.....and the air smells so sweet......
So, in addition to the usual round of gym and bridge, we also had.....
....zumba classes. Well, technically, I had started them before this, but now I have pictures...
...this is the Mizell Senior Center, where the classes are held. I love the architecture...
...my special pals....
...the instructor.....
...and an overview. And no, there will be no pictures of me sweating.....
...lots of pool time....
....a documentary about Antarctica, put on by the Osher folks (to remind you, I am a member of the Osher School of Life Long Learning, which, in spite of its dreadfully pretentious name, is really a great asset). I am starting to get excited about the upcoming Antarctic trip (the date is set, folks, January, 2017)....
....the regular Thursday party, now with the longer days and hotter weather, back at poolside. (more pictures next time) ..
....coffee and a Danish with friends Geoff and Tom on their deck (yes, that is their pool in the background)...
...a lunch and lecture, suggested by friend (from the gym class) Judy, on stress and "mindfulness", the newest California buzzword. (Let me put it to you this way: I missed the first day of the bridge tournament to do this with Judy. It was great spending time with her, but, really, I should have done the tournament. A bunch of California woo-woo shit)....
....and at least one day at the bridge tournament...
.....here is our erstwhile director Scott.....
.....my sometimes partner Laurel, from Lethbridge (now gone back to the cold north)..
...and my Saturday partner, Darren...
....who, several days after this picture was taken, had a heart attack at the bridge table, just three weeks shy of his 52nd birthday (he is shaken and scared, but will fully recover) ......
You've heard me talk about Barbara Seagram before, the famed Canadian bridge guru, who has taught in Vancouver a number of times. She was here, and we met over friend Robin's house in La Quinta for a "girls" breakfast...
...we started on Robin's patio....
...and the food and company were great too. Here are Robin and the infamous Barbara...
That was Tuesday. Barbara's seminars were at the bridge club on Wednesday and Thursday mornings, with bridge play in the afternoon.
Friends Art and Wally have moved out to Indio, out beyond the bridge club in Palm Desert, so I took the opportunity to join them, and Mariah and Mar, for dinner on Wednesday night. We went to their place first, and then had dinner at Mimi's
...Art is still recuperating from a multitude of serious health issues, so we were happy he felt up to going out.
.....especially as Mariah and Mar were - very reluctantly - heading back to Seattle on Friday, after our customary goodbye meal at Sherman's Deli (and yes, it is our "hello" meal as well)
So, that brings us to today. A few days ago, I got a call from friend Joannie, newly arrived from Vancouver (or, to be exact, Salt Spring Island). She had an extra ticket to Manon Lascaux, the current Metropolitan Opera Live in HD offering. She and husband Jim stay in a resort around the corner from me, so I picked her up this morning and off we went. Well, it will never be my favourite opera, but it was extraordinarily well staged and well sung (I have never seen a steamier Manon than Kristine Opolais, or a sexier Des Grieux than Roberto Alagna either). Two thumbs up. (Good thing too. I'm seeing the encore on Wednesday night with friends Geoff and Marvin - different Geoff).
So, what else can I tell you? I finished "A Little Life". It was a wonderful, horrible book, so sad. Made me think, more than is comfortable, about how my dysfunctional childhood might have maimed me. Not physically, of course, but emotionally.
On a lighter note, I gobbled up Ruth Rendell's "From Doon with Death", the first Inspector Wexford mystery. She's developed the characters significantly over the years, but it was still good to read the beginning of the story.
Also finished "The Year of Lear", another book about Shakespeare by James Shapiro (who also wrote Contested Will, about the controversy about whether Shakespeare really wrote the plays). Great book, and talks in some detail about equivocation, which I knew was the name of one of my favourite plays but didn't know was a real, living, Catholic Church concept).
And am now finishing up The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson. I read it before, a number of years ago, but it is worth rereading. It is about the creation of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 (origin of the Ferris Wheel, Crackerjax, and a number of other things), and the serial killer on the loose in the city at the same time. All his books are well written, although some topics attract me more than others.
I think next up will be a book on the building of the Trans Siberian Railway. After all, 2018 will be here before you know it, and the Trans Siberian Railway is slated for then.
Oh, and one more thing. I have added something to the bucket list. I want to do the North West Passage. Any takers?
So, in addition to the usual round of gym and bridge, we also had.....
