Under the Baobab Tree

Del-Mahvelous

I have been in Del Mar, CA all week, uh, working. Yes, that's it. Working.

Some of you may recall that several years ago I wrote to you and said that Del Mar is The Perfect Place and that any day in Del Mar is The Perfect Day. At the time I wrote that: "There is no noise here. All the furniture in Del Mar is plush and comfortable. All the store signs are tasteful and discrete, yet informative and helpful. All the people are tan, healthy, and young, yet pleasant and nice to be around, even though they are indisputably perfect. The dogs people walk in the parks are adorable and well-behaved; there is no need for pooper-scooper laws. Babies don't cry here. When you order white wine for lunch at an outdoor restaurant, it stays cool even though it's 80 degree out. The gas tank always reads FULL, no matter how far you drive. You get 8 hours of restful sleep here no matter when you go to bed, and no matter when you get up in the morning. No-one here ever has a bad hair day . . . Del Mar is like that town in the Walgreen's commercial -- PERFECT." (You can read the whole report from that first trip to Del Mar at http://jacarandatree.blogspot.com/2004_05_01_archive.html).

You may recall that I went back the next year and wrote "[E]verything you could possibly want in life is [in Del Mar.] Beach, ocean cliffs, world-class horses, fabulous food, luxury hotel, Starbucks, an amazing view, beautiful homes, fabulous foliage, pine-covered hills, tan healthy people, etc. There is nothing garish or tacky in Del Mar. It is as if someone took the best of Mallorca, Portugal, Zambia and America and put them all in one tiny town on the edge of the continent and called it Del Mar." (You can read the whole report of the second trip at http://jacarandatree.blogspot.com/2005_04_01_archive.html).

And now I'm back, staying at L'Auberge Del Mar (The Perfect Hotel), visiting my colleagues in our "Golden Triangle" office in San Diego which is in La Jolla, about 15 minutes from Del Mar (of course -- perfect). There is a downtown office too but I'm not going there. Why....why? Although Avis in it's wisdom gave me a Mustang convertible with racing stripes and everything. Which is very popular with the valets at L'Auberge. "Mrs. Egan -- are you ready for your car?" Yes, thank you. "Have a great day in your convertible, Mrs. Egan." "I'll try."

My first night at L'Auberge I ate dinner out on the terrace by the waterfall that overlooks the firepit that overlooks the pool that overlooks the sea. Ah. Someone who looked suspiciously like Kim Catrall (Samantha from Sex and the City) was at the firepit with a girlfriend, weeping desperately about something. I couldn't hear over the waterfall. How could anyone cry at L'Auberge? I do not understand.

My closest colleague here lives in Del Mar (perfect) and owns a race horse who is undefeated at the Del Mar track (perfect) and who is on her way to race at Santa Anita in LA next week (good luck little horsie!). Last night my colleague and I ate dinner on the top floor of a little tiny restaurant in Del Mar that resembles something out of the Hobbit. Many little winding staircases, some of them only a few stairs, around exotic plants (i.e., "asparagus fern" and "sea figs") up to a tiny little terrace looking out over the Del Mar bluffs and over the Coaster railroad to the Ocean. We sat staring at the sun. It burned holes in our retina and we sat placidly, with sunglasses on, sipping wine, staring out at the Ocean. For hours. Talking about how to align our practices to make more money while doing less work. Excellent. More wine please. Bye bye sun.

Then I went back to L'Auberge and opened my French doors wide and went to sleep with the breeze and sound of the surf in my ears.

Then today I had a giant California omelet by the waterfall by the firepit by the pool by the sea for breakfast and a yummy New Zealand sea bass at a lunch with about five more of my Golden Triangle colleagues. We talked about how I should take surfing lessons at Surf Divas, a surf school just for women. We talked about elephant polo in Dubai. We talked about the dangers of riding buses in Guatemala. We talked about life on a nuclear submarine and how the best job on one is shooting the weapons (a former Navy colleague said so). We talked about the case where the issue was whether your uninsured motorist policy covered you if you hit a cow on the road (answer, it depends). We tried to think of what might constitute an "over the counter medical device." (We came up with a toothbrush.) We talked about how boring other law firms are. We talked about how stupid it is that I don't live in Del Mar.

Now I'm in my 11th floor office looking out towards the mountains at Encinitas and over the UCSD medical school and the La Jolla campuses of Scripps. Scientists in the Sun. Later today, my colleague is taking me to "Conference Room D." A euphemism for the local watering hole.

And tonight, another perfect night by the sea at L'Auberge in the perfect town. A perfect meal by the waterfall. A perfect night's sleep. Moon, fog, sea, breezes, smell of eucalyptus, profusions of bougainvillea and plumbago, all resting under the stars. Perfection. Heaven.