Apparently

Pacific Grove is a nice place; kind of the in between of Monterey and Carmel, although it's nice to visit either of those places as well. We've taken to spending a night or two, once a month somewhere nearby just to get away, and to take the boys swimming in 60-65 degree weather. They never seem to mind.


The monarch butterflies are not in full migration as of yet and we didn't see any big bucks running through town this time. Alright, that only happened once when Maria and I heard an increasingly louder clippy cloppy sound- then looked down the street to see a big horned deer running in full panic- crazed tea party eyes. Guess who also went all in with the full panic reaction? If you guessed Maria, then you are a friend of mine.

Speaking of friends, I was visited by one (yes, I have several) recently who came to town to participate in the Giants parade; having moved 22 years ago but always a Giants fan in Las Vegas, where his family settled. Dennis, the storyteller. Apparently when he was 10 years old, he recalls events that our neighbor, Robby and I would involve him in. Robby and I are about six years older, and as you will soon discover, perhaps six times funnier. Dennis sometimes exaggerates his telling of events as if there was some terror involved.


As Dennis tells it Robby and I would "lock" Dennis in a clothes hamper that was in the basement of my parents garage, where each floor above it had a small door that you could open to drop laundry down. I really do not recall locking Dennis in the box- (however we do include the view one might have from inside looking up) and dropping dirty laundry on him. It is not likely the laundry was actually dirty and it is more probable to have been food items or something of noticeable texture.

Dennis also speaks of running through the backyard while people threw arrows near him. Again, the idea of Dennis running serpentine avoiding pre-Nerf arrows is mildly amusing for some of us. I do remember that Robby had amazing aim.

I will at least testify that the fourth member of our group, Rob's brother, John had nothing to do with these alleged acts. He was probably out riding the bus somewhere.

There are a few other stories that Dennis likes to tell that can not possibly be true and I need not list here. The first time Dennis chose to speak of (can't some people let go of the past?...oh, I guess i wouldn't have much of a blog if I did that. well, can't Dennis let go of the past?) this performance play was when I was visiting his brother John in Vegas. Dennis decided this was a good time for his father, Mr.D, to hear of these things and pass judgment. Certainly there was some concern on my part as Mr. D will always be Mr.D to me. Considering the quickest path back to the airport, I was relieved when Mr. Dickinson broke the silence with hearty laughter. Whew, I was relieved that Dennis would not get into trouble for telling such stories.

All in all, he's has turned out to be an outstanding citizen of his own with his terrific merry crew of Bonnie, Daniel and Courtney. It was a nice visit from the 702, back in the 415.
Also, thanks for waiting while I stood in line 3 hours to get an autograph for Dexter from Cody Ross, NLCS MVP.

Grabbing a couple of cassettes for our drive down to Pacific Grove (hey, the bakery with all the little cookies is long gone-shoot!) I am reminded of another story. Once while Maria and I were in the middle of a tense dispute, I apparently decided to blast a song by the Mavericks, coincidentally titled "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down". Defending myself to the accusations of "I hear that!" with- "I wanted to hear a real good Flaco Jimenez accordian fill- several times" didn't buy me much goodwill then. By the way, Flaco does play real nicely in that piece.