Tacoma is a city near the nadir of Puget Sound, a large inlet of water similar to a fjord but not as narrow nor as majestic. But the Puget Sound does have thousands of curving inlets and natural coves where boaters can enjoy an early summer day under lightly grey skies with only occasional warm, light rain.
My friend C* has a boat for just that purpose and every summer he tools around the Puget Sound stopping off at an inlet, cove, island, here and there, tying off to a buoy or even just throwing down anchor and then kayaking over to land.
He invited Avie and I to meet him at Jarrell Cove, one of the many state parks we have on the Sound and the two of us agreed. I had made some homemade burger buns, a batch of pulled pork, and some coleslaw the night before so we packed that up and headed off.
It was an hour drive along the winding, tree-lined roads that hug the coast here. We listened to my curated Avie-Tim playlist along the way; Dead Milkmen, Imagine Dragons, Billie Eilish, Dead Kennedys, The Ventures, Mclusky, They Might Be Giants, and others. Occasionally I can catch Avie singing along to the songs that she likes. That is my favorite thing she does right now.
An hour drive gave us a chance to talk about a few things. I asked what she wanted to study this summer. Math is high on my list of things I want her to keep fresh and when I suggested it she said “yeah”. It wasn’t an enthusiastic endorsement but I was ok with it: at least she knows that she needs to keep in practice.
When I asked what she wants to learn she responded “can it be a musical instrument?”
“OF COURSE!” I said, “which one?” I was thinking guitar since I have several and I could teach her pretty easily but she said “bass.” She’s a little small for a big ole bass but I think they make some small scale basses which we can pick up for pretty cheap. I told her we will look around for a bass and an amp.
When we got to the park she said she was hungry so I busted out the fixings and made her a pulled pork sandwich:
“How is it?” I asked, “on a scale of 1-10?”
“Nine,” she said, her mouth full.
YES! I didn’t actually need affirmation. I’d tasted the pork when it came out of the oven but it still felt good.
C* met us in the parking lot and after some debate about whether we should go hiking or head to the boat we all decided to walk down to the shore and jump on C*’s kayaks to go for a little paddle around the bay. C* and I threw his river kayak into the ocean, pulled it around to the back dock of his boat and then he tried to get in. It looked a little cramped and he couldn’t quite fit.
I’m smaller than him so I said “let me try”.
“You think your ass is smaller than mine?” he laughed. “I’m 6 inches shorter!” I said.
When I stepped on the kayak it wobbled a bit and C* joked “I wouldn’t stand in it if I was you.”
“Fuck that!” I fired back “I’m going to paddleboard this motherfucker” and then laughing, I started to lower myself into the cockpit.
Sure enough, my ass didn’t fit either. Damnit! “Just a sec” I said and tried to wiggle into the kayak.
That’s when the kayak did this uhh.. slow motion tip over to the right. Wait, I thought, what do I do?? And before I could figure out what to do, apparently I go in the water sort of half-way is what I do.
Now C*’s laughing, rightly, as I try to grab the deck and keep myself upright. None of this is working and somehow the physics of the kayak just dump me into the water.
I take a deep breath in expecting the water to be freezing cold but the water’s quite pleasant, warmish. The problem isn’t the temperature but I am wearing full hiking boots and a rain jacket, which is a bit unnerving because when I start to kick my feet to stay above the water I gain no traction.
I grab the Kayak with an armpit and float there for a second. I realize that my phone and my keys are on me and now under water, setting off a second wave of panic. “Ok, well, better get out of here before I worry about that.” C* is still laughing but he says “there’s a swim ladder” and drops it for me. The boats are starting to crowd around me, which is setting off a third panic. But I manage to grab the swim ladder and climb out. As I’m on all fours on the back deck of the boat I see a couple on the shore who have stopped to watch this slow motion car crash.
“You’re just standing there???” I yell. “Why didn’t you come help me???”
They laugh.
We all laugh.
It turns out that my phone was fine, my keys were fine, and I was fine. I sat down and dumped the water out of my shoe.
And rang the water out of my socks.
“I think Trump told his advisors ‘I’m going to Paddleboard this motherfucker’ when they told him he shouldn’t run for president,” I say.
I think, right now, people are trying to paddleboard so many things that aren’t paddleboards; protective masks, human rights, the economy, the Arsenal. And I’m sorry folks, but you can’t paddleboard Ceballos and Guendouzi into an effective midfield duo. I have to give huge credit to Mikel Arteta for trying but eventually he’s going to end up wet.
We gathered the kayaks up and stowed them, a Kingfisher flew around us – we stopped to watch his oddly gliding gait and impossibly large head.
C* offered me some dry clothes and I changed. Then we had some snacks and talked about random things. I can’t say I remember much. I played a little guitar and sang a song about dumping myself into the ocean.
We decided to call it a day and puttered over to the dock and went back up to the car for lunch. My shoes squeaked and water squished out whenever I took a step.
The pulled pork sandwiches were delicious.
On the way home Avie and I were mostly quiet. She’s 12 now and starting to become a teenager which I guess means that we aren’t as close as we once were. That’s fine, I guess. She’s got to become her own woman soon. I don’t want to get in the way of that.
