Yesterday afternoon at 1:30 pm, Dody and Tom stood on our doorstep as expected. There was no Gail who must have been totally wiped out from her late flight from Hawaii.
It is our birthday celebration encore III for Tom, the baby of the three septuagenarian musketeers this year. It is scary to step onto the 70th threshold, especially alone. But with good friends and hearty laughter surrounding you, it is an entirely different matter. With that light-hearted aura, the four of us ventured out in Paul’s Rav4, just as we did more than a month ago. This time, our destination was not Riva on the Santa Cruz Wharf, but the Crow’s Nest at Seabright Beach.
We arrived at the Crow’s Nest on time and got the scenic window table that our hearts desired. It was after 2:00 pm, but the restaurant was doing pretty well, with nearly all tables occupied in the downstairs section. We had a superb view of the blue ocean, jetty, and Walton Lighthouse, all bathed in bright sunlight. From our window, we could see birds of all feathers resting peacefully on their favorite perch, the big pipe along the water leading to the harbor's ever present dredger.
Being in a seafood restaurant, we selected our favorite dishes from the nearby sea. Tom favored scallops, Dody and Paul chose seafood fettuccine, while I picked tempura prawns. Our food was so delicious and the whole atmosphere so congenial, we temporarily forgot our restrictions on gluten or starch, and enjoyed our lunch heartily.
As usual, we enjoyed over not only our excellent food and scenic view, but more importantly, our companionship. Dody and Tom shared an identical view about the best restaurants in Watsonville, but differed in their tastes about music, especially about heavy metal. Dody is unequivocal about her preference, but Tom is more understanding and sympathetic towards his professional peers. He and Paul also shared with us their earliest exposure to music. It is simply precious to listen to their stories, and see their varying interests.
After leaving the Crow's Nest, we regrouped in our living room for a nice cup of tea. The sharped-eyed Dody immediately spotted the couch where Nick's family sit for their annual portrait/Christmas card. We all laughed at the fact that it was easier to control kids indoors than outside for serious photography. But the delay from drinking tea also brought a certain penalty to our guests on a heavily traveled Friday late afternoon. It took Dody and Tom more than one hour to drive a distance of ten miles from our house to theirs, even by side streets. But both of them were in good spirits, "... but we were warm and full from a wonderful lunch." We live only once, so please let us savor the moment, even though the moment can be unpleasant sometimes.
