Happy (American) Thanksgiving

Well, I am back from the trip to Oregon.  Logistically, all went well - plane, car rental, hotel, connections with cousins and brother-in-law, etc  Emotionally, well, that is another story.  Brother-in-law Jim is actually not as close to death as he sounded on the phone - turns out that the Parkinson's is affecting his speech more than anything else.  On the other hand, he is behaving (pace, Jim) like a jerk.  His son is taking care of him with love and good grace; Jim is not, in return, treating him very well.  And although he has only slightly less money than god, he is refusing to spend it on his care.  Why are even smart people so incredibly stupid about things related to sickness and dying?  Please please please someone take me to the vet and have me put down before I get that mean and dumb.

Needless to say, Wednesday through Saturday seemed like an eternity, and I was never so happy to get back to Palm Springs, out of the rain and misery and into the sunshine!!  (And thank yous to both Art and Mariah, who checked in with me almost daily and gave me continuous doses of good will.

After driving over six hundred miles, I couldn't face turning around on Sunday and driving to LA, opera or no opera.  I will just have to sit this one out!  Instead, I bought my Sunday New York Times and read and slept and generally did nothing all day on Sunday.

Then, on Monday, back to what is now the routine:  coffee and the computer first thing, then off to the gym.  Any errands and administrative stuff that needs doing gets done after that, followed by lunch, and, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, bridge.  Thursday, Saturday and Sunday are pool days, unless something else comes along.  (Who has time for golf?)

Evenings are a light meal, some Scrabble on the computer, and reading till bed.  Most recent bedside pile of books?  I don't remember where I left you, so forgive me if there is some overlap.  I just finished Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded.  I take his point, but it was a little to environmentally preachy for me.  Also finished Alexander McColl Smith's Handsome Man Deluxe Cafe (fluff, but incredibly delightful fluff, as always), and Ken Follett's Edge of Eternity (which, I was surprised to learn, friend Hank was reading at the same time - great minds, and all of that).  It was a great review of the history of the second half of the twentieth century it was out of mind, but apparently not forgotten!  Also, short stories by Ruth Rendell (each a gem, reflecting a piece of the mystery of human nature) and her newest mystery, called The Girl Next Door.  It stood out because the majority of the characters were in their seventies and eighties (where I suspect Rendell herself is), and the crime took place some sixty years earlier.  She is one of those writers I look forward to, and I will be sorry when there will be no more offerings.

Least successful:: Amy Bloom's Lucky Us.  It too is her newest, and got a lot of buzz.  Personally, I am not sure why.  Up next is a book called America's Great Game: the CIA's Secret Arabists and the Shaping of the Modern Middle East, and, for light reading, Tom Wolf's I am Charlotte Simmons, one of his early books which I found at the library book sale.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  The whole crowd is going out to the Four Seasons Golf Course, where they have a wonderful chef and a varied buffet and a low price and noone has to wash dishes.  And we get to be thankful for good health and good friends.

A toast to you all!

Just checking in......

Not too much to report, but thought I would check in,

Neighborhood parties have resumed for the season on Thursdays.....

....and it is nice to see everyone again.  And it is never "welcome back", it is always "welcome home"!!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday was a sectional bridge tournament.  I played all three days. two sessions each day, Friday with friend Robin and Saturday and Sunday with friend and neighbor Art.  Again, it was like a reunion, all the folks from last year, and from other tournaments.  Everyone always remembers me (I, on the other hand, remember, but not the names!) - it must be the hats!  Anyway, I scored points four out of the six sessions, and it was quite a big crowd, so I was pretty stoked.

Played bridge today too, with new partner Craig - although as poorly as I played, it is likely he will never play with me again!! (He is here from Vancouver and I knew him from the White Rock club).  A terrific gentleman, though, and a lovely man (gay or straight I am not really sure).  In any event, I hope the start of a nice friendship.

I will be off the radar for about 5 days, I think.  Brother-in-law Jim (David's brother) is failing, and I am heading up to Eugene, Oregon to see him, collecting a few of the cousins in Salem and Corvallis so that they can say their good byes as well.  Some of the cousins are not doing so well either;two have recently died, one has had a stroke, and one, well, she is not tracking very well..  It all makes me very sad.  As some of you know, I don't have much family of my own, and such that I do have are mostly far away (i.e., the East Coast), David's family adopted me, and made me a part of their wonderful group.  They were very supportive of David, especially his brother, and I am so sorry that the era is coming to an end.  (They are all in their 80's of course, but still,...)

