Book 23: The Better Angels by Bette Bono

It's not often that I read a book written by someone I know. This is the first one that I've blogged about.

I may have met Bette about 10 years when I was a volunteer on her husband's mayoral campaign. Recently we've been in two writing classes at the library together: Hidden Stories and WPA Mural Inspired Writing.

She once mentioned she was working on a book about seniors and time travel. I was psyched when I ran into another person from our class who told me that Bette had sold her book.

In The Better Angels, Aggie May learns that she has developed the ability to travel in time--to move into the past. At first, these visits are brief and disorienting; Aggie wonders if she has Alzheimer's.

After a visit from the other AARP (the American Association of Remarkable Persons) Aggie begins training with other remarkables to find a missing artifact--an early photograph of Abraham Lincoln.

I enjoyed learning about the mechanics of time travel. In a weird way, I'm reminded about the mechanics and mythology of vampirism. In some books or films, time travel is done in a machine. Sometimes a person wakes up in a new reality. Sometimes an altered reality is more like an alternate universe rather than a straight timeline change.

I hope The Better Angels is the first in a series of books. I want to read more about Aggie's travels.

Christmas in Cornelius

North Carolina, that is. Jeff and I arrived here at his sister Melissa's Monday afternoon. We had tentatively planned to go to the Bark and Brew and the dog park, but were too tired. A chilly rain wasn't too inviting either. Instead we had pizza and watched TV.

On Christmas Eve, we took Jeff's mother to lunch at her favorite restaurant. Then we took Lola and her cousin Jake to the local dog park. It was a beautiful day in the mid-sixties. Can't beat that. After the dog park, we returned for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of beef tenderloin.

Unfortunately, today didn't go as well. Jeff is sick--he's achy and dizzy--and has spent most of the day in bed. I just hope he recovers by tomorrow.

On the Road on the Darkest Day of the Year

Today is the winter solstice, the first day of winter, and the darkest day of the year. Jeff, Lola and I drove from Norwalk to Winchester, Virginia. Our destination is Cornelius, North Carolina to spend Christmas with Jeff's family.

It's been ten years since Jeff and I have made a long road trip, and it's Lola's first. Cornelius is much closer to Connecticut than Hilton Head, South Carolina; Saint Simons Island, Georgia; or Stuart, Florida: our earlier road trip destinations. I guess I'm out of the long drive practice, the six hours in the car today was tough. I drove the first half and Jeff the second--our usual split.

After we checked into our hotel, we took Lola to the local dog park. We tried to find a winery tasting room, but I guess our information was outdated. The tasting room wasn't where we expected. We did find Old Town Winchester. Old Town is a pedestrian-only brick walk consisting of a few blocks with stores and restaurants. It was charming; if it were only about ten degrees warmer--we could have eaten outside.

We have another five-to-six hour drive tomorrow. It will be getting warmer, so maybe we'll have a chance for outdoor dining.

The Week Before

I woke up around 4 yesterday morning thinking it was Saturday. Luckily, I soon realized my mistake. I've been wishing that we'd get another day before we leave for North Carolina, and in a weird way, I did.

As usual, I didn't get all that I wanted to do done. Had a few obstacles this week. On Saturday, a portion of the ceiling in our master bedroom collapsed. Oddly enough, one of my neighbors had a similar problem, but it was in her bathroom. Another bathtub leak created problems in our lobby. At any rate workers came to repair all the damage. They patched up the ceiling Thursday and painted it yesterday.

On Tuesday, we had a full day of freezing rain. I only left the condo to take Lola out. The next day, my car was encased in ice. As I worked on the car, ice slid off it in sheets. Some fell into my trunk (I had opened it to get my ice scraper and brush.) Ice also fell around my car and made the ground slippery. I started to dump some ice on the small grassy divider between parking spaces, but I realized the ice would slide back in my spot. I ended up filling a large grocery bag with ice and dumping it into my bathtub. This kind of day is another reason to move south.

The rest of the week has been cold. I remembered that Sherwood Island is always paved and well-tended after storms. Lola and I have gone for long walks there the past few days. It's going to be a little warmer today and hit the 40's tomorrow when we leave for North Carolina.

I have a tutoring session later today and need to finish packing. Jeff and I are getting take-out for dinner to make it a little easier. Hope to get on the road by 8 AM tomorrow.

