A Very Nice Catamaran

On June 5 I wrote that at the end of the day on the sunday before I wrote this, I asked the roommate to watch the house. My friend said that she had been having a hard time.  We talked as we walked she told me about her difficult time at the Exploratorium. We went walking down Dolores Street and visited Dorland and Dolores Terrace.

We were celebrating a whole noisy year. We were checking out the architecture and foundations. We ended up at Monk’s as our reservation came up.  We had a chicken sandwich and talked about the noises in the night.  The roommate told us she wanted us back and we picked up a scratcher and some ice cream. We went to bed at the same time at night and that is rare.

That I went to work but skipped everything.  It was remarkable how empty the streets were. Later I had lunch and went to Pete's and did a few other things. I return to the office and asked a colleague for advice but had to quit because my friend wanted us to catch the 430 ferry.

Back at the apartment the roommate was in and my friend had just gotten there. We did a minimum of things and then got ready to leave. Her sister had taken some equipment so our bikes were lighter. However, we had so much still.  I put the panniers on my back and she stuffed her pannier below her equipment.

We tried to make the 430 but the third stop light – there were lots of lights – made it impossible. We went to slanted door and I got us sparkling wine. I had a whiskey is well. We had the bikes nearby. The 520 boat turned out to be a very nice catamaran. The attendant I asked about it made it into a gift from heaven. I had a beer. It was a breath of fresh air to get off the boat with all of our equipment. My friend, who knew Alameda took us down the bike path and I lead us to Santa Clara because of the intersection at Lincoln.

At her sister's it was nearly 6 and the whole family – niblings and everyone – we're all in the kitchen being loud. My friend and I got to work.  We were able to manage the noise and the cousins were out for a bit. I unloaded and set up in the guest room. I remember the others would be in the attic.

They were all trying to get ready for the next day and it was terrible. I remember winding the house down and we ate a meal. There was food and later I asked one of the nephews to take the Quadracycle. When we got back we ate. Later others went on a Quadracycle ride.

Some neighbors and their parents came through. They brought us epic salsa for our tacos. They had to pick up a cargo bike for the ride the next day.  Our group’s part in the parade was a cargo bike float.  One of us had to go to Safeway after others had fallen asleep on the couch. I sat with the ladies helping with the cake but gave up at midnight. I hadn't even taken a sip of my tea.

In the morning it was six when we awoke. Later we made a noisy mess. The whole house was awake then and it was chaos until quiet time started around 8:30. My friend was surprised but everyone was leaving early. I sat doing nothing and playing the xylophone. Some of our neighbors from the city came by and picked up my tricycle.

After everyone left we prepared the cargo bikes - I the Bakfiet and my friend the Feets - for when quiet time ended. When we packed up, we road 2 miles down central In Alameda on Willow at Lincoln. The fourth of July parade was not moving and was nearly a full on block party as eight square blocks were closed.

I considered getting a beer but gave up on it as I realized there were families with us. A bunch of our friends we're there. Some guy had bubbles on his bike and the machine was similar to one on my bike. I texted mom and dad. My neighbors from the city were sitting with their son. My friend had the noisy Feets. I had to refill the tires because there was a bulge.

When we left it was slow until park. The parade was stop and go for a while after that. The bubble guy and I helped each other out with our bottles of soap. The vets and politicians in cars behind us got applause.  The people ahead of us we're throwing candy. One of the kids kept on stopping to pick up candy. He was slowing down all of the cars behind us. The other bubble person’s daughter had a tea set up in the front of his cargo bike. My friend was loudly enthusiastic.

I remember only idly we were looking for my parents. My neighbor’s son had trouble with his kids bike so I took him on my Bakfiets. My neighbort from the city took his kid’s bike. One of the guys in our group had a train theme and acted like a train. We all followed him zigzagging down Park and then later Otis.

I didn't know that during this. My friend saw her riding buddy. She had been with the Bike Party couple.  I started communicating with dad and my younger sister via the five person message group. On Otis my city neighbor was talking to her son who was in my bike and I made loops until he told me to stop. I interacted with families at the curbs.

When we got to Grand I asked for some quiche from a table. My neighbor’s son got out of my bike because he wanted to be in my friend’s sister’s bike. My friend on the other hand had trouble with the Feets. Her sister picked up my mom and I picked up my niece when we found them. Dad and my sister walked separately.

I found out that mom was in the parade with us later. I was just riding along with my niece. She was transfixed to be in the parade in the front of my bike. There were so many people looking at us from the road. My neighbor’s son got back on his own bike at some point and checked in with us.  I tried to introduce us to everyone. I checked in with my sister who was following. She did not want a ride. My niece used my phone to text the group of five.

We went up Webster and the parade ended. My friend’s brother-in-law led the way and I picked up the stragglers. We told anyone that wanted to to come to the party but he had to go home. My niece and I saw my sister on Lincoln but she still didn't want a ride. She told his dad was nearly at the house.

I saw my friend loudly unloading and left her to figure things out on her own. Later when I return things were fine. Dad was being loud too. There were only a couple of things to eat on the table and later I took a break. We started quiet time at 130 and was in the yard when later my friend came out.

There was a lot of people around but by 330 many more have shown up in the place was very different. That was loud and we were allowed in the living room too. Later I was concerned about catching the 530 boat.  However, we had cake and ice cream. My friend had spent three hours putting icing on the cake and by then it had hardened of it. We were all near the back fence. We met a lot of new people from the company that so many of our acquaintances worked at.

The parents and Nora decided to take the ferry then.  I was bummed but we were not ready to go. I had tried to get stuff together but it wasn't easy.  Meanwhile my friend put my top hat and other things in the our neighbor’s car. I put stuff on the bikes. I said bye to people and try to introduce myself to new people. Our acquaintances from the Snow Cabin were there at the very end. We said goodbye to family on the way out.

We bumped into the couple from bike party as we were getting onto the boat. We discussed the day – they had seen us and we headed to the ferry. The ride was fun the equipment was noisy. At the ferry we were just in time. I had no trouble boarding. I was noisily parking when I saw my friend’s sister’s benefactor.  I thought it was amazing that he and his wife recognized me..

He noisily went upstairs and I was nervous but my friend observed him exclaiming to his wife. That was really cool. The couple from bike party and I sat on the deck while my friend hung out with them. They enjoyed the noise. When we got off we said bye to everyone. My friend and I rode against loud protests down market. As usual she yelled at a motorist. I'm pretty sure that she put the fear of God in her.

At the apartment I unpacked and she made noise in the kitchen. She won't the house down and I made a small meal.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.