Horace Greeley said it best in the 1800's but it still applies today. "Go west, young man." When I turned twenty, that is exactly what I did. I packed up my bags and got the hell out of Wisconsin and made my way to California, land of sunshine and movie stars and
Playboy
Playmates. I made a success out of myself
by
myself. Oh sure, people were kind and generous to me along the way, but I worked hard to pay most of them back and I never forgot their kindnesses. I never forgot several of the lovely ladies I met along the way either.
I ended up working at a movie studio doing whatever needed doing. Light carpentry, sweeping up or going for coffee -- anything. I was fascinated by the camera work and when I knew I wasn't being intrusive, I would ask the cameramen as many questions as they were willing to answer. Over time, a few of them took me under their wing and showed me how they did what they did. After five years, I was working as a camera operator on several TV shows. After ten, I was the head camera man on several. Turns out I had a good eye and was a natural at the job. It's a job that pays very well so I went from living in a bachelor apartment to a very nice condo out by Big Sur. I love waking up to the sound of the waves and seeing the bright, California sunshine. It's what I dreamed of ever since I was in my early teens.
My family back home can't understand why I'd want to live in "that place". They have the image of California that many share, the place where there are lots of crazy people and drugs and wild parties. I would say it's no truer than it is anywhere else and besides, you don't have to attend things like that. Living near nature has certainly kept me grounded and I sure as hell don't miss the cold of Wisconsin in winter.
I knew of two other young ladies who don't like living in Wisconsin, my nieces Colleen and Camilla. The pair of them hated the dull, cold winters and they didn't much care for summers there. So for the past ten years, since the girls were 9, they'd been spending the summers with me. Rather, one of them was. It had become a competition. My sister and brother-in-law argued that they didn't have enough to fly two girls out to LA so whichever niece got the best grades in that year got to visit Uncle Sandy in California and the other one had to spend a summer with her Aunt Virginia (my older sister) on her farm (yuck!) This year, it was Colleen who won the prize package.
I was at the airport looking for my niece when I feel someone tapping me on the shoulder. I look around and there was a
Playboy
centerfold standing behind me in a gauzy skirt and high heels. She's auburn-haired, tanned and gorgeous and I'm trying to ID what issue of
Playboy
she had appeared in. She started to laugh and said "Uncle Sandy, it's Colleen!" and hugs me hello. She laughed and said "You didn't even recognize me! Do I look that different?"
"I think you know the answer to that, kid," I tell her.
"I'm not a kid anymore, I'll be 19 in two weeks," Colleen answered. "I guess I was kind of a late bloomer. I grew 6 inches since last year and grew the boobs too," she chuckled. I looked her over and in heels, she was an inch or so taller than I was. I wasn't the only one checking my niece out as we went to retrieve her luggage. She really did have the body of a magazine model and the walk of one as well. It was hard to miss as she kept running on ahead of me, anxious to start her vacation. Her skirt kept flying up and I saw she was wearing stockings and not pantyhose. When had my little brat turned into such a girl? I hoped that none of the women I had been dating would think that there was any hanky-panky going on. I knew I'd have some "splainin' to do" as Ricky Ricardo used to say.
Colleen loves my place and we weren't there for 20 minutes before she had her clothes off and was diving in the water. It was a very balmy day and the water was beautiful. I was tempted to join her but I didn't think my swim trunks would hide what was a burgeoning hard on. Seeing my niece in her silver Lycra bikini was having an effect on me. I told myself that I would never cross that line, but niece or not, she was now a young woman, as she had pointed out, and a beautiful one at that.
Dinner with Colleen was also a bit torturous because she obviously knew she had a body and was dressing to accentuate it. We went to a nice restaurant I knew named the Lucia Lodge and I think there were as many eyes on my niece as there were on a few of the celebrities dining there. Of course, a 5'10" brunette in a slinky black dress and 4" heels is going to attract her share of onlookers.
After dinner, we went for a drive with the top down. I had treated myself to a new convertible last year and Colleen seemed to really enjoy it. I admit I had a bit of an arrogant swagger as I left the Lodge. How many 40 year old men can attract a 19-year old girl without being fabulously wealthy or a TV / movie star or all of the above? Yet Colleen had hung on my every word and had she not been my niece, I would have made a play for her.