A Post of Photos

I was looking through some photos on my phone and decided to post a few.

This is Oyster Shell Park; I liked the color of the trees.  They reminded me of these.

Here's another painted stone I saw along the Norwalk River Valley Trail. 

Last week as we did a loop at Oyster Shell Park, Lola and I were surprised when a hawk swooped down, flying about four feet off the ground. It landed in this tree. Lola stood and stared in the hawk's direction for a few moments.  

It's amazing how much larger the hawk appeared in full wingspan than it did perched on this branch. I stopped to take some photos; I couldn't get a good shot. While taking the pictures, I dropped a glove and bent to pick it up. When I looked up, the hawk was gone: thin tree branches swaying in its wake. The hawk had moved on to a taller tree. 

Apparently hawks are generally solitary and territorial. I guess this is the same hawk I've seen before at Oyster Shell. 

Jeff gave me this ornament on Saturday evening. I love it; I've often said that I would loved for Lola to have met Spike. Here she sits with us and angel Spike. 

Art & Text Reception

Norwalk is one of 13 public libraries participating in exhibits about art and text. Basically, artists are creating visual representations of poems in paintings or other artwork. I love the idea of the exhibit and knew two people whose poems had been selected, so I went.

I got to the reception early and entered the library by the back door. I checked out the exhibit, but didn't realize the reception was held in the front of the library. The downside was that I was too late to get a seat, and the room was warm and crowded. I didn't appreciate the poetry as much as I would have if I were more comfortable. I still enjoyed hearing the poetry and how the artists interpreted the poems.

After the adults read, we heard from poets and artists from grades 6 through 12 at Winston Preparatory School, and finally a few poems from participants at the Norwalk Housing Authority Stem Club. These kids were in grades 1 through 5.

I love to see kids involved in the arts at a young age.

Book 22: Blue Labyrinth by Preston and Child

How many times will I write "another good one from Preston and Child?" I hope many more times.

Blue Labyrinth is the 14th Pendergast novel. The novel opens with the corpse of Pendergast's son deposited on his doorstep. Pendergast follows up on a clue and is attacked, which leads to his incapacity.

It's up to Margo Green and Constance Greene to save him with a timely assist from Vincent D'Agosta.

Good characters and a good story prevail. This book isn't quite up to the level of White Fire, but few books could be.

Pacing

I'm a regular reader of Laura Vanderkam's blog and receive emails from her. Last week's email advised me to pace myself. I have a bad habit of underestimating how much time it takes me to do things. That leads to putting too many things on my to-do lists for the next day.

Sometimes it works to just put fewer things on a daily list; sometimes it works to list things to do for a week.

At one time, I was concentrating on three ongoing things each week: buy and get food on the table, take Lola out for walks, and do the laundry. Those chores were the minimum I needed to get done, besides work.

Recently I've prioritized working out and that has made a huge difference. For the next week I need to prioritize cleaning, Christmas prep, and packing.

There's always more to do.

Thoughts about Co-Stars in June Bride

June Bride is one of the last movies Bette Davis made for Warner Brothers in 1948. The gist of the plot is that magazine editor Linda Gilman (Bette Davis) and her team are sent to Indiana for a magazine feature on a June wedding. A new member of her team is a foreign correspondent Carry Jackson (Robert Montgomery) who had been involved with Linda in the past.

Bette Davis wasn't known for her comedies, but I enjoyed her work in It's Love I'm After, The Bride Came C.O.D., and The Man Who Came to Dinner. She's good in June Bride too.

I never liked Robert Montgomery in this film. He was annoying, smirking, and making faces. I recently read on IMDB that Bette wanted either Jack Carson or Dennis Morgan for the part of Carey Jackson. Jack Carson is underrated; he was good in both comedy and drama. Dennis Morgan was wonderful as the sailor in the comedy Christmas in Connecticut. At any rate, neither Jack Carson nor Dennis Morgan would have annoyed me as much as Montgomery did.

Here's more from IMDB: Bette Davis was originally cast as the lead in Christmas in Connecticut. Barbara Stanwyck was terrific, but I wonder at what might have been.

Two Weeks

Yesterday Jeff and I finalized our holiday travel plans. We decided to build in some extra travel time to have an easier drive. We even made a motel reservation for a night on the road.

