Bill's house

Today I am going to a mediation in San Fransico on a civil case. Yeah, I know, I don't do civil, but this came out of a criminal case in SLO so I really couldn't turn it down. My client is not one of the "biggies" and I am not lead counsel so this country bumkin lawyer feel pretty safe.

Well, sorta.

I don't do cities well. I can do airports (the rebooking because my original flight was going to be 4 hours late was real fun) and finding the BART station in the International terminal was ok (I can read signs in English and some in Spanish). Getting to the right station on BART was another thing. Not losing my ticket so I could get OUT of the station was something they forgot to tell me...

So, brother Bill is patiently waiting for me outside the staition and laughing his head off. It has been years since I have spent any time in a place this populated. I feel like an idiot.

Which brings me to Daniel. As I saw Bill laughing I thought about the many times I complained to Dan about cities. He never felt like an idiot in them. He loved walking around in them. He loved the people in them. He hated living in them. He loved the cultural venues-the plays, concerts, art. He hated the crowds. But he was never intimidated by transportation. He just got there somehow.

When I got to Bill's house last night he has two pictures to show me. Both are of Dan and both were taken at the rehearsal dinner for Bill and Kathy's wedding. They were taken 10 years ago. I looked at those pictures, Dan with glass of wine in hand and smile on his face and I remember so much. Not incidents or times or places, just Dan.

In Bill's house, I remember Dan.