califamily

My Aunt Janie and My Uncle Chris stayed with us last night. They have spent the last week driving from Santa Cruz, CA to Maine (along with wonder-dog, Lucky), and were on their way down to D.C. to see my parents before heading out to Arkansas. Fortunately they managed to park their truck right on the block, so they could schlep everything right upstairs (the back of the truck is "locked" by Velcro).

It was fun to watch them take the neighborhood in. They both talked to strangers that walked by, which made me extremely nervous, even though it’s a perfectly normal human thing to. When I told my uncle that I probably couldn’t pick most of my neighbors out of a police lineup, he was horrified. Even Lucky refused to adapt to local ways – when another dog stopped to check him out, he just kind of leaned his head on the dog’s back instead of doing that whole spastic New York dog greeting thing. My aunt explained to the other dog’s owner that Lucky was a California dog and that they were visiting the neighborhood. The man smiled and said a couple of words quietly in broken English.

Walking around the neighborhood, they were fascinated with all the bike messengers delivering takeout from the restaurants on Smith Street, and the fact that anything you need is a short walk away. After dinner, we sat around our dining room table telling stories and laughing. My sister grilled my aunt about family info, which is scarce, due to assorted grudges and death. I got some good bonding time in with Lucky, who seemed right at home in a brownstone apartment, despite the fact that every time he went downstairs, he kept confusing the second floor apartment for the front door. What he lacks in wits he makes up for in charm.

This morning they got up at 6:30 without an alarm clock, as they apparently do everyday, and started getting ready to go. Returning from the bathroom, my uncle asked me if we had lost a toy monkey. Since he likes to tease, I figured Julia had told him about my neurotic monkey episodes as of late. He wasn’t kidding, though – he had dropped something behind the toilet, and when he bent down to pick it up, he saw the monkey under the bathtub. And so the mystery is solved. As to why someone at Julia’s party felt the need to bring him into the bathroom – I’d just rather not go there.