land sakes

While I have been considerably more of a homebody since Jan 2, I still haven't managed to carve out quality sitting still time. My "to read" stack is now going on a year old and is waist high. The James invited me up to the Land in Napa for an afternoon of quit contemplation, reading, and writing. I was happy to have some time alone with James and my own thoughts-- no phone, no internet, few distractions from the idyll.

Even though it has been a dangerously dry winter, there has been just enough rain to turn a bit of the trees and hillside green. The Spanish moss is thriving and enhances the otherworldly feel that is The Land.




As it turns out, instead of an all day along thing it turned out to be a late afternoon/ evening thing along with Circle R & Linx (our hosts) and Special K, the superlatively awesome girlfriend of The James. Not the original plan, but perhaps even a better one.  Also consider that Circle R built a fantastic (i.e. a thing of fantasy) tree house bar.

Seriously.


Love The Land.

And it's pretty amazing after the sun goes down too. It was so clear even the evening star shows up in a photo from my point-and-shoot.


I needed to make it back to the City for an nighttime event, but I stayed long enough to take in the...experience...that is Turtle Rock.

In my 15 years in SF, I have learned that if you are given advice you do not understand, just file it away and it will make sense later. The Bay Area is almost like the land of Faerie in Stardust—it's a patchwork of surreal places which abut each other in dramatic fashions and rarely overlap. Earlier in the day Linx told me, from experience, not to be tempted to pull the dollar bills down. Sure. Okay. Fine.

Oh.


The hallmark of Turtle creek is that they are the only social establishment for miles around. They have a mini, mini mart of sorts in the back, and essentials—like sunscreen, bug repellent, and condoms, for sale above the bar. And they serve two things: liquor and egg rolls. Really. Even the neon says so.


It's a family-owned-for-generations sort of place, and feels it. And due to its heritage, dominoes are a big deal too. I was impressed by the full bar. And the egg rolls, as foretold, are not to be missed.

Also available for purchase, novelty sex toys for only 50 cents in the bathroom. James and K took their chances on the "Collect All Six" option...


...and received what at first looked like a tiny novelty eraser, the kind you would find by the bag in Japantown, in the shape of a miniature vagina.


Ultimately we determined, and this is our best guess here, that it was a finger tip tickler.


Sexy.