Fun With Heidi
Heidi and I were always joking around. We laughed and made fun of ourselves, each other and everything that crossed our path. We could find humor in the most mundane activities. Heidi used to meditate and also chant. She had set up a shelf with a few things on it that she would face when she chanted. When she was done we would sometimes talk to each other as if we were chanting, slipping in something like “I need to go to the store” or “what are we having for lunch” in the middle of a chant mantra. Essentially we found no subject or activity off limits for humor.
I find it interesting about what I remember and what I don't. Sometimes small events just stick with me and I have no idea why they do. For instance, in February of 1984 I turned 35. I was living in San Francisco and had a new girlfriend Heidi. Heidi would be moving in with me soon but on my birthday I was still in the studio apartment across the hall. On my birthday that year I was not feeling great so I spent it just laying around my apartment. However, being that it was my birthday, I had a number of visitors. My friend Larry came by to see if I wanted to go over to Marin and go hiking but I told him I didn't feel up to it. Next my brother, along with Frank and Frank's date came over but again I decided to pass. For some reason I decided to take a picture of Pete and company. I told them to look like they were gangsters who came to collect some money from me and they were there to rough me up. Frank's date was thoroughly confused, but Pete and Frank did a good job. Why did I ask them to do that? I have no idea but I remember doing it and I still have the picture I took of them.
That afternoon Heidi came over. Since I was a little under the weather she decided she'd make me a birthday cake. She did it at my place and when it was ready she brought it out to me. It was in a pound cake sized pan. It probably was a pound cake as that's my favorite kind of cake, but what I remember is I noticed that at the end of one side the cake took a sort of nose dive where upon I inquired if Heidi had consulted my mother on making the cake. See, my mother was good at making cakes that came out uneven as well as bottom heavy. She always claimed it was the oven which the entire family laughed about. I have to admit that when she finally got a new oven her cakes greatly improved no longer coming out bottom heavy. So while we never stopped kidding her it seems she had a point. Back to Heidi's cake, it did seem a little heavy. Heidi had heard the stories about my mom's special cake-making abilities and she laughed at my comment and of course went along with it. I do not remember anything about how the cake tasted but I remember us having a good time joking and laughing about it. Heidi took my picture because she said she wanted to capture the look on my face when she presented it to me. Due to all the hilarity around the cake, it is the only birthday cake I remember anyone making for me. It's also one of the few birthdays I remember. I was never one to make a big deal about my birthday, unfortunately for Kris that has somewhat changed.
Shortly after my birthday I moved across the hall and Heidi moved in with me. Being in the same space, we were constantly joking around and making fun of each other. Heidi started calling me “The Nudge”. She even made me a “Nudge-O-Matic” button that I still have.
I've always been light on my feet. When Kris and I were first married I used to startle her when I came into the room and walked up behind her because I walked so quietly that she didn't hear me. With Heidi's left peripheral sight being impaired, not only did she not hear me, but she could not see me either if I came up on her left side. I would need to get right in front of her unless she turned her head my way. I could actually hide from her by quietly standing on her left side. I did this a few times. I'd stand on her left and just walk around with her until she turned. A couple of times she called out to me and I then took a quick step forward. It looked like I had instantly appeared. One day Heidi got the hiccups. I had heard that a good scare can cure the hiccups. So I walked around on Heidi's left side for a bit and then suddenly I jumped forward shouting “Boo”. Heidi was so startled that she turned white. I thought she was going to pass out. After she clearly indicated that my attempt was not appreciated her hiccups continued. I felt bad about it, but in my defense, I actually did think it was going to work. After that I was more cautious about sneaking up on her.
Heidi could be spontaneous. One of my more favorite memories of her was playing softball. She was on a women's team I was coaching. Heidi was playing in the outfield in women's league softball game when a ball was hit out towards her. She ran to the side to field the ball. As she started to reach down to snag the ball the ball hopped by her. Already reaching down, instead of straightening up, Heidi just continued to put her hand on the ground and whet into a perfect cart wheel after which she turned to chase after the ball. Who would think of doing that in the middle of a game? Heidi.
Another memory that sticks out is when waking up to a beautiful sunny June morning we looked at each other other and said let's call in sick and go to the beach. So we did. We drove down to Montara Beach where we spent most the day. A day at the beach is always great, but a day at the beach when you are supposed to be at work is even better. After the beach we drove over to the Cliff House for a beer. The Cliff House used to be one of those rare places that both locals and tourists frequented. I can't think of another tourist place where both locals and tourists regularly hang out, although I suspect there must be some. I guess you could include the Marina Green as an area where both locals and tourists hung out but I never thought of the Marina as touristy, not like say Fisherman's Wharf. We did go to a couple of places around the Wharf, a comedy club and a music venue, but we didn't really go to the Wharf per se. OK, we did go to Scoma's Restaurant near the Wharf a few times. I remember sitting at Scoma's bar one time, I'm pretty sure we had just shared one of those funny cigarettes, when the bar tender came over. I asked what beers they had on tap. He listed the beers. He had a strong accent and one of them sounded like he said “Uncle Stem”. Even though I knew the beer was Anchor Steam, the “Uncle Stem “ name appealed to me and I let it roll around in my head for an instant. I then heard myself saying out loud “I'll take an Uncle Stem”. I wasn't really trying to be funny and I didn't think about the fact that I would be making fun of the bar tender. I just said it without thinking. Heidi's head snapped towards me and gave me look as if to ask “what are you doing?” I looked back at her and as the bartender asked her what she wanted. Heidi turned back to the bar tender and ordered the same, “Uncle Stem”. At that point we knew we were completely out of line but we couldn't stop ourselves. We could hardly contain our laughter waiting for the beers to arrived. When they finally showed up we immediately got up and walked away from the bar as quickly as we could and finally burst out laughing at ourselves. We were not always a good influence on each other. As I mentioned. we considered every moment an opportunity to find or do something humorous, at least to us. I left a big tip although I know that doesn't make it any less bad. While I love that I've got such a strong sense of humor, my frequent lack of a filter and my inclination to entertain myself, not to mention my propensity towards irreverence, has led me into trouble more that a few times. It's a burden my wife Kris has had to bare.
Heidi and I spent a lot of time making each other laugh and I miss that. We had such a great friendship.
Comments
Post a Comment