Busy social scene this time, but first some of the flora and fauna that makes this place so glorious....
..this is the oleander by my driveway. The smell is amazing....
...and part of my garden....
...oops. I guess there was no fauna this time. I'll try to capture the critters on camera next time.
Friend Dru is heading back to Canada, so we said goodbye over drinks at the Tropical, still my bar of choice for these things....
...not a good shot (sorry Dru), but it will have to do.....
I have mentioned our Thursday afternoon neighborhood pool parties. It has been hot for sitting at the pool (as opposed to sitting in the pool, which is actually quite comfortable), so it turned into a lawn party in the shade last week. (And yes, is is a good question: why do we have lawns in the desert? I don't know, but at least I can say they are small....)
Just a small selection of the people there. It is not a large group - just some neighbors stopping by for a nosh and a chat.....
Continued my mini-course on documentary films, and friend Deb arrived from Vancouver. She knew she had an open invitation, and decided at the last minute to come for Easter weekend. She arrived on Good Friday, and like the obsessed bridge players that we are, we went from the airport to the bridge club, stopping only briefly to drop off the suitcase (top was down, of course...)
Saturday, we were off to the College of the Desert for some "Easter" shopping....
Whatever I have must be catching - Deb bought 5 hats!!!! However, shopping is hot work, so we came home and spent what was left of the afternoon in the pool. (No, still no pictures of anyone in the pool. I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy, not at our age.....)
Having discovered that the Palm Springs Art Gallery was open on Easter (apparently they don't consider it a major holiday....), we spent Sunday afternoon there. There was an exhibition of Edward Curtis photographs which I had been told (rightly, as it turned out) was spectacular. Below, Deb listens intently to our docent, who (as is always the case at PSAG) was knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and made the exhibit much more memorable than it would otherwise have been.
Then, we went on to see some of my old favourites. These guys, for example. I always want to say excuse me as I pass them at the top of the stairs, even though I know they are a sculpture....
The girls (Arlene and Deb - I called them "the girls" so long that it took me a while to sort out which was which) threw a wonderful Easter dinner. They put a lot of work into the cooking, the table, and the decor, and it shows. As you can see, everyone had a good time...
Who would have thought we could eat again? Nonetheless, here we are the next day at Don and Sweet Sue's for brunch. (admittedly it was 1 P.M....)..
What else did we do? Cruised downtown, ate Thai food (Thai Smile, quickly becoming a favourite), played some more bridge (I couldn't let down my usual Tuesday partner Robin, but Thursday partner Alex agreed to partner Deb). Even nature put on a show, with this sunrise even more spectacular than normal.....
...it's times like these that I wish I had a had a better camera.....
And then, it was time for Deb to fly back to rainy Vancouver, having shared a bit of my life in the desert.
I had signed up (in conjunction with the above-noted class) for the Documentary Film Festival. My review is, well, mixed. I couldn't see them all, of course. I did cram what I could in between the gym, zumba, bridge, and preparations for my party (see below, ad infinitum). Of the ones I saw, a few were good. One, about aging in place at home, in Cuba and Denmark, was excellent. Others were amazingly self indulgent pieces of piffle, two of which I walked out on, even though I was sitting in front of the filmmakers in both cases (that is the thing about festivals in PS - a lot of the participants are around for Q & A's). I mean, really, did she think she was the only person to have a problematic relationship with her mother? Really? And she didn't give me one good reason to care.....
But that's the thing with these festivals, you take your chances. I might walk out, all right (at $9 a ticket, well, I have walked out of more expensive venues),but it is still worth seeing what's out there.
And now we get to the above-noted party. As you are probably not keeping track, I'll tell you that I am turning 70 this summer. Some of you know that I have some health issues, so I did not think I would reach 60, much less 70. I didn't particularly want to - my motto used to be "live fast, die young, and have a good looking corpse". I said that until I was too old to say it any more (and, in truth, I never did live as fast as I thought I wanted to - too much risk-taking involved, I guess), but, at this point, I am having a pretty good time.
In any event, it beats the alternative. So I decided that I was going to be like the queen, and celebrate my birthday all year. Most of the Canadians are in the process of leaving the desert, and if I was going to capture them for my party, it had to be now. So, I threw myself a 70th birthday party on Sunday, April 3 (a mere three and a half months before my actual birthday!!!).
....caught having a pre-party drink....
....and preparing some of the way-too-much food...
....someone has to be first....(although I always have a few minutes when I think noone will show up...)
