I travel quite a bit in this defense lawyer biz. I go to many distant and exotic parts of California, or so it seems to me. But my sweetie has declined to accompany me so far - up until my trip to Crescent City. Now we persons in the legal game have certain associations with Del Norte (pronounced "Nort" not "Nor-tay") county's seat. Pelican bay prison, for instance, which doesn't bring up travellers' excitement usually. But for my sweetie, Crescent City is a very long and beautiful beach. We are in the midst of a heat wave, so perhaps it would even be sunny. We took off at 7 a.m. so I could make a 10:30 a.m. arraignment.

It was a beautiful drive. The roadside is forested most of the way, and by the edge of the road there were flowers blooming everywhere. Hillsides and some entire fields of purple lilacs, cinothus (Apple can't spell it either), scotch broom, rhodedendrons, California poppies, and a myriad of small nameless flowers.

The arraignment went well - if you call a client being charged with felonies "going well." It went well in that the judge called me first, a courtesy often extended to private counsel, especially those from out of town, so we got the business done fairly quickly. My friend Richard is holding down the law library there part time, and we arrived at the right part, so I had somewhere to work. Got a discovery request in for some photos and audio recordings, asked the court clerk for the search warrant and - and it was in the other building and would take some time to retrieve. I decided to eat lunch while I was waiting. My sweetie wanted sea food so we ate at the Apple Peddler which advertised and supplied fresh fish (I had a BLT), went back and retrieved the warrant and were ready for a frolic and detour when the cell phone rang. Another Crescent City client was so happy I was there he wondered if I would drop in of his civil attorney and discuss some aspects of the case. Sure. By now, however, time was a-wastin. It's always fun to visit another defense attorney, and my client's civil attorney has a general practice. Good chat, he offered to make special appearances for me in Crescent City if I need them (which will save me a 6 hour drive). Happy, I went off to the beach with Mary Alice.

This is not me or her but climate aficionados will recognise that the figure nearest us is a) in sunlight, b) not wearing a wet suit, and c) in Crescent City.



I changed clothes in the car, using a technique I have perfected over the years, and by the time I was ready for the beach, my sweetheart was finished with it. So we decided to stop at Lady Bird Johnson grove on the drive back. We got there with 30 minutes to spend, and spend it we did. Here's a picture some passing hikers took for us. I'm the one on the right.



We picked our truck up at Sandera's in Fortuna just about 4:30. Might be time to get the lawnmower back from Those Guys in Redway. I called and asked them if they would hang out a bit after 5. No problem. Meanwhile my sweetie drove off in the truck. "I'll catch her," I thought. Wrong. I got to Those Guys, paid for the mower repair, and awaited the sight of the little red truck. Those Guys gradually closed down and after awhile I was all alone. No one to help lift the mower into the truck. Not good the DR mower is heavy. She should have been just 5-10 minutes behind me and I had been here at least 30. Maybe she went shopping in Fortuna. I pulled out the computer and worked on my Saturday show. I went and got a sandwich at Damatos. A client called and wanted to see me toute suite. He came. We listened to KMUD news and the lead headline was a firey accident which had closed 101 at Shively Road - between Fortuna and Redway - so I decided she was sitting in a long line of vehicles waiting for the road to reopen. Kids kept coming by and looking at me, sitting in the car with the motor running (and the A/C) working on my computer. Finally she called me from home -she had seen the fire and taken the back roads home. She got the ramps, came to Those Guys, and in no time flat we loaded the mower and went off to the Mateel Cafe. She had the duck salad, which I poached bits of, and I had a nice glass of Syrah. Then we all drove home and all was well. Just another day in the life of a defense lawyer in Southern Humboldt.

Here's a flower I saw in Lady Bird Johnson Grove