What in Carnation???

A journey back to 2005 and an invitation

Starting with some observations

I watched sumo wrestling highlights last night. That’s some dedication. Those are some big guys. How do they do their hair? How does the ref guy move so quickly in that outfit? Big guys, amazing legs. The impact when they start is quite impressive. I bet the folks in the stands can feel it vibrate through their bodies like the deep bass or percussion at a concert. And then the impact when they get thrown or fall from the fighting area. Sometimes they land in the crowd. Scary. Big guy. Scantily clad. Falling on you from quite a height. Scary. I don’t think they’re as squishy as they look. Have a look. That first guy might be a k-cup. (now… you know the next time you have a coffee from a Keurig you’re going to be thinking about it. Yup).

I heard an interesting conversation at PT. One of the trainers today was talking to the patient and saying how he had heard a new song a DJ put out the other day. The patient went off on how DJs are just folks without any musical talent of their own re-using other people’s work. The therapist cleverly backtracked and talked about how the extended beats and rhythms that DJs put together can be good for runners or other athletes as they seek to maintain a rhythm. Nicely done. Conflict avoided. Me… I’m tempted to go on about how his own thought wasn’t really very creative and there isn’t really creativity anywhere, just repetition and poor memory. hmmm and…

…meanwhile I was supporting myself in a bear crawl stability ball hold with my elbows on a big ball, trying not to slip off the sides, while sliding one of my legs back and then off to the side. Oh my core!

My current song obsession probably involves a fancy DJ. It is a Voice (Korea?) dual between Lexie Liu and a fellow.  I don’t know his name or who won.

Guava is a pain to use but it sure does smell amazing. Those seeds are evil. The tang is . . . wow. 

Over the years I have juggled a lot at school. At recess. In class. Wherever. I like to juggle. It’s good for my brain. I’ve juggled at Grandparents day the last couple years. I even brought in my pins and taught some students how to juggle. Yesterday I was picking up stray basketballs during recess. I had three. So I started to juggle them as I walked to put them away. Amazed shouts… “You can juggle!” “I didn’t know you could juggle!” “Can I try?” “Wow! look, Mr. Swanson can juggle!” Now… there are two ways I could look at this. 1.  What? Of course I can juggle. Where have you been?  or 2. hehe…  it’s fun hearing kids get excited. Maybe I’ll bring out my box of beanbags next week. hmmm.

THE CARNATION STORY

Sunday January 16th, 2005. 2:14 PM  I posted this to Craigslist Monterey.

Subject: Not bored either.

In want of a sophisticated intelligent fit woman that loves the natural world but can survive the regular one plenty on her own. I want you to have a strong personality, to know what you want and to expect that yes, there is at least one guy out there that will love you for it.

I'm here because I have a job I'm pretty fond of, I have good friends, and I love the Fort Ord Public Lands, the coast blocks from where I live, Garland Ranch, Point Lobos and woody points north and south. Come run, hike, walk with me.

What else? I love kids, pets, parents, second cousins and malformed thoughts that somehow express who you really are.

Yup....

this is in or around PG
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Saturday January 22nd, 2005 9:52 am Katie replied

Was checking out the local craigslist for the first time last night. Have been curious to know how busy 30-somethings meet each other in this beautiful place called Monterey Bay.

Your mention of Garland Ranch aroused my interest; it's my favorite place to hike. I'm an entomologist by education and past profession. I'm definitely interested in meeting others my own age (read: not the old and very nice ladies of the Native Plant Society) for companions to enjoy the outdoors.

I began the process of moving here almost 2 years ago from chilly and icy Ohio. I decided that if I waited any longer to return to CA after 9 years, I might not ever. So, I quit my job, found homes for my cats, sold my canoe, old car, and most of my belongings, and said farewell to some very dear friends. I've always loved the central California coast and figured, "Hey, if other people can live here, why can't I?" It has been quite an adventure getting settled here, including 3 scenic road trips across the US, a brief stint in SoCal as a reserve steward, and 15 months as the housemate of a local eclectic character.

Bored? Absolutely not!

As an FYI, I don't have kids, pets anymore, parents, or second cousins. However, I do have frequent malformed thoughts.

Interested in finding out more about you.

---

We emailed back and forth a few times and quickly moved to phone conversations. They were long. We decided not to share photos. We learned that while neither of us really like fast food we did both have a weakness. McDonald’s cheeseburgers and fries. 2 cheeseburgers and large fries to be exact.

Then we started talking about meeting. We knew there was a chance we wouldn’t like each other. We knew one of us might want to skip out and not go through with it… so we decided to meet at McDonalds in Pacific Grove. But we didn’t know what each other looked like. So Katie wanted me to bring a carnation to identify myself. I agreed.

Now… my thought process was this. McDonalds. Not high class. A real carnation just seemed weird. So I went to JoAnn fabrics and found a white fake carnation.  

Wednesday January 26th, 2005. McDonalds in PG.

We meet at 5:00. I’m standing there and she walks in and I know it’s her and I’m smitten. I pull my carnation from my jacket and she smiles and I don’t know what we say. I do know we were both too nervous to eat anything at that point. We got in our cars and drove to Asilomar and walked on the beach for a while. Then we went back to McDonalds and got our cheeseburgers and fries.

The next year we decided to go back to McDonalds on the same day. We met after work like we did the year before. I went to JoAnn fabrics and got a carnation of a different color.

And so it went. Every year. I got a different color for as many years as I could. It gets kind of difficult after a while. I had to resort to buying them at different times of year. Around Thanksgiving you can find orange! I think I used color markers on white ones 2 years - but the marker has faded away. She saved them in a plastic tubelike vase thing. I actually don’t know what the container is.

We didn’t miss a year. Well, okay… Katie wouldn’t let me get away with that. We were a day off at least once. And when McDonald’s in PG closed that messed us up. We’ve also been to McDonald’s in Monterey, Seaside and Marina. This coming Friday would have been the 20th carnation.

Here they are. A marvelous thing about fake carnations is that they last. 

And so now I have to decide what I’m going to do. Am I going to be sad at what I don’t have. OR Am I going to be grateful and smile at 19 carnations and what they represent?  I think I’ll smile.

But I don’t want the day to go by unnoticed and I sure as heck don’t want to go to McDonald’s by myself.

So… The Invitation

Friday 6:00 Seaside (The McDonald’s by Staples). Come have a cheeseburger and fries with me. Bring yourself. Bring your kids. Bring your spouse. Bring your parents… whoever, whatever. A little event. 

If you can’t make it… that’s fine. Maybe go out and have one on your own or do the thing you did the first time you met your special someone. Or the first time you met Katie. It’ll be cool.