“There goes the neighbourhood”
I started the week in Austin, and had my fastest time ever (breaking the 5 minute barrier) on a crossword, while enjoying a macchiato and Jess special taco at Trianon coffee. Seems my brain enjoys the Austin vibe.
I had planned on picking up Diana, Clorinda, and Alicia at the airport on my drive back up to McKinney from Austin, but thunder storms in Dallas delayed their flight by several hours. I drove home and then made a late night round trip to the airport. Monday was a long, tiring day.
My excitement on Tuesday was a trip to the dentist for a cleaning. I’m always pleased when nothing is found wrong during these visits, and I don’t have to revisit for another six months.
Diana and I watched the final episode of “Mare of Easttown” in the evening, after Clorinda was in bed. We didn’t make it too far before deciding we were too tired to finish – just after Diana uncovered an upcoming plot twist. She’s very good at following the clues and piecing things together – meanwhile I’m just trying to keep up with the basic plot.
I took Clorinda to Duino coffee shop for lunch on Wednesday. She had a great time, regaling me with lots of interesting stories, including several from her time in New Zealand and Switzerland, the classic one about when she got a police escort to her music school in San Francisco because she was driving too slowly, and the one where her father took her to the local service station after she moved into her first San Francisco apartment, telling the mechanic to take good care of her car and to charge reasonable prices. I laughed when she said she was really enjoying her tea and particularly that it didn’t get bitter as she nursed it. It was entertaining because she had been making fun of me earlier for saying that I really liked the coffee at Duino. “You can really tell the difference in coffee from one place to another?” I certainly can. Oh, I forgot an important story. Clorinda took the kids (4 at the time I believe) to play in the park in Switzerland, hoping they would meet some other children. There were none anywhere and she asked a man where they all were. “We sprinkle salt and pepper on them and eat them.” Apparently Giancarlo was suitably horrified. The children were in reality all up in the mountains on a summer break. I had to push out my 1pm meeting as I didn’t want to cut story time short.
The rest of the week was quieter, with Clorinda either reading or watching operas on TV.
That one was the last section of Tosca, one of her favourites.
The highlight of Clorinda’s week was a visit to Target. She claims that she hasn’t been to a store since she wrecked her car in 2017. Might be true. You can see how much fun she had in this video – shoppers beware.
We went to CT Provisions in downtown McKinney for brunch on Saturday. You’ll remember me raving about their voodoo shrimp Benedict. It was just as good as I remembered. Clorinda enjoyed her avocado toast and eggs, and a small sip of mimosa.
Ready for your weekly Ollie update? Here he is at the park that has obstacles for dogs to practice with. You can see he’s in the uphill, dominant position – but the other dog is probably wondering about how dominant he really is with a teddy bear in his mouth. I believe the black dog is a Bernadoodle – St. Bernard and poodle blend. What will they think of next?
I finished up “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen early this week. I did enjoy the story and particularly all the drama surrounding the elephant and his act.
I enjoyed reading the author’s note at the end of the book:
“The idea for this book came unexpectedly. In early 2003 I was gearing up to write an entirely different book when the Chicago Tribune ran an article on Edward J. Kelty, a photographer who followed traveling circuses around America in the 1920s and ’30s. The photograph that accompanied the article so fascinated me that I bought two books of old-time circus photographs. By the time I’d thumbed through them, I was hooked. I abandoned the book I’d planned to write and dove instead into the world of the train circus.”
Here’s a passage that made me smile:
“‘Jacob!’ shouts August from behind me. ‘My dear fellow! So glad you could join our little soiree. I see Marlena has set you up with a drinky-poo; has she shown you the dressing room yet?'”
“Drinky-poo” is a common term in our home.
I’m running out of Sunday afternoon and have a few other things to finish up for the week ahead, so I’m skipping the deep dive into an album from my collection this week. Instead, I read that Rick Wakeman was being given an honor by the Queen, I can’t remember exactly what it is, but that sent me to check out some of his music. Here are a few of my favourites:
Stay safe and kind.