1104 Kenet Place, PG, CA

Manuel was in a trance watching an unorchestrated feeding frenzy. Stepping out of the toasty, electrically heated hallway early one summer morning in 2010, I chanced upon a view of the most amazing theater. Overlooking Manuel's broad six-foot-four frame leant firmly on the old patio director's chair in the middle of his sun-drenched garden, a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes burst in and away. A bird and a squirrel, fluff and flap, tails and wings, to a tune only they could hear, dancing and entertaining the feeder, the gardener, the man. His thinning gray head still, but upright, inevitably attracted an attentive audience.

The sliding glass door was spotless as usual and bordered with crisp curtains. The man and his wife exact precision in everything they do! The nightly knitting of sweaters for the young, the delicious hot soups for the elderly, and always, the handwritten holiday cards and the carefully wrapped goodies for the grandchildren scattered over vast stretches of datelines and time zones.

The scene, as though magically set, suggested sounds that were not there at all, like a cranking for the opening curtains that border the fuchsias' hot pinks and the fluorescent color of purple from many species of flowers. Lavender, violets, and orchids and roses of every hue make up the backdrop of this magnificent scenery—a scene right out of Home and Garden or Sunset magazine. Only this scene is live, on 1104 Kenet Place in Pacific Grove, California!

The actors are on cue; they know their lines like the back of Manuel's hand. And why not? After all, he's fed all of them for years. Years before his younger son, Jose, decided he'll come back to live with them during Manuel and Leona's late age. All that is missing is a conductor’s baton. In a split second, the squirrel and the blue jay scurried and flapped in and out of the bird feeder Manuel built long ago. He built it from scrap pieces from all the years of remodeling the house he and the lovely Leona have lived in for 60 years now. All the while, the cat weaves around Manuel's ankles. All of a sudden, a splatter from the koi pond nearby flashed a short ray of a rainbow, small enough to fit into the elaborate stage of an Asian-Californian fusion garden. Now, here it is, the main location for the famous plot, the unison of man and nature. Appropriately the location for highly esteemed stars!

You have to inhale deep to breathe in such concentrated air of the rich and the famous. Just a stone’s throw away is the impeccable Pebble Beach Golf Course. Earth Wind and Fire, Clint Eastwood, Nancy Sinatra and Doris Day all breathe the same Cypress Pine air. So too are the colorful diversity of Ohlones, Esilons, Salinans, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Mexicans and Anglos, African-Americans and Italians. But none more valued than the high-spirited neighbors. One, directly above Manuel and Leona's humble home is Scott. The single stems of roses he brings to the mistress of the house are always cut fresh from his garden. An atypical bachelor in his late 40s causes one to wonder how his vibes flow naturally in sync with the conservative couple. A stark contrast to Steve and Julie, who live right across the street with two dogs and cats and are the childhood friends of Jose. And as youngsters of the ‘60s, neither of the three escaped the colors of psychedelics and dents pounded hard by rock and roll. The delayed reactions of any negative comments, the simple delight of a cheerful conversation, and the 'easy bro' approach, as wisdom.

The weekly dinners usually take place at Leona and Manuel's, where laughter and incredible plans to solve the world's problems stir passionate emotions of these unmatched individuals. The beautiful golden-skinned Leona, articulate and opinionated, steers everyone back to the delectably set table of old fine china and silver and pressed linen Manuel had earlier sweated over. Only to be ignited with roars of belly laughs once again when Leona's diamond crusted ring finger points to Scott's rugged, Robert Redford-fluff of hair to, "Get that g-damn head out of the pot!" by the stove where Jose stirs the coconut fish curry of his own concoction to perfection. A pride in cooking he credits his grandmother Consuelo Alonso from Spain. And a pride in tilling the blessed Monterey earth with the same care as his grandfather, Albaro, the greenskeeper of Pebble Beach in the early days. Together with his dad, Manuel, Jose plants herbs and vegetables for the freshest ingredients, content with his accomplishments as the once renowned boat builder in his island home of Guam in the West Pacific, he now settles for the third wheel of Kenet Place.

Instantly, Julie blushes, showing magnificent bars of white teeth, unpretentiously shy but worldly with enviable quiet strength under her demeanor. It is by now infectious. Everyone is truly smiling, laughing and having a gay ol' time! This causes Julie's husband to pour more tonic into the fresh glasses of gin, he moves slow and thoughtful and a stir about him as with a wink to life. Analytical Steve, with boyish good looks and fit from years of surfing with Jose in the icy Pacific Blue of Monterey Bay. A sport hated by Jose's parents, but was like a religion to Jose and Steve. The Yin and the Yang of past difference and present respect, man and nature dance the same tune when given the stage of opportunity.

By now the nuts have been chewed or stored up, Manuel's gentle snoring signals for a quiet exit of the squirrel and the blue jay to dance to their hearts' content, satisfied with their existence in the design of life of man and nature, with no regrets because everyone lived true.

Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary Leona and Manuel Alonso