You might think you know what’s going on in this picture. bunch of kids, holding up trophies, just finished a contest or something. old guy in the back, probably a father or coach or troop leader. and that’s that.

But the truth is much deeper, much sweeter, and without getting too sentimental i’ll break it down for you. If you like heroes, read on. If you’re a new parent, stay with me - you might learn something.

the old guy, the grey-beard, is Johan Malkoski. Lives in Ballard, got 2 boys, runs a snowboard company. Johan is known throughout the industry as a ball-breaker, a sales manager who says no as often as he says yes, a guy who takes his stand and defends it, a man who speaks directly and only says it once. I call him The General. [when the food riots come in 2018, I will be reporting for sentry duty under his command, closing off NorthBeach/Crown Hill from the marauding invaders of Ballard] Most people that meet him are confused at first, then intrigued, then slapping high-fives, then telling people at work about their “new friend”.

THIS IS THE TRUTH: i have met more than one woman who has told me that when she met Johan, he made her uncomfortable, mad. that he was a pig. (a pig!) And every one of those women has come back to me and said something like, “he’s changed, he’s a lot nicer now, he’s one of my friends”. and i tell every one of them, “Darling, he hasn’t changed a bit. He’s the same as ever. YOU just learned to appreciate him”. and i stand by that. i felt the same way, and i’m a dude, i think.

I’m a-jump back here, to the time i was 8 years old. 1969. I grew up in a “small town” outside of downtown Los Angeles. Glendale, CA. population about 100,000. Glendale was a baseball town, you played 8-years, like it or not, you just did that. provided of course that you “made the cut” - back then, there was no “everybody bats”, “everyone makes the team - too many kids? we’ll just make more teams”- nope, back then we had “try-outs” and woe be the boy who didn’t make the cut. everyone else would be playing ball, and he would be sitting in the dirt, pushing a stick and singing to himself. I’m not saying it was better then, just saying how it was.

So, Glendale had 2 years T-Ball, 3 years little league, 3 years Babe Ruth. after that there was Connie Mack, but that’s when most of us dropped off. we didn’t have the skills/passion/sobriety to continue past age 15. Anyways, back as an 8-year old, no clue that my stepdad would be a deadbeat and that my parents would split up in a couple of years, my life was T-ball. 3rd grade. 8 years old. I played for the Orioles. (Back when a fitted hat was the only hat available) And our coach was an old man named Joe Rose. and when I say old, i mean he was Legit Old. Yellow teeth. Hair growing out of his ears. Hair growing out of THE TOP OF HIS NOSE! I had never seen hair grow on the outside of a man’s nose before, and it’s probably an image i’ll carry to my grave. And this image: Joe Rose, short, hunched over, and filled with a passion for the game, chasing us around the bases. Seriously, this old man would chase us from 1st to 3rd, sometimes to homeplate, yelling and scaring the living shit out of us. i would come home and burst into tears because this old man was like nothing i had ever witnessed. We didn’t have that in our house. And i loved it. (Years later, he would pop his head into the dugout, checking in. i’m 15, stoned, ashamed as hell)

And I’m guessing if you asked the kids in this photo, “do you have a parent like Johan in your house?”, the answer would be “no”. How could they? What you don’t see from the photo is all the kids who didn’t place, didn’t get a trophy. But if you were there, you would have seen Johan talk to every one of them, before every run down the course, and pump them up. Help them focus, talk to them like he was talking to his own kid: “you ready for this? you gonna send it? what are you doing on the first jump? then what? alright, go out and kill it!” Every kid got his love and support. Kids that didn’t have a chance in hell of advancing, they got the same pep talk.

And that’s love.

I’ve carried Joe Rose in my head for a long time.

I’m guessing these kids will be doing the same with Johan, years from now, when they have children of their own.

Thursday morning, i had to take frank to get braces on his teeth. (i know, what else was i going to do with $6800, right? fortunately, they take monthly credit card payments. it’s like leasing a car you can never drive. or even sit in) After dropping him off at school, i came home to get my bike, to ride in the bitter cold to pick up the little truck, which was getting a new windshield after EIGHT YEARS of a full crack running across it. took time to make a smoothie (fascinating story, i know) and because i took that extra time, i was home when the door knocked. and who should be there, some solicitor or bible-thumper? no, it was Juan Diaz. His full name Juan Jose Perez Diaz, of Chiapas, Mexico.

Juan is a nice guy. hard worker. illiterate, too. (i know he’s illiterate, because he can’t write down words when i don’t understand him, and also because his friend Manuel told me Juan doesn’t read or write, and only went as far as 4th grade in school). he doesn’t speak English, but i’m good enough at Spanish to be understood by him. We met back in 2006, when i was looking for some day-labor to help me with the house re-model. there used to be a small operation called - i forget, casa latina?- that was a meeting place for daily workers, on Western by the 99 on-ramp. he worked on the house off and on for about 6 months, until he left in December ‘06, to return to Chiapas to be with his wife and 2 kids. i gave him one of my many travel bags, as back then i had a bit of a bag problem.

he called me a couple of years later. he was back in Seattle, looking for work. i had him do some landscaping, but really, i didn’t have much for him. in 2010, he showed up at my door, and i took him to work with me. we were giving the base-grinder an overhaul after 20 years, and he sanded the rust for two days. he’s always kept the same phone number, so when i was tearing up my front yard this Spring, i rang him up and he did some heavy digging with me. He also brought his roommate, Manuel, who is a great cement man. he was awesome to have as a digging partner, and he and i mixed 4 pallets of cement into those little electric mixers one day, while Manuel did the finish work. (like 350+ bags?)

