Punctures, pictures, and other minor crimes

My buddy Richard punted the Round Robin story ball back into my court, and I inadvertently punctured it. It be dead. Sorry. I like the idea that young Gryphon started, but think an email version would work better, as each addition could be tagged on and forwarded and the entire work would be of a piece. Anyway, killing the robin is probably one of my lesser crimes.

I am in San Diego for the first time since February, and am enjoying – NOT- the cold and damp of “June gloom”. It is otherwise nice to be here, great to see my lovely daughter Kelly again, lovely to finally meet Orrick, and beyond wonderful to have a mocha frappucino at Starbucks once again!

News from the home front- somehow the sand filter for our pool has been punctured and will have to be replaced. According to my son, by way of my husband who actually spoke to him, the punctures appear to be deliberate. I can’t imagine who would deliberately vandalize our property…

Well, that’s not strictly true. When I heard of the damages, my first thought was that the pool company I recently fired might have sent ole Terry over for a bit of mischief, or that Terry, who is not the brightest bulb in the box, might have done it on his own, forgetting he was fired, and doing the typical kind of damage to the system that got him fired in the first place. Like backwashing the pool to the point of draining out half the water, and floating the liner. Like improperly closing the pool and using the wrong chemicals so that our liner is permanently stained. Or like replacing a pool pump that was under warranty and only needed a $20 part. I could go on, but if I do, I will be compelled to go puncture Terry, and he probably had nothing to do with this latest damage.

Why do major things always seem to happen while I am out here? Televisions go south, trees fall on outbuildings, the pool is attacked by gremlins… Thank goodness my beloved son is on the scene to handle emergencies, but it is stressful fretting about them from half a continent away.

On a happier note, Kelly and I have done some shopping, a lot of cooking, and have shared some quality time with Orrick, who is a very nice man. Dave took us out to our favorite Italian restaurant Bellagio tonight and then we raided Barnes and Noble. It is heaven to have REAL BOOK STORES in the area. Expensive, but heaven. Wednesday we are going out for a day of beauty at Reflection Day Spa.

I was there on Tuesday, getting my hair cut. My stylist Tammy has moved on, as all good stylists seem to do, and I was assigned to Derrick. It has been a long time since I have had a male stylist, and it felt a bit weird, but I am very pleased with the result, and will use him again in six weeks, if he is still there. Stylists are a lot like nomads. They “fold their tents like the Arabs and as silently slip away” every 8-10 months. Which in turn makes me a nomad, because when I find a good stylist, I tend to follow him/her to the new shop. I followed one stylist to five different shops before I realized she was trying to lose me. Hope Derrick has better stamina.

And now, for something completely different- La Chef Kelleé, in our kitchen. Hope she doesn’t beat me to death with a spatula for posting this.