Then Jeff said we only had one more weekend before we leave. Realizing I only have two weeks to shop, pack, wrap presents, etc. hit me hard. I have a lot to do and not as much time as I thought I did.

It's been years since we've traveled for Christmas holidays and this will be our first time with Lola. Luckily we're only going to North Carolina and not farther south.

Here's hoping for a fun road trip.

November Review: Hits and Misses

Here's a mini month-in-review post.

Since I started prioritizing my gym visits in October, I went to the gym at least three times a week...until Thanksgiving week. I was literally on my way to the gym on Sunday (technically December 1st) to complete my third visit that week, when I saw a weird symbol flashing on my dashboard. I pulled into a parking lot and consulted my manual. The symbol warned me that I had a foreign object in a tire, and I shouldn't drive. One of the few legit reasons to not go to the gym.

I wrote a blog post every day in November. I had considered nanowrimo; instead I committed to nablopomo. In hindsight, I don't think this was a particularly well-thought out goal. There were days I struggled to think about something to blog about, and the time spent blogging could have been better used for other writing.

That was my big failure: I didn't write 500 words a day, in addition to whatever blogging I did. I only wrote and/or edited about 2,300 words. Also, having a goal or blogging daily in November made it too easy to stop blogging once December rolled around.

I need to re-focus.

Book 21: Girl Sleuth Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my brother about Nancy Drew. I knew my sister and I had read her books, but I didn't remember if they were too girly for Jim. No, he told me he read the books and joked about "a ruse to get the chums out of the house."

A few weeks later, he sent me the book Girl Sleuth by Melanie Rehak. It focuses on the two women who were most essential to creating the iconic character Nancy Drew: Mildred Wirt Benson and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Both were college-educated career women making their way in the business world.

The  book did a good job in setting up the historic backdrop of Millicent's and Harriet's lives and their competing visions of Nancy Drew.

For more on Nancy, check out this.

Christmas Trees, Weather Worries, and Other Miscellanea

As we drove back and forth to the Norwalk River Valley Trail in Wilton, I counted seven cars with Christmas trees tied up on top. I asked Jeff if we'd set up a Christmas tree this year. It's been a few years.

When we first got married, we got a live tree each year. Then one year Jeff was working two jobs, I had a busy workload, and getting a tree was just too much stress. Later I felt guilty and bought a four feet artificial tree. A few years later, I bought a second artificial tree. For a few years, we decorated both. 

Today Jeff suggested that we decorate but don't necessarily have to include a tree. That's what I was thinking--we're on the same wavelength again. 

We're getting the first snow of the season tomorrow and Monday--the two days I'm working this week. Tomorrow's snow isn't a big deal, and even if it was, I wouldn't mind re-scheduling. Tomorrow's student is taking the ACT in February. But my Monday student is taking the SAT next Saturday. It will be hard to reschedule, based on her commitments, if we have to cancel Monday.

Before we went to NRVT, Jeff and I checked out a holiday fair at the Norwalk Library. It was better than I expected. I bought a few things--mostly for myself and a few stocking stuffers. 

Even with the colder temperatures the last few days, we've had good walks with Lola. I hope this can continue. 

Holiday Season

Thanksgiving is over.

I can't argue anymore that it's too early for Christmas decorations, songs, etc. A television commercial just told me "the holidays are here."

I don't have many people to buy gifts for this year. In a way, that's a relief. In another way, it's sad.

We plan to go to North Carolina for Christmas with Jeff's family. There are many moving parts that we have to coordinate: comings and goings by family members and room assignments.

I'm interested in seeing Melissa and Karl's new home--the town as well as the house itself. They have been lobbying us to move south. And Jeff's mom is also nearby. I can see us moving south, but I don't know about North Carolina.

I read recently that it's not a good idea to move to save money in retirement because friendships and social connections are so important. That will inform any moving decision we make. Maybe we'll make a bunch of new dog park friends. 

Thanks

This is the first Thanksgiving that Jeff and I spent alone (with Lola of course.) We had a stuffed turkey breast, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, and a carrot salad.

Originally I suggested that we eat around 4. After our second walk with Lola, it was already past three, and I wanted to have a cheese course. We had three cheeses, crackers, a pear paste, and some fruit. The consistency of the pear paste was too dry and hard. 

