February 12, 2008

The Golden Ring (a love story) continued...

"Why does Mrs. Bauer just hang up on me?" I remember my seven year old self asking. And I remember some sort of philosophical adult reason why she would not end her calls with a reasonable "goodbye" or "talk to you later" or even "thank you". Something to the effect of not wanting to tempt fate that you may not speak again. It still seemed rude.

Summer in Ojai is like summer in hell. Living at the far end of the valley put you even further from the chance of any stray ocean breeze. Thankfully our strange house had an even stranger pool. You had to walk, what seemed to me to be quite far, to reach it and you had to go past the "bee library" as well as every creepy sound known to man, woman or child to get there. It was supposed to be the main residence for the Mr. and Mrs. Bauer. But it was never completed. Cement, stone and wood as well as some re-bar were all that were left standing, as well as a completed pool. Unheated in the winter and perfect in the summer. The house was so mysterious and fun. It was all cement with organic shapes and unusual cellings. It had a gradual path that led up to the roof! Inside, your steps echoed in misleading directions which was perfect for hide and seek! There were several rooms each of which had the outside wall missing so you could just step out of one end of the room and be outside. Which was even more perfect for hide and seek. So one summer when us kids were out tumbling through the chapparell and making up mermaid and pirate stories in the pool Mrs. Bauer came for a visit...

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