Casa Tortuga is a three stories

Overlooking Chacala Bay south

Jae and Greg the perfect hosts

He making margaritas – she coming up

            the long winding stairway with bottled water

“Oddballs and misfits” friend Bruce describes

            the ex-pats living here

“They got out of the north for a reason

            …something was giving them the boot.”

Tortuga means tortoise

There were turtles on the beach

            people are trying to reestablish them

I was dancing – somewhat awkwardly, as one of the inn’s two real guests walked by

I don’t think they expected fifty of us to be here

            dancing and drinking

He thought I was drunk, though I wasn’t

            glanced away

Jae and Greg would have warned them

            but the guests were in transit

Anya, a massage therapist and yoga instructor

            from Nevada City is dropping margaritas and shots of tequila - rapido

 

Next morning I wake at 5:30 coughing

Poison for scorpions left by Conchita

Karla to ask her to not use again

 

Colleen brings me cup of tea on the patio

Offers me fruit

I think back to last night

Jae saw me subtly dancing in place as Colleen spoke to Lars – whose husband is

            a retired chiropractor from Las Vegas – now in Hermosa Beach

She gently took may arm and said, “We need you here.”

Eight gringos dancing

Most gently swaying in place – kinda like me – like eel grass

Anya wild and flamboyant – with Isadora Duncan scarf

I considered stepping it up but

I drop back to eel grass sway

​

Social groups not my forte

I feel that I’m stepping left while

            everyone else steps right

Small chat feels forced

try to just connect with one person at a time

Feel awkward

 

Misfits and oddballs

Bruce talks about his last two years

Two insurance cases – health and property

Two excuses – hardly paid anything – corporate America

 

I think back to the Republican primaries

peripheral issues – trying to get traction

            as corporate pockets dig deeper and deeper

 

Colleen steps starts to dance

Suddenly the dancing is fun

We catch some hidden wave

and ride it together

I see Jae looking at us differently

 

Oddballs and misfits

 

Colleen pulls up next to me

We hold hands

 

A wave races to shore.

We're honored guests

 

Happy 36/9 Anniversary

It's been a wild ride!