The A Cappella Handyman: California Dreaming at the Rellik

This Sunday, April 9, the Rellik Tavern at 726 First Street along with Benicia Literary Arts and Benicia First Tuesday Poets presents “California Dreaming, Poetry and Tales from Traveling West,” 4 to 6 p.m. Open Mic follows at the break.
If you’ve never been to The Rellik, get here quick! It’s beautiful inside, contemporary art by local artists adorns the gorgeous brick display wall and local poets will knock your socks off with their imaginative renditions on the theme of “Traveling west:” Johanna Ely, Lois Requist, Tom Stanton, Gina Guzzo, Peter Bray, Bobby Richardson, Dan Ryken, Mary Susan Gast, Roger Straw, and Bruce Moody. At Open Mic, it’s open to all with poems and stories westward and elsewhere. This columnist brings two original pieces to shine:

California Dreaming No. 2

They come by boats,
They come by planes,
They come by Pony Express.

They come by boats,
They come by planes,
They come by Donner Party.

They come by boats,
They come by planes,
They come by Ellis Island.

They come by boats,
They come by planes,
They come by Angel Island.

They come by boats,
They come by planes,
They come…around the Horn!

“We left our ships in San Francisco Bay
and lumbered off to the Gold Country.
Now we’ve got SFO, Oakland, San Jose,
Sacramento, and LAX…AND
The Mamas & The Papas:

“All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey,
I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day,
I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.,
California dreaming on such a winter’s day.

Stepped into a church I found along the way,
I got down on my knees and I began to pray,
You know that preacher likes it cold,
he knows I’m gonna stay,
California dreaming on such a winter’s day – ”
With thanks to The Mamas & The Papas –

1923

Adolf Viggo Larsen and his wife,
Karen Marie, and their three children,
Kaj, Bent, and Karen, age 2,
stood at the docks in Denmark, waiting
to board their ship to the US. Once there
and processed through Ellis Island,
they boarded their train and headed for
Oakland, California. There with the help
of their other Danish relatives, they became citizens,
bought a home on Outlook Avenue, raised two more sons,
Holger and Kenneth, and enjoyed their US citizenship.

Karen will meet Phil Bray
at Castlemont High School in Oakland,
get married, survive WWII, and have four sons,
Pete, Jim, Tom, and Mike and daughters-in-law,
Janice, Jan, Barb, and Sandy
and a bazillion grandkids and great grandkids.
Mom-Karen is now 96, living in the family home
they bought in Walnut Creek for $21,500 in 1953
and yesterday I cut her front lawn,
trimmed her Loquat tree, Japanese Maple,
porch Ivy, and Star Jasmine.

Time gallops whether you’re with The Pony Express
or on a ship and train from Denmark.