’21 August

Windy got back from visiting Cali, Jack, Lainee, and Travis in Texas and I got to hear all about it. What a good time they all had! BTW, this is Cali of The Incident.

But I did. SO fortunately, I ended up with just a scrapped knee. The last time I fell, a few months ago, I ended up with just a bruised lower arm. That said, oh my goodness it could have been so much worse. NO FALLING! How many times do I have to tell me?!

Marsha and I were packing up some boxes to get ready for the New Floor. Marsha is beyond excited for said New Floor in every room except the bedrooms. Then while Tom made us dinner we got her baby grand piano listed on craigslist and we called around to charities in hopes of making a donation.. whichever comes first, donation or sale.

Do you want a baby grand piano? I’m sure Marsha will make you such a deal!

Lona is without a car for a while so we spent the day me driving us around from chore to chore and in-between, Eating! We had lunch at the Japanese market Mitsuwa, sharing beef curry rice and sansai soba. We had dinner at Solidarity, the Polish restaurant formerly known as Warszawa, sharing cold borscht, two kinds of pierogi, chicken schnitzel, and placki with apple sauce and sour cream for dessert. What a day!

All these pictures are from the internet but they look exactly like what we had.

Waiting for a haircut in the hair cutter’s garden:

Today I went to Target with Lilly and Roxy to buy some little collectables and then the best part, Lilly and Roxy shared with Rome and Lola, and here they all are making the unboxing video. And a fine time was had by all!

Rome, Roxy, Lilly, Lola.

Another one of those walks starting at the dinos and heading into Pacific Palisades.

I was hoping it would be cooler, and less sunny, and that the fans would keep the flies away. Hopes not achieved, but everyone said they had a good time so yay!

By the dinos at 3rd and Wilshire, meeting for the Palisades Park walk. It’s easy parking, a place to sit for the first person who arrives, a really lovely path off the cement, it’s just a great place to meet and them to walk. I don’t always take a picture but I always have a wonderful time.

I went with Richard, Emilia, Mick, and several of their friends to The Greek Theater, vaccination card and masks required. Masks required was not enforced and it was crowded. I sat through the whole Mavericks set and then left to find a less crowded spot to watch a bit of the headliners, Los Lobos.

Angela took these pictures and I think they are Wonderful.

It’s been great having Lucas and Betsy around, and Xander and Anya, lucky us! And isn’t Windy’s new deck just the best. It’s the perfect place for a nice quiet visit.

Ken and I had an early dinner at Lawry’s which didn’t much live up to our expectations but we had fun none the less. Then we went down to the 3rd Street Promenade for Sunday Salsa. Wow, that More than lived up to our expectations and we had some serious fun not having danced in ForEVER.

We stayed at the edge of the group, six feet from the crowd and it was Too Much FUN Anyway!

..the rough and scruffy Long Beach Pike?! Opened in 1902, it’s been gone entirely since 1979. Merlyn and Hilda’s condo overlooks what was once the Pike and is now a place of nice chain stores, restaurants, a theater, and a Ferris wheel in memory of days gone by.

I had a very fine Long Beach day today, lunch with Merlyn and Hilda who live in that fabulous high-rise, and Happy Hour with Carol (Alex was sick) who lives on a handsome boat in the Long Beach Marina.

The Kings are here for a couple weeks to settle Xander into College Life at USC. He’ll be a Sophomore having spent his Freshman year studying remote from home in Seattle. And also Anya will be doing her round of college tours since she’s now a Senior in High School. They just keep growing!

Let’s have Family Day at the BEACH! Thanks Lona for the festive lunch and thanks Angela for bringing all the beach gear. We had a good day.

(self-portrait)

I think I have got to pay more attention to regularizing my sleep. It has been fun for what, like a year and a half? sleeping absolutely whenever and hoping I’ll wake up if need be. Watching a movie for two hours in the middle of the night? Why not. I think it’s starting to make me feel a little unwell.

For three weeks I’ve got the eating thing to my personal satisfaction: have a first meal at noon and finish a last meal before 7p. I’m not losing weight but I’m not gaining either (a nice turn-around!).

Next thing, do a routine of yoga exercise at a regular time each night before going to bed. Fingers crossed! Ahhh, self-improvement, Hope Springs Eternal!

Sunset from the window of Darryl and Angela’s bedroom.

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Another day at the beach with Bonnie.

We like the Annenburg on an early foggy morning.

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Yet another day at the beach with Sharon, from the bluffs at Palisades Park.

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