San Diego

 We flew out of Austin last week, heading first to El Paso, then flying into San Diego.  Just about every third person in the Austin airport was wearing a "Keep Austin Weird" tee-shirt, and every fifth person had a piece of metal stuck into parts of their head that were never meant to have holes.

Our first full day in San Diego was a day-long hike around the Zoo.  Huge place, beautifully landscaped, with very natural enclosures for the animals.  As natural a habitat as an animal can have in a zoo, I guess.  We also spent half of the next day at Sea World..... the dolphins and the whales were expected, but the surprise was a show with cats and dogs, all of them running from one side of the stage to the other in a well-choreographed display of talents most likely discovered by their extremely patient trainers.

My husband found the Blue Water Fish Market & Grill, one of the restaurants featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives," and we had dinner there one night.  Down the street from the restaurant was a British Tea Garden and Bakery..... we were too late for tea in their garden, but the shop was open and everything in it was imported from Britain.  We also ate at Hob Nob Hill -- another "Triple D" featured restaurant.  The food was good at both places, but Blue Water Grill was our favorite.

San Diego is also home to Balboa Park.... beautiful grounds filled with hundred-year-old buildings from a turn-of-the-century Exposition.  I thought of my Uncle Mino as I stood there looking up at the intricate architecture.... he used to walk around Manhattan, looking up at all the vintage architectural designs.  He would suggest that I go into The City and "Look up! Look up!"  So there, in Balboa Park, I looked up for you, Uncle Mino.

We didn't rent a car in San Diego... for the few days we were there, we took cabs--- not one of the cab drivers was U.S.-born.  They came from Persia, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Russia, Afghanistan.  The Russian cab driver told us that his only regret was not coming to the U.S. sooner. When I commented that the California winters were certainly nicer than Russian winters, he very seriously told me "It isn't the weather... it's this country."  He said those last three words with such conviction and feeling that I apologized for taking 'this country' for granted.  The cab driver said that it was just human nature, to overlook such freedoms that one is born with.

We were in San Diego for our 17th anniversary, and my husband found a Greek restaurant just two blocks from our hotel. We walked there for dinner that night, and had more or less the same menu choices that we had for our wedding dinner.  We talked of the wedding and the dinner afterwards, and of friends who celebrated with us that are no longer here.

We spent some time in Old Town San Diego.... filled with Mexican restaurants and markets and shops..... and we stopped in an old Mission church that was quiet and peaceful. Living in Texas, we have our fill of Mexican food and merchandise, so we didn't eat or shop there, but it was nice to walk around and listen to the Mexican music.

While we were sitting in the Mission church, there was an old man in the last pew. He had rosary beads in one hand and his lips moved in silent prayer as his fingers counted off the beads.  The old man looked like a street person, very frail and tired.  Within minutes of sitting down in the church, we saw a waitress from one of the restaurants come into the church with a plastic bag filled with a to-go dinner. She was looking for the person who ordered the meal.... apparently, they told her to bring it to the church, but she couldn't find the customer.  The old man with the rosary saw the waitress holding the bag of food and he patted his stomach as if to say "I'm hungry.... I can eat that."  The waitress asked the old man if he had ordered it, but he shook his head no, and patted his empty pockets. He went back to his rosary beads, the waitress went back to asking every person in the church if they had ordered the food.

When we were leaving the church, the waitress asked us if the to-go order was ours. I said no, but suggested to her that she give the food to the old man.  She told me that she had to find the customer who ordered it. I told her that if she didn't find the customer, to just give the food to the old man with the rosary beads.  I don't know what happened.... we left the church and went on our way. 

For the next couple of hours, though, I kept seeing the face of that old man as he patted his stomach and then patted his empty pockets. It made me wish that I had just paid the waitress for that to-go dinner, then given the bag of food to the old man.  There are times in this life that you should just do what comes to mind, and that was one of the times that I wish I had listened to the little voice in my head.