Crustaceans

I went to a dinner party at my new friend Kristen's house on Saturday night. Kristen has a nice house in San Jose. It is an older ranch home on a large lot close to the center of town. The place is impeccably furnished and very stylish – well, what else would one expect?

Kristen came to the door and let me in. I handed her the two bottles of a Pinot Grigio that I had brought. A wonderful crisp but slightly fruity wine that I thought would pair well with the Lobster. “Wow” she exclaimed. “You certainly cleaned up well. This is a whole new look for you.”

“Thanks.” I said. I realized that she had not seen me since the makeover.

“Who did your make-over?” She asked. Do I really look that different?

I blushed a bit. “Well, I was reading a copy of GQ this afternoon…”

“Aahh, an engineer that reads GQ, I don’t believe it” she interrupted.

“OK, you caught me. The wardrobe is by Maurizio and the hair by Ricardo of San Francisco.”

“Who are they? Never mind. You look great. I’m impressed that you even know what GQ is.” That’s twice I impressed her. Hmmm. I’m hoping that it’s not that she’s easily impressed.

She introduced me to Paul, her significant other, as her lover. I don’t believe that anyone has ever been introduced to me as a lover before. Then I was introduced to the partners of the other folks.

We started with cocktails, well, flutes of champagne in the living room. She had a fire going in the fireplace.

“So what do you do for fun, Rich?” Kristen asked.

“I’ve been doing a lot of kayaking lately.”

“Yeah, where do you go?” Paul asked, perking up.

“Usually out on the bay during the week. Santa Cruz or Aptos on the weekends.”

“You have a boat, wetsuit and everything?”

“I have a dry-top and wetsuit pants. And yes I have boat – a Necky Sea Kayak.”

“Who do you go out with?”

“Lately, by myself.”

“Isn’t that dangerous. Shouldn’t you have a buddy?”

“Yeah, I should. I’ve been going before work and I don’t know anyone who gets up that early. I try to go just before high tide, that way I get washed up on the beach if I get tired. I keep all the appropriate safety and signaling gear that I need. I keep the cell phone in a dry bag attached to the PFD. There’s pretty good coverage over the whole bay.”

“Paul is going on a kayaking trip this summer on the west coast of Vancouver Island.” Kristen added.

“Oh, wow. I’d love to do that.”

“It’s this organized tour. We’ll be paddling through Calyoquot Sound” Paul said.

“What kind of boat do you have?” I asked.

“Oh, I don’t have one, yet.”

“You’ll need to get in shape for an expedition like that.”

“Yeah. I’m going up to Seattle on Monday – spring break - to do some training in Puget Sound with the outfitter that I’m going with.”

“You get spring break?”

It turns out that Paul is an art teacher, part time, at a community college. Nice work if you can get it. The pays probably not that great, but he seems to have solved that problem, too.

Paul showed me his garden out back. He grows herbs, tomatoes, and other vegetables. Just the hardy herbs are in now, and he used some for the dinner. I keep the same kind of garden at my house – but mostly in pots, since I can’t dig up the yard in the rental house. I grow the things that are hard to find at the grocery stores – like good tomatoes, and fresh basil.

Paul and I agreed to go paddling together on the weekends. We can rent him a boat and accessories in Santa Cruz.

Dinner was an exquisite affair. Kristen not only did a great job with the food, but the presentation was stunning as well. Every course came on a different set of plates, each specifically paired to match the food in terms of shape, color, and contrast. The lighting in the dining room was perfect – a dimly lit room with spotlights on the place settings. This was right out of architectural digest. Despite having 2 nerd couples and myself, Kristen kept the conversation lively and engaging all night.

For the main course, we went to the kitchen and picked out our lobsters – which had been freed from their Styrofoam travel crates and were crawling around on the counters amid bits of seaweed fresh from Boston. We dispatched them in one of two huge pots of boiling water on the stove. The lobster was amongst the best that I have had, and the sauces were wonderful.

Unlike one of Greg’s parties, there were no waiters or caterers to help – it was just Kristen and her lover, who was quite supportive and very attentive – but somehow subservient.

I’m quite sure that he makes her happy.