It is all making me feel very old too, especially as I am feeling very anxious about the whole trip.  Isn't that what happens to old people, they get anxious about going out of their comfort zone, and so their world gets narrower and narrower.....?  I find I am having to force myself to go places I am not familiar with.  It is always all right, of course - generally speaking, things always are with me.  So, I will keep forcing myself out of my comfort zone as long as I am able; after that, someone shoot me please, before I start drooling.

I'll be returning next Saturday, and will try to do another LA Opera outing on Sunday, if I have the energy, and will report after that.

They call it Veteran's Day here....

...and there is a parade.  I went with friends Michael....

....and Greg....

both of whom are veterans of Viet Nam.

....and then there's me, ex-Flower Child, all grown up....

It was actually a very cool parade....

Seeing as it is California, there were a lot of neat cars.....

r

r

There won't be too many more parades with veterans from Pearl Harbor or the Tuskeegee Airmen........

r

.....followed by a concert of military music (and, no, I don't think its an oxymoron, I happen to lie military music, in addition to opera and rock and roll), and fireworks, and, like everything else around here, one feels as if it all takes place on a movie set...

I am ambivalent, of course.  I don't like killing, or nationalism generally speaking.  But in spite of all the years in Canada, I am still a dyed-in-the-wool American, get choked when I hear the Star Spangled Banner, and still believe it is a noble experiment, gone perhaps temporarily awry, but a noble experiment nonetheless, and still way better than whatever-the-hell is in second place.  And I do believe that military might is necessary, as long as we are not living in paradise.,...and maybe even then.

But all this is a philosophical conversation over a glass of scotch......,

Did I mention the pool?

.....but that's later in the week.

Monday morning, friend Geoff invited me over for coffee after the gym - he lives close by.  (And yes, I am back to going to the gym each weekday for an hour and a half.  Good girl, Nora!)  Geoff is heading off for Kuala Lumpur and parts east for 3 weeks, so it was our last chance for a while.

Here's Geoff..

...and friends Nancy...

.....and Tom.

Between four games of bridge this week, also managed lunch with neighbor Michael at Don and Sweet Sue's, one of my favourites (and not just because of its name!)

...and was impressed by the usual collection of fauna....

and views from the deck...

......of which you will, no doubt, get heartily sick before too long.

On Thursday evening, I saw the National Theater of London's live in HD performance of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.  It was, as always, a wonderful production.  I had forgotten, though, how depressing that story was, and the loneliness of life without anyone "watching your back", or without someone to care about.

Saturday was the pool day, and a glorious day it was too. ( No pictures, sorry.)

Sunday, I was up early for the drive to Los Angeles.  On a Sunday, it's really quite an easy drive - one hour and forty minutes from my door to the music center.

Couldn't resist a few pictures of Disney Hall (although the opera is held in the Music Center next door)...

...and the Plaza....

....before brunch at the Brasserie...

By that time, the box office was open, and I scored a rush ticket to Bluebeard's Castle and Dido and Aeneas, a weird double bill if ever there was one.  I mean, Bartok and Purcell?  I am glad to have seen them, but - well, let me put it to you this way, I don't have to see either one of them again.  I don't think I have ever seen operas where I cared about the characters less....

However, I had an uneventful drive home, and will certainly do it again if there is an offering that interests me.

So back to (my version of) reality today, the gym, some errands (including putting gas is my car - you might be interested in knowing that gas here is $2.85 a gallon.  Even with an 88 cent Canadian dollar, that seems really good to me), bridge in the afternoon, at yet another bridge club, and drinks on the patio (theirs, next door, not mine) with Arlene....

....and Deb.

And yes, I am still reading, mostly, this week, Ken Follett's newest door stop, The Edge of Eternity, the latest in the Century Trilogy.  It was available in the library; I couldn't resist it, but I've only got two weeks to read it, and when I said doorstop, I meant it.  So, I am off to cuddle with my book....

More anon!