But at one point I caught her singing along to one of our songs… “You were such an awful child, you were such a stupid chiiiild, you should have cottoned on.. that Alan was a cowboy killer.”
The roads hugged the Sound.
P.S. Arsenal lost 2-1 to BHA. I can’t wait for this season to be over. Four more weeks.
Amusing, refreshing, wonderful. Thank you.
Excellent piece. So glad you didn’t drown.
I’m a pretty strong swimmer and I know how to float on my back!
Good to see you Tim!
I’m gonna have to re- read this after I grab something to eat. Those sandwiches pics made me hungry.
They look delicious.
Superb post Tim. Awesome to see your face. I think we all have a mental picture of what someone looks like when we read the things they write and it’s nice to now have a face that I can associate with your words. Great to see you having fun.
Fun post. Much more fun than watching or discussing Arsenal right now. Didn’t watch either of the last two matches and while I’ll always keep tabs on what’s going on, I plan to pass on the rest of this season.
I had a couple of bass guitars back in the day, including a lovely Epiphone JCB which I would have figured out how to get to you. It would be big for your daughter but I think you’d love it.
Alas, that was my last instrument with 4 strings. The Jack Casady bass is the semi-hollow of choice for rock bassists all over the world. Beautiful tone and versatile as anything.
ha! i have a schecter raiden dlx-4. which i thoroughly enjoy…and it’s not too big for a young girl; let her rock out!!!
Nice! Schecter makes fine instruments as well. One of the guys I gig with now (well, used to, pre-pandemic) played an SLS Elite for a while.
Jack Cassady? That was Jefferson Airplane, wasn’t it? A great bassist. Phil Lesh was always my favourite. Saw the Grateful Dead back in 1972 in a muddy field in Wigan, of all places. It was the exact same day as Arsenal played Leeds in the FA Cup Final. Had one ear on the radio, as you did in those days.
Yes, indeed. He is one of the all time players. Started as a lead guitarist before switching to bass which influences his playing. Check out Hot Tuna as well.
I wish I could have seen The Dead play. Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir were influences on me.
Whew… that’s a pretty guitar!
That is a beautiful bass.
Yes, let’s talk gear!!!
My parents wouldn’t shell out on a guitar and amp until they were sure I was actually committed to learning, so my first setup was loaned to me by my uncle: a 1968 Yamaha SA30 that I ran through a few pedals and a 1966 Fender Tremolux (head with matching speaker cabinet). Eventually my uncle asked for his stuff back, and I was into metal anyway (this was 1988/89), so the first guitar I ever bought with my own money was a Gibson Explorer (HETFIELD!!!…I know he switched to the ESP MX220 Explorer later, but it was the Gibson he used for Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, Garage Days, and, I think, And Justice?). Since that magic first guitar, I’ve owned a Jackson Pro Series Soloist, beat-up old Japanese Strat (it was awesome!), Gibson ES-335 (cherry finish, just a gorgeous guitar), and a Fender American Custom Strat (sunburst). Sadly, my playing days ended a long time ago, what with moving around so much after grad school, starting a career and family, etc. I’ve since sold everything except for the Custom Strat, an acoustic, a Hot Rod Deville 212 amp, and a few pedals, all of it collecting dust.
My favorite was a Gibson Les Paul Studio with active pickups. It was stolen. I also had an incredible Soldano amp and cabinet. Also stolen.
Now I have a Gibson Les Paul studio lite and a Tacoma acoustic guitar.
I have the genuine honor of having met The Man (Les himself) on 3 different occasions and aside from his legendary status, what a gentle and kind soul he was. And an absolute master of his instrument of course, the conjurer of some of the most tasteful chords I’ve ever heard. In my business they just don’t make them like that.
What’s a Tacoma acoustic guitar? Like, it’s made in Tacoma? What company?
My acoustic is a Larrivee, made over twenty years ago in Victoria, BC (but I read now they’ve moved to the States).
Yeah, there was a local company here in Tacoma which made guitars. They went out of business.
Wow. You must have been a player back in the day! You have my respect for holding on to that AC Strat – in the sunburst finish too. Keep it in the fam, it may buy grad school for one your kids in the future, you never know. Classic guitars like those kinds of Strats and Teles and vintage Gibson LPC modela keep getting harder to find.
Cheers, 1NIL!
WHO ARE YOU??? If you rubbed shoulders with Les Paul, I can only imagine you’re deep in the industry. I bet I’ve listened to tracks you’ve played on. A shame you probably can’t share more about your identity, but I totally get it.
Cheers, Bun. I guess you’ll have to wait for the tell all book, someday. But unlike that turd Bolton, I’ll testify before Congress and Canadian Parliament first!
A wonderful country, America. So much to enjoy. Never been to the north west. It’s reputably wet? I think I mentioned in a previous post about the Tacoma Bridge Disaster. I recall being shown a clip by my physics teacher to demonstrate resonant frequency. You can probably see it on YouTube. That story fascinated me, watching the entire bridge bend and buckle violently. There was actually a car on the bridge at the time. I assume it was empty.
