being mccrary

last month jim mccrary, diy poet, ex-blogger, and great friend, sent me an email that he was planning a trip to visit his son quincy and daughter-in-law melinda who live in richmond, a city a little east of san francisco, and maybe i could drive up for a visit.

well, fuck yeah.  i am normally monkish in my habits.  i rarely drive.  i hardly go to readings.  i enjoy my family and my solitude.  i am also, i think, a loyal friend even when he thinks he's rather monkish -- a foolish notion, fer sure -- loves the company of friends.  so yeah.  i drove yesterday to richmond to visit the mccrarys.

ah technology, where would i be without you.  see, i've driven past richmond many, many times but never had occassion to visit the town itself.  so i used google maps to see what the younger mccrary's house is located and the best way to get there.  spooky to have so much info at one's fingertips but google maps was utterly brilliant in its accuracy.  i found the house without difficulty.

i was a bit late in my arrival.  obligations at home kept me from leaving sac to get to our appointed rendezvous time, 2:00 p.m.  i was about 20 minutes late.  i found jim standing in the front room as i knocked on the door.  it was love at first sight.

silly?  no man.  see mccrary is one of those dudes that i've learned the most from in my adult life.  his example, his poetics, his self-publishing, his no b.s. attitude, and his keen humor make him a singular presence not only in the small world of poetry but in the wider world of human beings.  we hugged in greeting and sat down with quincy for a long visit that didn't end till 11:00 p.m.

later melinda arrived home from work.  we went to a local thai restaurant for some delicious nosh.  what did we talk about?  all sorts of politics.  movies and tv shows and w.s. burroughs too.  but mostly politics.  i don't know why but the political banter was passionate, stimulating and refreshing.  still there was so much to say and so little time to say it.  plus melinda and quincy had to get up in the morning to go to work.  jim was heading to s.f. in the morning to spend a day with an old friend before catching a flight back to lawrence.  i can talk forever.  it's in the lopez genes.  my father and my brothers are all non-stop gabbers.  the only way to get one of us to shut up is to talk over and cut off the speaker.  it's a terrible trait, i know, and i try to remember that when i'm with friends that i need to shut up now and then.  i did my best.

i had a long drive in front of me.  i bid adieu to quincy and melinda, petted their two basset hounds goodbye, and waived farewell to ella the cat.  i asked jim to walk me to my car.  we spoke for a few minutes more as i enjoyed the warm east bay breeze.  we hugged our goodbyes.  i then slipped the cd of a electronica jam band that quincy made for me into the stereo and then drove off quietly and without urgency east to my family who i knew were firmly and soundly asleep. 

below are the pics of me and mccrary.  i couldn't decide which ones to post so i'm publishing them all.