Friday Evening, July 18—Marina del Rey
Byron’s Birthday!
Flashback 1955, Frankfort Michigan
Before India we lived in Concord, New Hampshire, and after India we lived in suburban New York. No matter where we lived, if we were in this country, Frankfort, Michigan, on the shores of the great lake, was our JULY.
All six of us would crowd into an old station wagon, plus labrador retrievers, plus tortoises, balancing paper bags with liverwurst sandwiches and thermoses of milk. Laughter, grumbling, stickiness and excitement all rolled into one to drive a third of the way across the country.
Lake MIchigan. I can still smell the air, hear the waves and feel the wind. It is different than anywhere else on earth.
My oldest brother Byron was born before World War 2, hence he was silently ‘not one of us’ and adored by all….and his was the only summer birthday.
On this day we would all…dogs too…hike down to the beach before the sun set, collect driftwood, build a fire, spread blankets and feast on sand crunchy hot dogs, roast marshmallows and hunt for petoskys, all the while simply BEING…a family….together…eating, laughing, celebrating one of us….simply being.
Every moment of life on earth is brim full of something…as the sun sets now on my pelicans and sea lions on this July 18.