street when a car blew past me – not dangerously close, but too close. I shook my cane at him. I thought what a picture I must be, 80 years old shaking my cane at some guy already a block away. That’ll teach him!
Today I went for a walk at Point Isabel on the SF Bay. Cool ocean breeze blowing across the bay, listening to Van Morrison singing, “Oh the water, oh the water… and it stoned me to my soul.” We had a picnic in the van parked beside the bay, at the miles-long dog park, and San Francisco in the foggy distance (the bridge completely obscured with foggy clouds, but you can still see Alcatraz). The dog park is so big there’s just a few dogs around, including one doing little tricks with a woman. It seems to us that almost everyone you encounter at this place is nice to encounter. After lunch we took a nap on the actually very comfortable van bed. Jean was in the sun. We both slept well.
Montana
The VA has come through for me. I’m a partly disabled American veteran. I’m registered at the Oakland VA clinic. I drove over there to register for care, which was easy. It just took me 13 months to get here. It was like what you might expect at an Oakland VA facility at the edge of downtown. In terms of demographics most of the patients I saw were older Black men. Then Latinos, then White. People were friendly and there seemed to be a lot of respect happening.
The VA claimed that I said I didn’t complain about any injuries before now because “he didn’t want to jeopardize his career.” Laugh my ass off! A career as a corporal in the infantry. There’s a career for you! What I told the examiner was that I didn’t complain because I was a warrior and complaining isn’t part of warrior culture. Unless you’re complaining about the Marine Corps or the VA.
Early morning San Francisco Bay
They finally looked at my entire personnel record and saw documentation of all awards, including those not listed on my discharge papers. I could have had the discharge papers corrected 50+ years ago, but I would have had to stay in the Corps another week or so and more than anything else I wanted out. As long as you’re in they own you. Goodnight, Chesty, wherever you are.
We went out west to Montana and Wyoming a couple of weeks ago. We were in Bozeman, Red Lodge, Billings, and Sheridan. The high point for me was a long drive in the countryside with Courtney. We also visited the Little Big
CK, shortly after first Marine Corps haircut
Horn Battlefield where Custer and his troops were defeated. There are markers where the men were killed – a hundred or more in one place, ten in another, two in another, five or six in another. A bad, lonely way to die.
The election is over. The dream is over – one that started well before Kamala Harris.