Do get caught with your pants down

My boyfriend and I took a walk to Bernal Hill this evening.  We set out originally to catch the sunset, but a brilliant conversation distracted us from our goal, slowing our gait without our realizing.  By the time we reached the top of the hill, we were surrounded by a 360 degree view of the city's twinkling grid of lights under a very black sky.  It's a breathtaking sight to see, but Bernal Hill is creepy at night - no lighted pathways, rocky, steep trails, dogs off of their leashes, lots of wind.... So we descended as quickly as my treadless cowboy boots could handle.

Muses was the topic of conversation.  Namely, the fact that many people attribute their creative genius to a force outside of themselves that is conjured at random moments.  So how do we capture those random moments?

As we walked along, we veered off into a mini park between houses.  And there, randomly, was a slide.  A gargantuan slide!

I hastily swung onto the slide and coasted down a little less quickly than I had expected.  When I reached the bottom, I turned around, and there at the top sat my boyfriend.  Stuck, unable to slide.

"What happened?  Am I not a little boy anymore?"

"Lean back!" I suggested.  It didn't work.  He pulled himself down the slide kicking the heels of his boots ahead of him.  He tried again, swinging harder from the bar at the top of the slide.  It still didn't work.

"Maybe it's my pants, or maybe I'm just getting old," he said.

"So then take them off," I jokingly responded.

"Good idea!"  He dropped trow, swung from the top of the slide, and slid down that slide faster than any adult would feel comfortable with.  Pure genius...

Moral of the story: genius comes when you let your pants [ahem, guard] down.

PS he was wearing long johns.