I woke on my 80th birthday (25 apr 23) in the city of my birth -- Monterey CA. my friend Gary Sielaff (who drove on my Big Birthday Road Trip) & I walkd from our rooms at Monterey Bay Inn to the nearby public beach at Monterey Bay Park. I was wearing an Elyria High School t-shirt & carrying a large envelope containing the makings of a piece.
I had ripped out all the pages of a copy of Gildzen at 50. my intention was to make a large 80 from these pages on the beach. but I hadn't taken one thing into consideration -- the weather. as I began to lay down pages to make the 8 the wind took the pages away. I was disconsolate. I knew I had to get the gears going. I cdn't find the many stones needed to weigh down the pages. so I decided to put batches of the pages into crevices on the rock slope beside the sand.
I found a stick & drew an 80 at the slope's base. then I posed for Gary in the middle of the 0 waving Dad's garrison cap (which I like to think he wore on the presidio where I was born) & one of Mom's envelopes from my 2006 piece "85 Envelopes." they were with me when I was born & I made sure they were here for my celebration.
I scoopd up some sand from the middle of the 0 for my piece "earth jar" & gatherd up the batches of pages. then we were off to visit the presidio. later in the day I returnd to the spot & of course the 80 had washed away.
