It started with the swallows. I was making my usual pot of morning coffee, still half asleep in my frog pajama (eh, eh Tom!) when I spotted a bunch of them out of the window. Baby swallows sucking on the jasmine flowers, confirming me what I had suspected since a few days now. Los Angeles has become a land where seasons exist but, as with everythingin L.A., even seasons get reinvented.
Now we are in Springautumn. Baby tender, new green grass on the ground and yellow/reddish leaves falling from the trees. T-shirt weather in the day, crispy and chilly at night. How much I love it!
So I was up to have kind of a stressful day with too many things to do, preparing for my departure. Yes, I am going to Italy for two weeks, leaving on Monday at 8 a.m. My son is coming here to sleep tomorrow so he'll take me to the airport by 6.30 a.m. (aggghhh!) I am pretty happy to spend my Sunday with Daniele, a luxury we did not have in a long time.
But today I was trying to do too much, with all this big list of commitments and tasks. Vacuum the whole house (since Heather will be already on Moki's duty, leaving the house clean and nice is the minimum I can do): check. Taking my car for an oil change, check! Washing Moki (big endeavor!), check! Do my laundry, check! Starting to pack up, check (and giving up my usual choice of traveling with only carry-on has been the best idea I had in a long time, immediately making me feel more relaxed). Writing the last story I have a deadline for.... Hummm, still not done.
Right. What happened is that the euphoria of having a whole suitcase at my hands to pack my stuff became contagious and affected all my other activities. I skipped writing for cooking.
Whoever said that cooking for one only person is not worth it, must be crazy! I love to cook for myself. But since it's true that it is a lot of work, I always cook for more that one ( I actually cook for an army, as my dad used to say), and... lucky who stops by the house later on to enjoy what's left. So tonight, it has been a delicious saffron risotto and sautee of broccoli and mushrooms. Sorry, Heather, I had to. You can hope that Daniele won't eat all the leftovers tomorrow for lunch, so you can still partake at dinner when you'll come back from your little trip.
The only unwanted consequence is that now I feel drunk since I smelled the white whine vapors all the way for twenty five minutes. I don't drink anymore, I used to but I quit. It's a long story and it involves the excessive drinking I witnessed on Indian reservations, and the time when Moki was dying with a horrible disease and I felt like I had to add some "weight" to my prayers, so I gave up drinking and smoking at once, and never touched a cigarette or alcohol since.
There would be my neighbor's party down the street, and I'd love to go since Bill and Brenda are two great persons and fun neighbors. But it's too far to walk over there, and I don't think I can make it driving safely. So I guess I'll just wait for Litty to come over and have me signing the copy of Reckless she wants to give to her mom. Her mom is a great woman who started a new career from scratch when she was already over forty, and I have a lot of admiration for her. It makes me proud that Litty wants to give her Reckless.
Then, later, I will watch The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl that arrived today in the mail. I ordered it on advice of Mike, who told me to watch it when I said that I was thinking documentary for the next Reckless adventure. Mike is really good at giving advice on books, music and movies so I am looking forward to slip the dvd in and sit down on the couch, with Moki sitting by my feet. And then, when It will be really late, Moki and I might go silently walking in the canyon, enjoying the buzzing and humming of the night.
What a fabuolous day in paradise!
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