I didn't have a chance to take a head count, but people say that there were about 60 people there. The food? Well, let me say that it was excessive, even for me (David used to call me Ms Excess, for good reason). However, neighbors, gym people, zumba people, bridge people, all mixed and merrily ate and drank, and apparently a good time was had by all.
Even by me, thanks in large part to friends Carolyn and Lou, without whom I would undoubtedly have collapsed in a heap long before it was over (thanks, guys, for everything). I was going to do another "do" in Vancouver this summer, but I don't know. Forgetting the cost (and I don't know as many people in Vancouver, so the size would be limited), these things are a lot of work. I did indeed collapse in a heap after the last of the food was put away.
No time to rest, though. The zumba group had the same thought - all the Canadians are leaving, time to give a party before they go. One of the participants has a lovely Spanish-style villa near down town Palm Springs (about as far away, both physically and financially) from my mobile home as you can hope to be. However, Dale was a truly gracious host....
....here's our gracious host now....
.......and I'm the one with the hat in the middle.....
And the house? Well, you can see for yourselves.....
Once again, we all left smiling.....
And I actually missed the party put on by my gym group, because I had company. You see what I mean about party central? (Not to worry, we will finish off with one more.)
Yes, my bridge boys decided to reprise their recent visits for another bridge marathon....
John, seen here resting after his obligatory 3-hour run....
(he came to my zumba class on Thursday as well, and impressed everyone by working up quite a sweat....)
Of course we also ate and drank (the party left-overs came in handy.....)
...here's John again, and Tom....
...and last but not least, Dennis....
...and Tom even barbequed some rib eyes for dinner one night....
..., and, of course, we played cards....
....and more cards......
It is always hard to corral these guys to get down here, but once they come, they seem to have a good time.
They left on Friday, and on Saturday morning, the complex put on its annual spring pancake breakfast.....
.......about 35 people, and it seems to be a well loved tradition......
Well, that's it. I was supposed to go to Opera in the Park on Sunday, but I was bushed. If Scotty could have beamed me up, I might have gone - it is always a fun day - but I just couldn't manage any more logistics. So I stayed at home, and cooked up the last of the party food and slept and read the papers and generally speaking recovered.
This week is the start of the spring semester of classes, and I will tell you about those (and the books I have read between all this running around) next time - I am right out of steam.
Ta ta, for now.
...and part of my garden....
...oops. I guess there was no fauna this time. I'll try to capture the critters on camera next time.
Friend Dru is heading back to Canada, so we said goodbye over drinks at the Tropical, still my bar of choice for these things....
...not a good shot (sorry Dru), but it will have to do.....
I have mentioned our Thursday afternoon neighborhood pool parties. It has been hot for sitting at the pool (as opposed to sitting in the pool, which is actually quite comfortable), so it turned into a lawn party in the shade last week. (And yes, is is a good question: why do we have lawns in the desert? I don't know, but at least I can say they are small....)
Continued my mini-course on documentary films, and friend Deb arrived from Vancouver. She knew she had an open invitation, and decided at the last minute to come for Easter weekend. She arrived on Good Friday, and like the obsessed bridge players that we are, we went from the airport to the bridge club, stopping only briefly to drop off the suitcase (top was down, of course...)
Saturday, we were off to the College of the Desert for some "Easter" shopping....
Whatever I have must be catching - Deb bought 5 hats!!!! However, shopping is hot work, so we came home and spent what was left of the afternoon in the pool. (No, still no pictures of anyone in the pool. I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy, not at our age.....)
Having discovered that the Palm Springs Art Gallery was open on Easter (apparently they don't consider it a major holiday....), we spent Sunday afternoon there. There was an exhibition of Edward Curtis photographs which I had been told (rightly, as it turned out) was spectacular. Below, Deb listens intently to our docent, who (as is always the case at PSAG) was knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and made the exhibit much more memorable than it would otherwise have been.
Then, we went on to see some of my old favourites. These guys, for example. I always want to say excuse me as I pass them at the top of the stairs, even though I know they are a sculpture....
The girls (Arlene and Deb - I called them "the girls" so long that it took me a while to sort out which was which) threw a wonderful Easter dinner. They put a lot of work into the cooking, the table, and the decor, and it shows. As you can see, everyone had a good time...
Who would have thought we could eat again? Nonetheless, here we are the next day at Don and Sweet Sue's for brunch. (admittedly it was 1 P.M....)..
What else did we do? Cruised downtown, ate Thai food (Thai Smile, quickly becoming a favourite), played some more bridge (I couldn't let down my usual Tuesday partner Robin, but Thursday partner Alex agreed to partner Deb). Even nature put on a show, with this sunrise even more spectacular than normal.....
...it's times like these that I wish I had a had a better camera.....
