*



I moved back to Carmel for a few years in 1993, and I was on top of the world. I lived in an apartment just a few blocks from downtown, and even better, I was dating a beautiful woman with red hair and a Cadillac. One Saturday we agreed that she’d pick me up on the corner of Ocean and San Carlos at five in the afternoon, and we’d go for a drive down the coast to Big Sur. As it happened, I ran into an old high school chum at the corner as I was waiting for Sandi to show up, and we shot the breeze, talking about how great it was to be standing on a corner watching all the tourists scurry about in the warm afternoon sun, and appreciating that this was our home.


As I spied Sandi driving up the street, I said to my friend: “This is really just about as good as it gets, but you know what would make it perfect?”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I wish a beautiful redhead in a Cadillac would drive up and take me away!”

On cue, Sandi pulled up, lowered the passenger window and said “get in.”

I turned to my surprised friend, shrugged, and then climbed into the Cadillac and away we went.

*