The Duke of Thanksgiving

Though my blog day is Friday, I always write it the day before, which means I am actually writing this on Thanksgiving. I know the weather is bad in a lot of places, but it was like heaven here today. Usually the beach is cooler and often with some clouds, but the air was as gentle as it was in the San Fernando Valley.

The restaurant we go to is right on the water. I mean right on. The only thing between the waves coming in and our window was a pile of rocks. We have been eating at this same location for thirty years through it has been different restaurants. Once, in the eighties I think, during a rough winter the waves came right through the restaurant which was called the Sea Lion at the time.

There was no chance of that today. The water was calm. It was so clear we could see Catalina well enough to make out the ismus called Two Harbors. Duke’s, the restaurant where we had dinner, is really a Hawaiian restaurant named for the guy who is supposed to have invented surfing. His first name was Duke, or maybe it was just a nickname. His last name starts with a K and had lots and lots of vowels. Usuallly their menu is heavy on fish, but for today they had a buffet with their take on Thanksgiving foods. That means there was ginger in the cranberry sauce and the rice dish featured jasmine rice (my personal favorite). As I have said, I’m a vegetarian so I passed on the ham, turkey and prime rib, but the array of vegetables was great.

The food was delicious but really going there is about the view. I turned my chair around and just looked at the ocean and up and down the coast. The highlights were seeing a bunch of dolphins go by and watching the windows in farawau Palos Verdes reflect the setting sun and twinkle like jewels. A low flying hellicopter went by. I mean really low. It was a life guard helicopter and I thought maybe there were looking to rescue somebody, but my son said they were just being “cowboys “ out for a thrill. Lots of birds went by. Mostly I couldn’t make out what kind except for the pelicans. Two people standing on paddle boards moved past the window and we debated if it was a dog, a child or a monkey sitting on one of the boards along with the paddler The consensus was that it was a child. The sunset turned the sky over Santa Monica a soft pastel blue with pink clouds. The sun seemed to linger just below the water for a long time as the lights came on inside and I began to see more of my reflection in the window than the view outside.

And then finally we left the restaurant and walked out into the inky darkness. The ride home through the canyon was dark and mysterious. Just empty mountains for most of the way.

And now a brief respite before I join my son on a middle of the night trip to the mall. Not so much to buy anything as much as for the whole surreal nature of it. I’m always up for something surreal, which is why next month it will be going to see the Rose Parade floats in the middle of the night as they line up for their early morning trek.