And then, it was time for Deb to fly back to rainy Vancouver, having shared a bit of my life in the desert.
I had signed up (in conjunction with the above-noted class) for the Documentary Film Festival. My review is, well, mixed. I couldn't see them all, of course. I did cram what I could in between the gym, zumba, bridge, and preparations for my party (see below, ad infinitum). Of the ones I saw, a few were good. One, about aging in place at home, in Cuba and Denmark, was excellent. Others were amazingly self indulgent pieces of piffle, two of which I walked out on, even though I was sitting in front of the filmmakers in both cases (that is the thing about festivals in PS - a lot of the participants are around for Q & A's). I mean, really, did she think she was the only person to have a problematic relationship with her mother? Really? And she didn't give me one good reason to care.....
But that's the thing with these festivals, you take your chances. I might walk out, all right (at $9 a ticket, well, I have walked out of more expensive venues),but it is still worth seeing what's out there.
And now we get to the above-noted party. As you are probably not keeping track, I'll tell you that I am turning 70 this summer. Some of you know that I have some health issues, so I did not think I would reach 60, much less 70. I didn't particularly want to - my motto used to be "live fast, die young, and have a good looking corpse". I said that until I was too old to say it any more (and, in truth, I never did live as fast as I thought I wanted to - too much risk-taking involved, I guess), but, at this point, I am having a pretty good time.
In any event, it beats the alternative. So I decided that I was going to be like the queen, and celebrate my birthday all year. Most of the Canadians are in the process of leaving the desert, and if I was going to capture them for my party, it had to be now. So, I threw myself a 70th birthday party on Sunday, April 3 (a mere three and a half months before my actual birthday!!!).
....caught having a pre-party drink....
....and preparing some of the way-too-much food...
....someone has to be first....(although I always have a few minutes when I think noone will show up...)
I didn't have a chance to take a head count, but people say that there were about 60 people there. The food? Well, let me say that it was excessive, even for me (David used to call me Ms Excess, for good reason). However, neighbors, gym people, zumba people, bridge people, all mixed and merrily ate and drank, and apparently a good time was had by all.
Even by me, thanks in large part to friends Carolyn and Lou, without whom I would undoubtedly have collapsed in a heap long before it was over (thanks, guys, for everything). I was going to do another "do" in Vancouver this summer, but I don't know. Forgetting the cost (and I don't know as many people in Vancouver, so the size would be limited), these things are a lot of work. I did indeed collapse in a heap after the last of the food was put away.
No time to rest, though. The zumba group had the same thought - all the Canadians are leaving, time to give a party before they go. One of the participants has a lovely Spanish-style villa near down town Palm Springs (about as far away, both physically and financially) from my mobile home as you can hope to be. However, Dale was a truly gracious host....
....here's our gracious host now....
.......and I'm the one with the hat in the middle.....
And the house? Well, you can see for yourselves.....
Once again, we all left smiling.....
And I actually missed the party put on by my gym group, because I had company. You see what I mean about party central? (Not to worry, we will finish off with one more.)
Yes, my bridge boys decided to reprise their recent visits for another bridge marathon....
John, seen here resting after his obligatory 3-hour run....
(he came to my zumba class on Thursday as well, and impressed everyone by working up quite a sweat....)
Of course we also ate and drank (the party left-overs came in handy.....)
...here's John again, and Tom....
...and last but not least, Dennis....
...and Tom even barbequed some rib eyes for dinner one night....
..., and, of course, we played cards....
.....The boys treated us to a fine dinner at Spencers, the old PS favourite previously discussed in these pages...
....and more cards......
It is always hard to corral these guys to get down here, but once they come, they seem to have a good time.
They left on Friday, and on Saturday morning, the complex put on its annual spring pancake breakfast.....
.......about 35 people, and it seems to be a well loved tradition......
Well, that's it. I was supposed to go to Opera in the Park on Sunday, but I was bushed. If Scotty could have beamed me up, I might have gone - it is always a fun day - but I just couldn't manage any more logistics. So I stayed at home, and cooked up the last of the party food and slept and read the papers and generally speaking recovered.
This week is the start of the spring semester of classes, and I will tell you about those (and the books I have read between all this running around) next time - I am right out of steam.
Ta ta, for now.
Hey there - since you enjoyed the Edward Curtis exhibit, you might enjoy reading Timothy Egan's book about him. It's called "Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher" and I enjoyed it a lot. I knew about Curtis as a photographer but had no idea of his other work with Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteAnd an early happy birthday! As usual, I'll be traveling when the actual day comes along (Tuscany & Rome this time).
Cheers! Polly Anna