Sand in my Shoes

9.17 am

I won my first case as a lawyer last week. My first case as a law student, at any rate. Our client was granted asylum on Wednesday afternoon, at 1.47 pm. It's a rather heady feeling. Hours of interviews, draft after draft of her declaration revised and revisited, and it all worked out exactly right. I can see why people would pursue litigation. It must be quite the adrenaline rush, those tense moments between when the jury files in and when the verdict is delivered. It's things like this which remind me that law school is worth getting through, that it's not all about casebooks and class ranking.

9.21 am

Spring break, and the boy and I are off to the ocean for a few days. A nice leisurely drive along Highway 1 and then a cottage by the sea. I'm looking forward to watching the ocean pound and crash outside the car window. Looking forward to feeling sand in between my toes again, hot almost to the point of burning. We're bringing his kites, and I'm looking forward to seeing him silhouetted against the sky, his hands tugging at the strings and the kites struggling to take off, to rip right out off his grip and off into a sky of endless possibilities.

Straight on till morning

11.53 am

I spent all of yesterday with the boy on the boat. It was one of those perfect days, where the wind was blowing steady off the Golden Gate and there were sailboats all out along the water. We even saw two tall ships, both with square sails. One was brightly painted, and the other was all dark and looked like a pirate ship. We sailed out into the bay, past all the piers, under the Bay Bridge, past Treasure Island, and out to Alcatraz. Treasure Island was all vacation homes and brightly painted lighthouses. Alcatraz looked as though someone had packed up and left around 1950 and nobody had ever gone back. The buildings are all falling apart, some of them gutted by fire. Windows are smashed out. Even the trees were brown and dying. The wind died as we rounded Alcatraz and turned back toward the marina. It took a rather long time to get back. Boy said it was because we had forgotten to throw a nickel into the water for the Wind Gods.

Then I opened my email this morning and saw that two men had died in a race out on the Gate Saturday afternoon. Which puts things into perspective - the ocean is beautiful, but she is harsh and she is wild and she will not hesitate to kill.

"A Hope in Hell"

5.01 pm
It’s that perfect time of day when the shadows stretch out into infinity, but the sun is still warm and golden on my back. The wind from earlier this afternoon has died down, and the palm fronds hang limp. The parents in the playground a few yards away are starting to gather up their children. One last push on the swing, one last swing through the monkeybars, one last cartwheel across the grass.

5.40 pm
Summer is coming. It’s creeping across the trees, tickling them until they bring forth their blossoms. The sidewalks from my bus stop to my house are covered in a pale carpet of small, pink petals. The rain has tucked tail and fled, leaving behind brilliantly green hills. I’ve played leapfrog between the puddles of sunlight, chasing them down until the very last one disappeared into a leafy shade, making it too chilly to stay outside any longer.

5.46 pm
This amused me, endlessly. The text is taken from one of Mr. Neil's early Sandman comics. I hope you shall enjoy it as well.