Late summer treat

Just before Labour (sic) Day, 2006, we welcomed the arrival of my Canadian brother Dave and his wife Lisa. They stopped off on their way to a wedding in Edmonton. (Kind of like travelling from Phoenix to Chicago by way of Miami.) In their previous visit to the Bay Area, Dave and Lisa enjoyed the fruits of our rainy season at their fullest. This time they wanted to experience Bay Area summer fog and cold. They were not disappointed.

Our best efforts to show them the splendour of the Marin headlands and the Golden Gate bridge were frustrated a tad by our glorious weather. Nonetheless, they shivered their way through a visit to Fort Point.

During their last visit, we began a strange fraternal tradition involving buzz cuts, downtown Oakland and Vietnamese food. On this visit, the tradition was renewed.

A highlight of the trip was a visit to the Giants' ballpark to see the hometown nine crush the Cincinnati Reds. As always, garlic fries were part of the fun and after the game Rami got to run around the bases, as he'd done earlier in the summer at an A's game.

As cultural ambassadors, Dave and Lisa brought some sacred objects from the old country, relics from my glory days that never were. Perhaps because we're not yet married, Rebecca didn't have the good sense to laugh and hide the hockey sweaters in some obscure place. She not only was foolish enough to wear one, she actually got caught being pictured wearing one. At least Rami has an excuse for not knowing any better.

We took the ferry to Marin one day for lunch. We chose to go to Sausalito instead of Tiburon. I guess that's what happens when you have the luxury of more than two weeks off a year.