....zumba classes. Well, technically, I had started them before this, but now I have pictures...
...this is the Mizell Senior Center, where the classes are held. I love the architecture...
...my special pals....
...the instructor.....
...and an overview. And no, there will be no pictures of me sweating.....
...lots of pool time....
....a documentary about Antarctica, put on by the Osher folks (to remind you, I am a member of the Osher School of Life Long Learning, which, in spite of its dreadfully pretentious name, is really a great asset). I am starting to get excited about the upcoming Antarctic trip (the date is set, folks, January, 2017)....
....the regular Thursday party, now with the longer days and hotter weather, back at poolside. (more pictures next time) ..
....coffee and a Danish with friends Geoff and Tom on their deck (yes, that is their pool in the background)...
...a lunch and lecture, suggested by friend (from the gym class) Judy, on stress and "mindfulness", the newest California buzzword. (Let me put it to you this way: I missed the first day of the bridge tournament to do this with Judy. It was great spending time with her, but, really, I should have done the tournament. A bunch of California woo-woo shit)....
....and at least one day at the bridge tournament...
.....here is our erstwhile director Scott.....
.....my sometimes partner Laurel, from Lethbridge (now gone back to the cold north)..
...and my Saturday partner, Darren...
....who, several days after this picture was taken, had a heart attack at the bridge table, just three weeks shy of his 52nd birthday (he is shaken and scared, but will fully recover) ......
You've heard me talk about Barbara Seagram before, the famed Canadian bridge guru, who has taught in Vancouver a number of times. She was here, and we met over friend Robin's house in La Quinta for a "girls" breakfast...
...we started on Robin's patio....
...and ended up in a La Quinta dive (if anything in La Quinta can be called a dive) called L'Egg. As you can see, the decor was, well interesting (all paintings done by the owner and available for sale)...
...and the food and company were great too. Here are Robin and the infamous Barbara...
...and me too...
That was Tuesday. Barbara's seminars were at the bridge club on Wednesday and Thursday mornings, with bridge play in the afternoon.
Friends Art and Wally have moved out to Indio, out beyond the bridge club in Palm Desert, so I took the opportunity to join them, and Mariah and Mar, for dinner on Wednesday night. We went to their place first, and then had dinner at Mimi's
...Art is still recuperating from a multitude of serious health issues, so we were happy he felt up to going out.
.....especially as Mariah and Mar were - very reluctantly - heading back to Seattle on Friday, after our customary goodbye meal at Sherman's Deli (and yes, it is our "hello" meal as well)
So, that brings us to today. A few days ago, I got a call from friend Joannie, newly arrived from Vancouver (or, to be exact, Salt Spring Island). She had an extra ticket to Manon Lascaux, the current Metropolitan Opera Live in HD offering. She and husband Jim stay in a resort around the corner from me, so I picked her up this morning and off we went. Well, it will never be my favourite opera, but it was extraordinarily well staged and well sung (I have never seen a steamier Manon than Kristine Opolais, or a sexier Des Grieux than Roberto Alagna either). Two thumbs up. (Good thing too. I'm seeing the encore on Wednesday night with friends Geoff and Marvin - different Geoff).
So, what else can I tell you? I finished "A Little Life". It was a wonderful, horrible book, so sad. Made me think, more than is comfortable, about how my dysfunctional childhood might have maimed me. Not physically, of course, but emotionally.
On a lighter note, I gobbled up Ruth Rendell's "From Doon with Death", the first Inspector Wexford mystery. She's developed the characters significantly over the years, but it was still good to read the beginning of the story.
Also finished "The Year of Lear", another book about Shakespeare by James Shapiro (who also wrote Contested Will, about the controversy about whether Shakespeare really wrote the plays). Great book, and talks in some detail about equivocation, which I knew was the name of one of my favourite plays but didn't know was a real, living, Catholic Church concept).
And am now finishing up The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson. I read it before, a number of years ago, but it is worth rereading. It is about the creation of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 (origin of the Ferris Wheel, Crackerjax, and a number of other things), and the serial killer on the loose in the city at the same time. All his books are well written, although some topics attract me more than others.
I think next up will be a book on the building of the Trans Siberian Railway. After all, 2018 will be here before you know it, and the Trans Siberian Railway is slated for then.
Oh, and one more thing. I have added something to the bucket list. I want to do the North West Passage. Any takers?
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