golden gate

when i was like three and a half
my gran gran, my aunt joan, and i
drove from texas to san francisco to pick up
my hippy aunt
i'm not sure why she didn't just take a bus or something
i'm sure there was a reason
and i don't think it was because everyone wanted a road trip

i remember a surprising amount of the trip
which is to say
not a huge amount
but i was three and a half

i think i've told you some of it before
and i should write a story or something
but
for right now
i'm just going to paint a little picture

the reason is
i've had this image coming up
over and over again recently

me
standing on a pier at fisherman's warf
with a starfish
it was the kind of starfish
that one could buy at anyplace that sold seashells
in 1970 at least
and for years and years afterwards
although i don't see them much anymore
about four inches across
orange with little white bumpy texture across the top
and a zillion little dried leggy/feel-y bits on the underside
and i was picking off those fringe-y bits
i couldn't help myself
i was standing there alone
the adults could see me
but they weren't close by
i was looking alternately out at the water
and back at the dramatic long orange curtains
at the restaurant
had we just gone there?
i don't think so
i think we were trying to go
but there was probably debate about whether
there was anything my vegetarian aunt could eat
and whether she was willing to watch the hungry carnivores eat
i don't specifically remember that part
not from like that occasion
but that was how she was

i was standing alone
looking at the curtains
looking out at a sea lion
but
i'm not sure now if it was real or not
it might have been inflatable
i don't think i knew then
i think i was intently trying to tell if it were real
but it wasn't moving
my reality had not included wild sea lions
and i was trying to figure it out
and picking the stuff off the starfish

but
seeing that now
i'm wondering
what if i had jumped in?
i wasn't paying much attention to the aults
and they weren't paying much attention to me
what time of year was it?
i wasnt to say fall
i want to say i had a sweater on
but
i'm not sure
i know it wasn't hot
but
i don't think san francisco gets hot enough
even in the hottest part of summer
to seem hot to me


i liked san francisco
i liked golden gate park [i think it was called]
i liked chinatown [i got a golden plate and container set]
i'm not sure that i liked the trolleys [they were a little scary to get on]
the biggest adventure
i feel like i told you that part before
was when my hippy aunt was giving my aunt joan driving directions
she didn't drive herself, you see
and she turned her onto lombardi street
and she was not sure she could handle it
but she couldn't turn back
there were people behind her
so she had to drive down the "crookedest street in the world"
and she was really really pissed off about it
and she went really really slow
so the people behind her were also pissed off