So pleased to see a load of kids completely messed up Donald’s rally, by preordering tickets and then not turning up. Absolute poetry. That put a smile on my face for an entire day. Don’t give that man another 4 years, please. You might as well kiss your country goodbye.
funny, my daughter told me last weekend about the plan to rsvp and no-show to the rally that the kids were doing…i had no idea it would be that effective.
Yeah nice to see kids being proactive and making a statement. I thought that had gone completely out of fashion since the 1960s. Perhaps it’s making a comeback. Put down your smartphones and make a difference. Right on!
It rains 25 hours a day here and it’s incredibly depressing. Everyone should stay as far away as possible. Go to Texas.
I don’t mind the rain, actually. I like moody! I mean, did any of you watch “The Killing”, set in Seattle? I swear they used a firehose on the set for every one of those episodes. I half expected to see Noah loading the ark in the background. Such exaggeration. (Well…mostly.) But we have nice warm weather days here, too, and there are some incredible natural features here that you can get to pretty quickly from just about anywhere in the state.
I blame everything on the rain.
Milli Vanilli.
texas is so hot!!! i remember going outside at 5am, before the sun was out, and it was already 88 degrees fahrenheit. that’s not to mention the the snakes or the bugs. you can’t really go outside and do stuff like birdwatch in texas and i like being outside.
i loved western washington…didn’t get hot in the summer or cold in the winter. it was wet in the winter time and, for me, that was an acceptable tradeoff. but i recall incredibly beautiful and sunny summers. in the winter time, i put on a fleece and a hat and i was good. i guess it just depends on what you like. now eastern washington like spokane…you can have that place. incredibly hot summers and dreadfully cold winters.
Go to Texas? Are you sure?
great to see that you can laugh at yourself, tim. btw, if i were there, i would have been laughing at you as well.
my memories of the puget sound are different. i recall doing a paradrop into the sound about 20 years ago…we were training; stabilizing a patient in the water. well, it was in the middle of summer and i remember that water being unbelievably cold. your daughter will remember that day fondly. stay above ground and create more memories for her.
Kayaking and pulled pork sandwiches> guen/dani midfield. Well done sir!
I still can’t get over the line “not as close as we once were”. Haven’t got to that stage yet with my young kids, but it reminds me of many other friendships and family relationships where the affection still runs deep.
talking about arsenal now. the reality is what it’s been for quite some time. arsenal need a leader on the field. when you look at the arsenal midfield on saturday, there was mateo/dani/saka. they’re 23, 21, and 18 respectively. who’s the leader of that group?
in the back, you have rob holding, who’s focused on trying to get his form back. hector was a spaz. then you have kola and mustafi who, by personality, are not leaders. lastly, you’ve got a backup-level goal keeper in martinez.
up front, i don’t put much value in attacking players providing direction to a bunch of youngsters. if they do that, they won’t score. all season, the leadership has come primarily from xhaka and david luiz and neither were available.
with that, i agree that you can’t paddleboard those young midfield players, especially without a senior guy to lead them. and i don’t think arteta wanted to do that…but with xhaka injured, what choice did he have. ultimately, ceballos is too light weight and is better suited for another league. guendouzi has potential but needs a mentor in the changing room. it’s a crap spot for arteta. i believe that you can win with kids but they need a leader on the pitch.
Epiphone makes a short scale bass with a narrow neck called the EB-0.
Josh
I think Saka has a real chance to be a difference making player in a wide position such as LB or wing back. The fact that a Guendouzi, Ceballos and Saka are the best central midfield options available to Arteta certainly demonstrates how poorly our front office decision makers have done in the latter 1/2 of the prior decade in terms of squad construction and player acquisition and how much rebuilding will be needed before we are ready to challenge for the top 4.
bill, i agree but not fully. arsenal allowed arteta to retire, ramsey to leave for free, cazorla to leave for free, traded coquelin for a ham sandwich, and sent mkhi on loan. likewise, the players arsenal has brought in are clearly inferior to their predecessor. xhaka is no arteta, ceballos is no santi, torreira is no coquelin, and guendouzi is no ramsey.
with that, arsenal are without torreira, xhaka, and even chambers due to injury. arteta is depending on a bunch of young guys and it’s tough.
what’s worse is i heard martinelli is also injured.
Saka looks pretty good wherever he plays. He didn’t look too shabby in the middle of the park. What a find!
We’re on 40 points. Does that make us safe from relegation yet?
You do realise that if the mighty Fleetwood Town get through the playoffs from League One, we could be playing them next season if it all went horribly wrong? Ah, the bracing Lancashire coast. Getting changed in a portacabin. Oranges at half time and a cup of tea at full time. Players munching into meat pies and a bag of chips on the coach journey home. Oh, how the mighty are fallen. A part of me would laugh myself silly.
the boys have mentioned some pretty amazing machines as far as bass guitars are concerned. i merely mentioned the schecter because it’s smaller than most for tim’s daughter. i don’t think they make the raiden anymore but many schecter bass’ have a similar small size and i think it may fit her quite nicely.