Evenings with Al  

        I met Allen through a mutual Friend that also went to Alameda High School 
   named 'Bob Ortez'. I think we all had lunch over Bob's house one day on Buena Vista    
   Avenue. We were not all alike and we liked it that way. There were many 
   discussions during the later years in High School. Bob had this 'dry' kind of    
   humor that I always found very funny, he made us laugh a lot. Al was forever    
   adjusting his personality, I guess he was always trying to find out who he was.    
   We would usually hang out at Bob's but we would end up at Al's house. 
   When I looked over at Allen when he was painting it was like he
   was in a trance. Digging into the painting with his mind trying to paste together    
   the painting. He would be glopping paints together to get the right shades and    
   then using the right brush to paint on just the right detail. He actually didn't    
   care much if by the end of the night he had paint all over himself.
   Occasionally he'd say Let's take a break. He roll a cigarette in that manner of his 
   and push it into his mouth - make that smiling gesture and then light it. 

        We talked about almost anything that we could get our minds on 
   and we expounded back and forth on those issues. He'd always have some idea    
   like: One night he said 'I painted this painting for Van Morrison' let's go find his 
   house in San Anselmo and drop it off. Or he'd say "Van Morrison is playing at 
   a small place, let's go!". His Mom would do that thing of hers 'Oh Allen you have 
   such grand ideas'. I liked her a lot. She never ever gave me any problems and 
   didn't mind me hanging around (leastwise I don't think she did).
   One thing Allen was keen on was if you did not speak the truth to him he
   didn't like that very much. He would at times look at me and say "Tom,    
   I'm really sleepy so if I go to sleep just let yourself out". I didn't mind that much. 

        Then there was the Quincy thing. He drove with us up to Quincy once to 'the cabin'    
   where everyone was working on something to fix it up. Bob and I went up there    
   to meet with him once or twice and he introduced us to Jessie I think was her name. 
   We went out on the town with them. We noticed that Allen was consumed with 
   Jessie and almost ignored Bob and I during our stay. We went on some hay rides 
   up there. I don't remember about those trips too much. I don't think in all the years 
   I knew Allen we had a fight.

        When we Graduated Al got to go to school up in the Feather River district way up 
   in the mountains. I remember the long rides from the Bay Area up to 'The 
   Cabin' where on occasion we would drive up there in the old cars we fixed up.    
   Those rides Bob drove mostly - he loved to drive. We'd end up at the Cabin 
   but I don't remember the inside of the cabin too much. I remember the town 
   a little bit. I remember going on a Hay Ride or some kind of country dance 
   up there. There was one time Al and I went driving around the town 
   and we ended up in this restaurant. There it was 'A Piano' in the restaurant and 
   Al just couldn't resist. Actually when he wanted to play the Classical Music he 
   could do that but that wasn't Al's style soon he would veer off into a jazzy    
   tune and have some folks gathering around the piano. 

        The late evenings is what sticks in my mind. I'd show up there kind of late at 
   night and Al would say "Let's cook up something and boil up some Tea". And while he 
   was toiling over the stove he put is leg up on the side of the other leg and ask 
   me 'So how was your day?'. He loved to ride in any convertible that I ended    
   up with like my triumph spitfire. One day I picked him up from the Hospital and 
   he said "What a Great Car" and at the first stop sign he put his hand out and 
   touched the road. He loved having the wind whip through his hair. 
   So I'd watch him set up his paintings near the kitchen towards the back of the    
   house. To the untrained observer it looked always like it was a mess - mostly    
   to me at first because I definitely was not a painter. He would usually sketch    
   in pencil what he wanted to do on the canvas. He would have this infinite amount    
   of little paint tubes in a pile and then he would start to mix them together and 
   get the exact shade he wanted and take the brush and put the paint onto the    
   canvas. I could never see the colors he could see or how the painting came 
   together like he could. When he was painting he would never ever be concerned    
   if he got some paint on his 'self' or his clothes. And in the morning he would say 
   'Time to clean up, I'm going to take a shower'. In the background of the house    
   was his younger sister Janis (with the cute smile) about 5 years younger than us, 
   they seemed to be very close. Also there was another Sister Doris. Doris was    
   the one always trying to bring Allen down to earth. She probably did not know    
   that he couldn't be brought down to earth. He liked being in a dream world filled    
   with exotic things. Al at a moments notice would say "Let's take your car to the 
   Ocean and smell the air". Along the way we'd stop along the highway and he'd break 
   out his sketch pad and sketch a little something and at night I'd watch him    
   paint what he saw that day. 

        Yes he tried and tried to get me to paint - He'd say "anybody can do water 
   colors!" and hand me the brush I make a valiant effort but then I would revert to 
   my guitar playing instead. Something I was learning and I wanted to be good at. 
   We both were crazy about Van Morrison, we'd analyze and listen to his vinyl 
   records over and over. He even painted a special painting for Van and said 
   let's drive up to San Anselmo and deliver it. We tried to attend many of Van's 
   Bay Area gigs and we always liked what we would hear that evening. Van 
   sculpted our lives during those days. 
   He always was looking out for me - He'd give me the coat off his back if he    
   thought I was cold. We'd walk endlessly around Alameda in the rain, with our    
   Overalls and talk about whatever was on our minds. Al never had a bad thing    
   to say to me, both Al and Bob were the Best Buddies I ever knew. 

   Dear Al,
   Thank You so much for a part of my Life that was full of wonder and amazement.    
   Just recently seeing your Photo brought tears to my eyes because we miss you    
   more than ever. Watch over us and keep that amazement forever burning in our    
   hearts. 

   Tom