In which family, traffic, and all sorts of other craziness ensue

When I lived in Indiana, for the first few months, one of the hardest things to adjust to was that there was no one around with whom I could share memories and knowledge of my past and my Florida home, who would know what I was talking about through their own experiences. In other words, I was lonely for folks that had grown up in the same place I had. It took some getting used to. But here in So Cal, I have a small consolation: I have a family of cousins about two hours away--Lynne, her husband Jack, and their two little boys. Lynne's mother and my mother were sisters, and we all moved down to Florida at the same time, and while Lynne's a bit older, we still share the same memories and knowledge of our crazy, goofy family.

So, the other day, I drove out to San Pedro to visit them. It was indescribably comforting, to be able to talk about the summer storms in Florida, the mugginess, the idiosyncrasies of our family, even the SuperTarget on Dunlawton, to someone who knew what the hell I was talking about. In my time there, I began to really appreciate the real importance of family, and feel a sense of groundedness that I had not experienced in a VERY long time. I've been moving a lot over the last few years, and ever farther from my family and my childhood home, and since I am a sentimental, gooey sap, this has not been an easy thing to do. Most of the time, I ignore it, try to get on with my work, my day, my life, but every now and then--usually in the evening, when I can hear the crickets chirp (thank god, there are crickets out here) I begin to think of my folks, my past, and wonder how the hell I got this far away, and what on earth I am doing here. But now, I can take a small measure of comfort from the nearness of my cousins.
While I was visiting, Cousin Jack picked up Panda Express for dinner. Lynne and Jack and I sat at the table, eating, while their (very energetic) boys Nicholas and Michael ran around and played, and I paused for a moment to remember the family dinners of our youth, and how my sisters and I had to sit at the kiddie table, and we would always finish our dinner before the adults and wonder off to play, because no one wanted to hear the boring conversations of the adults, who were lingering over dinner at their own table. As I watched Nicholas and Michael, a sobering thought occurred to me: I had become one of the adults having a boring (to them) conversation at the adult table. Funny how life goes like that.
Enough of this sentimental claptrap. I saw the Pacific Ocean! For the first time! It was BIG! And blue. It's hard not to be carried away with the romance of the ocean when you are seeing it for the first time, or the first time in a long time. I'm rather happy I did not waste a lot of time in seeing it.

And I got to deal with L.A. traffic (light). Intense, but I kept my head (literally, hee hee.) I know it's a lot more chaotic in L.A. proper, but I have to start somewhere, and I don't want to spend most of my time here avoiding it. I've always tried to be one who grabs the bull by its balls.