smiles of a california/swedish summer day

high 60s low 70s F. with lots of cloud cover, a firm breeze, and rain.  unusual for norcal but a standard summer day in stockholm.  we took advantage of it by taking a long walk along the american river.  nick took his rock hammer [we purchased a geologist's hammer for him at a local hardware store a couple weeks ago.  one of nick's driving passions is the study of rocks] and hitched along the american river parkway for a couple miles. 

the weather and the walk lifted the spirits for all of us.  nick was in heaven examining stones, vegetation, insect and bird life.  anna and i grew up along that stretch of the river and we found the area called 'the clay banks' which is a piece of land jutting out into the river which is composed of, yes, clay.  anna and nick were about 20 yards ahead of me and already on the banks.  anna said to nick, be careful, these banks are slippery.  it was at that precise moment i stepped on to the side of a bank and yep, you know it, slipped and fell on my side.  tho i lost my grip i didn't lose my composure, just my pride.

it's been rainy all day and into the night.  it is 10:00 pm right now and raining pretty hard.  i'm sure there were plenty of bummed out souls disappointed their bbq's turned out soggy on this first day of unofficial summer.  hell, anna, nick and i were in heaven.  we love this weather.  not that i'm gloating for i love sunny hot summer days too but a respite from the heat and memories of swedish summer days filled us -- me -- with joy.

that's all.  we made dinner, pizza made from naan bread, basil from our garden, pizza sauce and mozeralla from trader joe's, which was delicious and then we all read our respective books into the evening.  i finished something of the sacred [factory school, 2007; translated by kristin dykstra and roberto tejeda] by omar perez.  i've been on a perez kick the past few months.  omar perez is a cuban poet and zen monk.  there are several poems and pieces online by perez online if you want to look for it.  i recommend that you do for perez is just that good of a writer [okay, i've done it for you.  click here for works by and about omar perez].  i have did you hear about the fighting cat? [shearsman books, 2010; translated by kristin dykstra] too which i've yet to read.

thank god for translations.  i am a monoglot and have trouble with my natal english.  dig this piece by dykstra regarding perez and his poetry, culture and translation

     He [perez] asserts the importance of daily life as a focus for poetry but does not offer a clear
     sociopolitical platform in the poems or essays, and he avoids highlighting the most overtly
     political elements of the quotations he uses from various writers.  Instead his writings express
     a constant, deliberate drive toward transformation, meaning that self and society must both
     coexist in an ongoing state of translation -- a state parellel to the displacements that poetry
     enacts.
     ['commentary' by kristin dykstra; something of the sacred, factory school, 2007]

not only do we translate our langauges we translate our selves and our place within our selves and society.  i dig that. 

it was a good day.  it is now 10:44 pm and is still raining.  a bit weird for norcal but utterly lovely for us swedish-norwegian-spanish-mexican-u.s.american-and-everthing-inbetween who love this warm rain.  anna and nick are in bed, i sat zazen for just 10 minutes, read part of an essay by hakim bey and am now drinking a flying dog ipa with artwork on the label by ralph steadman, and listening to horror radio via the internet.

good night.