I’m currently on vacation on the Fornicalia coast, enjoying my — ahem — birthday week. I’ve been posting when possible.

When we first entered Mendocino County it was quite rainy; we encountered a downed tree across the roadway and a downed wire from a power pole some miles later. A rather challenging drive, it was. Things cleared up for a day and now it is absolutely pouring and very windy.

Oddly enough, it is the kind of day I thoroughly adore. We can hear the waves pounding and barely see the entrance to the harbor through our veranda door.

Most people enjoy bright sunny days on their vacations; at the coast, my wife and I both appreciate the cascading of the waves upon rocks and jetties, the sound of the foghorn, the slanting downpour, the encroachment of ocean fog from the furthest point of visible land right to our very doorstep.

Whilst here we’ve visited two of our favorite bookstores, had a couples’ massage and enjoyed the company of my brother and his girlfriend for two nights. The Jacuzzi tub in the room overlooks the mouth of Noyo Harbor and we watch fishing vessels leave and return.

For just a brief bit of time, we put politics aside and engage ourselves in the few moments my wife and I have to share together. These are the last meager days we will partake of each other; the contingent at my work has been decimated to the point where no one is getting the holidays off, save those with annual vacations scheduled almost a year prior.

My 35 years on board counts for little, when facility seniority rules. I have been assigned to my current position only slightly more than a year. There are other supervisors who have been here over ten years, but with much less overall time. They win, I lose. I am the interloper, they are the constants.

Who wants to have the holidays off, anyway?

BZ

P.S.
Click on each image for a full-sized version.