First off, I didn't take this picture. That honor belongs to my friend Barry Blanchard, who has taken his interest in photography to a whole new level while rehabilitating an injured ear. Barry lives near Santa Cruz and most of his pics are seascapes and seals and anemones and that kind of thing, but he's been getting into portraits too, which brings us to this kid and his cat. Or maybe it's this cat and his kid. Either way, this picture made me laugh 'cause the last time Jane and I were up in Santa Cruz, which is getting to be a while back now - probably upwards of five years - this kid was walking down the sidewalk wearing a cape and the cat. (both of them were skinnier then, if you can believe it).
We were having some difficulty finding the Bigfoot Museum in Felton and had ducked into the Santa Cruz Visitor Information Center to see if we could get it sorted out. Let me tell you, Santa Cruz has the most "on it" volunteers I've ever seen behind the desk at a welcome center anywhere. They booked us on a free sea elephant tour with the ranger they deemed to lead the best visits (they were right), gave us directions to the Bigfoot Museum bypassing freeway construction along with friendly advice regarding the management (as in; "this is a research facility not a corny roadside stand, so please respect what they're offering) and when it seemed like their was nothing about Santa Cruz they didn't know, we said "well, what about Darth Vader and his cat." They knew all about them too. So of course we took their advice about a cheap place to stay and a good place to eat and had a fantastic weekend.
So Barry - keep taking pictures, these are awesome. Cat - see if you can get your kid to eat and brush his teeth. It's an uphill battle, I know, but it seems you've managed to keep him alive these last years and I'm sure you're up to the challenge. And if any of you readers find yourself up in the bay area drop by the Santa Cruz Visitor Information Center - they'll steer you right. Above all, keep Santa Cruz weird.
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