Doris Chapman was one of the first members of the Choir and sang in the middle section. Doris and I needed a place to live. We decided to pool our resources and found a really neat place to live on Cedar Street in San Anselmo. We asked David Simmons to move in with us as he was a Choir member and was also looking for a place. He said yes. We all got along quite well except I'm sure that David went through some challenging moments while trying to think up ways to control the horrendous waves of love that Sybil (Doris's daughter) and Scarlet (my daughter) continuously attacked him with. David was a classical type. I don't mean he played classical music even though he sometimes did. I mean he was a classic all by himself like Wuthering Heights, Elvis Presley or Moby Dick. The clue to David was his long gray coat that he wore when it was cold outside. If you ever watched him walk away in it you already know what I am talking about.
During those days Doris and I were unique friends. There was never any troubled water between us. She was a good person but not too good--her mind is too clean for that kind of stuff. She valued her space like I did, what little we had to call our own. Sybil loved to sing "Oh magnify the Lord with me". She never got any further than that but I loved to listen. We laughed a lot. Doris and I both did Transcendental Meditation. It kept us from going any crazier than we already were. There were hardly ever any tears shed on Cedar Street. We welcomed our friends and survived the less friendly. We all had our own rooms and in the evening we would play with the kids, read books or play music. It was quiet when we needed quiet. Doris had her own car. It rattled a lot. I used to think she was a witch underneath it all. Sometimes we talked about flying on crisp moonlit nights when the stars were sharp and clear and wisps of cloud trailed across the sky. We would share our thoughts and become one in the same pattern striving after the total enlightenment of self, the supposed essence of a realized being. I always thought Doris knew more than she told. If anyone ever came close to knowing the mystery behind the Mona Lisa smile it had to be Doris.
