Did and Didn't

So, here's what I didn't do this week, for one reason or another.

I didn't go to the Christmas tree decorating party at our club house (just wasn't in the mood).

I didn't go to the Festival of Lights parade in down town Palm Springs (the parade grand marshal was Suzanne Sommers, by the way).  It was too cold to sit for hours waiting for the oh-so-long parade to pass by.  It was lots of fun last year, when I went last year with neighbor Michael.  But he and some of the boys had rented a hotel room on the parade route, women weren't welcome, and, well, it is not really the kind of thing that I like to do alone.

I didn't go to the Tamale Festival in Indio (one of the "other" Desert Cities); wasn't in the mood for all those people and children (Fran Leibowitz:  Children are always sticky.  This is no doubt because they don't smoke enough,).

Finally, I didn't go to the opera in LA today to see Mozart's Magic Flute.  I was going to go on spec to try to get a rush ticket.  They were sold out, but often tickets become available at the last minute, and rush tickets are $30, versus $100 plus at full retail.  Plan B, if I really couldn't get a ticket, was to have a nice lunch in LA, spend the afternoon at the L.A. Country Museum of Art, and drive home.  But I had a sleepless night, and just wasn't up for it.

(And this was just a short list. Who says there is nothing to do in the Desert?)

What did I do, you might ask?  (You are reading this after all; I assume you're interested!)

I did toast Davie at dinner on Monday December 9th,  to celebrate his birthday - he would have been 80 this year!

It didn't come off exactly as planned.  As previously posted, my traditional restaurant for these tet-a-tets was Davie's Hideaway, which has closed, so I went to Shame on the Moon, another favourite.  Lo and behold, they no longer have prime rib on the menu!  Well, we mustn't get fixated, and Davie liked filet mignon too, so filet mignon it was.  The bourbon was Knob Creek, and it went down very nicely, thank you very much.

These evenings remind me how much I wanted to die of a broken heart.  I didn't though (and Davie certainly wouldn't have wanted me to), and I did live to see yet another glorious desert sunrise.

I did continue to stress out over my kitchen reno, but did see a lot of progress

I did add two names to my list to Palm Springs time-warp street names (Ginger Rogers and Fred Waring).

I did get tired of reading Flight of the Eagle; a bit too depressing for my mood this week.  (I'm up to the Civil War and Reconstruction, so you can see why it would be depressing.)  So I switched to Barbara Pym's novel, Jane and Prudence.  For those of you who don't know Barbara Pym, she is Britain's post-war Jane Austin.  It was a lovely change.

I did get an annual physical, the first ever.  All results are not in, but it looks like, barring unforeseeable accidents, I will be around to annoy you all for several years yet!  By the way, the health care system in the States works very well for seniors, I am here to tell you.  They are very much into prevention, and (at least my doctor, who was recommended to me by friend Art and much to my surprise I really like) not pushing pills as much as they used to, and totally free - for seniors!  Anyway, those of you who know me know that I hate dealing with all that stuff, so I'm glad it is done and over with for now.

I did manage to get some photos of the local fauna....

If you look closely at the top picture, you can see our local hawk (who dines on the local rabbits in the wash in front of the house) sitting and washing down dinner at neighbor Don's fountain.  The next picture is one of many road runners who inhabit my "lawn". They are all brazen, but this one is particularly cheeky - he has just hopped off my table where he joined me for lunch!  All that rustling of the Sunday New York Times didn't bother him a bit!

And, finally, I did play bridge six times this week, at the Palm Springs Regional Bridge Tournament, five times with Art and once with friend Robin.

Top left is Jane, the leader of one of our local bridge clubs.  Notice the sign on the (unknown) lady on the right; it says Miss Information!  Well, I thought it was funny.  Below left, Peter (Art's partner when he is not playing with me) and Art himself, having a good time, as always.  We made a few points, although probably not as many as we should have, and did learn a lot, and had a wonderful time.

So, that was the week that was.  As you can see from the "didn't s, I was a bit cranky and not on my game, so to speak.  I'll try for more variety and sparkle next week!