Juan and Manuel have been coming up to Seattle for over 6 years, arriving in Feb., leaving in early Dec. during that time, they have had to live in this in-between world, avoiding immigration agents, and taking jobs that pay by cash or check. for a check, they have social security numbers that someone gave them, that aren’t theirs. their long-time employers know this. they live 4 to a apartment, make their lunch every day, send their money home every week or two, back to their families in Chiapas.

every year when they return, they have to sneak across the border. this involves paying a guy to smuggle them, at a fee of $2,000-$2,500 all the way to seattle. this last trip, they were stuck in the desert for 4 days, waiting for their ride to arrive. that was a tough one, and they said this would be their last trip here. they miss their family, their children. the warm weather. the food. when i last saw them in September, i wished them well, and good luck and all that.

so, here i was, thursday, 11:30am, a time when i’m rarely at home. and here’s Juan at my door. why? well, he was flying home later that day, for good, and he wanted to say goodbye. he rode the bus for almost 2 hours to my house, on the odd chance that i might be here. why didn’t he call? he said his english wasn’t good enough to say goodbye properly. naturally, i was moved, and said we should have a shot of tequila.

i excused myself, and went downstairs to open up Dinky’s, a small tequila bar that pops up sometimes in the hallway. since my brain thingy, i can’t drink as often/much as i used too, but i built it when i was still crosseyed and thinking i wouldbe back to my old drinking self soon enough, obviously delusional with pain-killers. wearing an eye-patch can make you think you have magical powers.

I called Juan downstairs, and his eyes lit up. i didn’t understand anything he said, but it sounded like “holy shit, you have an electric virgin and all this tequila in the closet i built 5 years ago? what the fuck is going on, whitey?”

here’s a few shots from our un-planned ‘adios fiesta’

this is the first shot. don Julio. a smooth anejo, like nothing he’s ever tasted. reposado man, for sure, and i have to agree. anejo is always smooth, but where’s the taste? we moved quickly to reposado.

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the Cimarron! for all the tequila i’ve enjoyed, you would think i knew what the horned animal on all the bottles is, what he’s representing. anyone know?

he kinda’ got this look, like, “how many of these are we going to do. and don’t i have a plane to catch in a few hours, and i’m riding the bus, right?”

we talked about his family, he has two kids, a girl 12, and a boy 10.

now he’s feeling the fire in his belly, speech getting a little slower, more reflective. i give him my email address to write to me when he gets to Chiapas. he gives me his….name. (see above) Juan Jose Perez Diaz. i try to explain the internet to him. now it’[s his turn to nod politely and pretend he understands.

and now for some Centenario.    Bueno! Que Sabor!

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and now on to something called Antiguo which might mean “old tasting and Musty”.

i think that here he’s starting to question this whole visit. “when will senor john stop this and maybe give me a ride home?”

but i was not driving because i now had to get on my bike and make my way to Hwy 99 to pick up the truck. so i walked with him up the hill to the bustop at 85th. it was really cold, and i can only imagine how much he won’t miss this weather. i made him give me a awkward hug, and we wished each other well, Bueno vida and con Dios , and he had brought a camera so we asked a stranger to take some pictures and he got on the bus, and i on my bike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKJ1Eyvv0C4&feature=related

here’s some guitar work, with a sweet 13-year girl handling the Mark Arm vocals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeyMXMpAusQ&NR=1

all good in the hood

i don’t usually put pictures of myself up here, for obvious reasons, but this one captured me at a time i want to remember. i had driven a few hours to arrive at a house on the coast that my friend terry had rented, to celebrate his 40th birthday. the idea was for a surf weekend, but the weather and waves were against us, but it didn’t matter. it was a testimony of the person he is, people driving that far to sit in a house, eat a lot, and be around their friend, with none of the daily world to interrupt, just for 24 hours. it was worth it. and a bonus: his wife and two children, and witnessing the parenting they did, it’s fun to see your friend that was a bachelor for so long, now dealing with diapers and nap-time and blocking off the stairs and trying to get his friends to “please, can you talk over there, and not so loud, my boy’s trying to sleep, blah blah blah”. i loved it. terry shot this pic after we had a nice talk, standing in the dunes.

More like a friend that you take for granted
Like so much that is so consistent in life
The beat of your heart, the pulsing of blood
You rarely stop to think about it.
To say “wow!” or ” thank you so much for being here”.

Like the Aurora Bridge.

And that’s what he was.
As reliable as the bridge.
Always there.
Every day -
Dependable,
Trustworthy,
Working and serving,
Assisting
Whomever came his way
And never complaining.

Like the bridge.