Asymmetry in the World

Back to Point Roberts from the ROTUS yesterday for a quick overnight and then on to Roberts Creek. Going from the Big Place to the Small Places allows me to indulge in a lot of empathy for people like these guys. The bows and arrow against the helicopter feel particularly apt. I managed to get through the TSA Magic Arch in the San Francisco Airport but not on my first trip: I forgot to remove my treacherous shoes and so was required to do it again until I got it right. I just need to remember to say, 'Daddy, May I?' before every thought, word, and action, I guess.

Even after a short trip, the asymmetry between us and the ROTUS is pervasive. I am reminded of the time, some 32 years ago, when I returned to Los Angeles from a year on a tiny island in the Pacific. Going to the drugstore to obtain a new toothbrush and toothpaste seemed like a trip that needed to be done over several days. By the time I picked out one toothbrush from among 50 different kinds, I was too mentally exhausted to repeat the choosing task with toothpastes. This trip, of course, the other way: from the big to the little. The little is looking very good. One surprising fact: gasoline is just as expensive there ($4.58) as here ($4.63). Fresh fruit, which they grow in the Sebastopol area is, by contrast, cheaper.