Oakville Grocery, Oct 3rd, 2022

At the Oakville Grocery; October 3rd, 2022

Today was another glorious Autumn day here in Sonoma County, California. Deep blue skies and 75F with a slight breeze. October is our best month for the weather.

This weekend is https://fleetweeksf.org/ Fleet Week in San Francisco. The Blue Angels will be flying and the Navy will be in the city.

At 2 PM on this glorious afternoon, I walked the three blocks down to Oakville Grocery to order two pizzas to go and two pints of local ale to drink in a plastic cup of ice as I sat and waited on the patio.

The town square was kitty-corner to the northwest from the patio and I watched the people going by as usual. Today there were no masks on anyone. Hurray!

All of the folks walking by were white, retired, and in their 60’s and 70’s. The men wore golf shorts and shirts and caps. The women wore bright outfits from former years.

But there was one young couple sitting on the patio at a nearby table. They were in their twenties. The young man wore white shorts, Sketcher loafers, and a pale blue dress shirt. He had short cropped blond hair.

The young woman was a beauty. She wore mauve capri pants, sandals, and a sleeveless white top. She had coffee-colored skin and long dark hair. She wore a shell bracelet on her right wrist. Maybe she was Polynesian?

The oddest thing was that when the young man returned with their order of a pizza and a salad, they played a hand of gin rummy, then ate their lunch. Of course, the man ate the pizza and the woman ate the salad.

At the table next to me sat three very chatty white women of about 65 eating salads. One of the women was the talker of the group. She first told stories about a friend of hers who was a lawyer dealing with sex abuse victims. These weren’t happy stories.

Finally one of the other women started talking about her recent trip to the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean.

“It was so hot. There was no shade.” (Oddly enough the other two women said “no shade” at the same time as the story-teller.) “All of the trees are the size of shrubs.”

“Well, you have a nice tan.” Another woman said.

“And the food is so good there.” The talkative woman said.

So these are well-traveled women.

After that, I collected my pizzas, finished my beers, and walked home.

Oh, what a lovely day!

TJM