Stories from Heaven

This morning, while preparing breakfast, the name Paul Portuges came to mind.

Paul and I knew each other at UC Berkeley.

He was a mentor and inspiration to me.

His words and determination to write a place for himself in the world impressed me.

I thought of a time in Bolinas.  Driving fast, a passenger wedged into a seat next to Paul as he raced down the dark road.  I braced my feet against the firewall to keep from banging around in the seat. In doing so I somehow distorted the metal and caused the car to accelerate.  We skidded to a terrifying breathless stop just short of a phone pole.

Same weekend.  A foggy beach.  On the hill above the sand a young woman, dressed gypsy, came up through the mist trailing a billy goat.  Subtle smile and not a word as she passed.

Later walking alone on the beach I saw a tall figure in the distance.  Two huge dogs zig-zagged in front of her.  Bernese Mountain Hounds.  We passed and nodded.  Julia Child?  Indeed.

Bolinas makes for good memories.

Addicted to search, I found Paul on the net.

This work of his is memorable.  I enjoyed the video and the evoked images of another time.
 
Stones from Heaven from Paul Portuges on Vimeo.