The other disappointment was the turkey. According to the instructions on the turkey's label, it should have taken about 45-50 minutes to cook. It took over twice as long. We ate around 6:30. Luckily, it was just the two of us, or I would have been stressed out. Luckily also, we had eaten the cheese.

We enjoyed a pear tart for dessert. I would have gone for the traditional pumpkin pie, but Jeff bought the tart, and it was delicious.

The important thing about Thanksgiving isn't the food. I am thankful that I have Jeff and that we have a good marriage. I'm thankful that we enjoy good health. I'm thankful for Lola. She may drive me crazy sometimes, but she brings me much joy.  

I'm thankful for friends and family members, even the ones I don't see very often.

I need to give thanks more often. 

Last Day for the Star of the Month

Technically Bette Davis is Star of the Month for another three days. But Tuesday was the fourth day of a 24-hour Bette Davis-athon, and I didn't see any other Bette Davis movies on the schedule for the rest of the month.

The Tuesdays featured films in a rough chronological order. The first Tuesday covered films from 1931 to 1935, the second 1935 to 1940, the third 1940 to 1948, the fourth 1948 to 1987. I've seen all the movies before. I recorded some I hadn't seen in a while and watched parts live when I was home.

A few thoughts. I was disappointed not to see Beyond the Forest on yesterday's listing. I haven't seen that film in years. It may be Bette's worst performance.

The first film yesterday was Winter Meeting, It's a boring film; Bette is unattractive with short bangs (worse than those my mother cut for me) with no makeup. I did fall in love with Bette's New York apartment.

The best of Tuesday's bunch was All About Eve. Bette is so incredible as Margo Channing that it's hard to believe that Claudette Colbert was originally cast in the part.

I recorded The Star: one film I hadn't seen in a while.

I would love to create my own Bette Davis film festival.

State of the Estate

Yesterday I got the word that I could distribute money from my mother's estate. Today I closed one bank account, moved the monies to a checking account, and wrote some checks.

I still have to deal with 2019 taxes for the estate and my mother.

There's also an investment account that's become complicated. I'm working on it.

The Big Store with The Marx Brothers

I first saw this movie when I was a student at University of Delaware. Back in those days, it was difficult to see an old movie. Gone With the Wind was re-released theatrically every several years. I'm not sure about other movies, except maybe in large city revival houses. That's why my mother let me stay home from school to watch The Letter.

I think I first saw most of the Marx Brothers films at Delaware. After seeing A Night at the Opera in an American Studies class, I had to see more. I loved Monkey Business too.

The Big Store isn't in the same category as the other two, but it's fun. Groucho, Chico, and Harpo team up to protect Chico's friend Tommy (Tony Martin.) Tommy is inheriting half-interest in a department store, which he'll sell to fund a new music conservatory. The bad guys led by Douglass Dumbrille can't let new buyers see the books, so Tommy has to go.

The scenes with Groucho and Margaret Dumont were funny. I liked the crazy chase scene with roller skates, bikes, and chutes.

Tony Martin made me miss Zeppo. He's boring and his musical number My Tenement Symphony is horrible and long. I've never been a fan of most of the Marx musical numbers, though I liked the an early scene in the conservatory with four young boys playing piano in Chico style.

The Big Store is worth a watch.

I Shouldn't Feel This Way

Sometimes I question the validity of my feelings.

I say I shouldn't let myself get upset over silly things; I shouldn't get angry over minor things. Today it's that I shouldn't feel overwhelmed.

I shouldn't be overwhelmed because I don't have many things to do that have a specific due date. My problem is that I've been totally inefficient in getting things done. The uncompleted to-do's migrate to the next day's to-do's, and so-on and so-on.

I do the minimum of what I need to do. Everything else seems to all by the wayside.

There are numerous ideas about how to get things done, how to be efficient, how to manage time. I just need to listen.

Another Week in Review

I started this week by tracking my time on Monday. Then I forgot. I remembered sometime on Wednesday. I decided I should wait until next Monday to try again rather than reconstructing two days of time.

I went to the gym three times, exercised here once--probably won't exercise here tonight--I'm tired.

Lola and I have had good walks each day. She especially enjoyed a return to Sherwood Island Park. It's off limits to dogs from May through September. We saw two deer.

I've posted here each day, but haven't done any other writing. My goal to blog everyday this month is interfering with my writing goal. I know that shouldn't be the case: I'm working on it.

I've spent several hours on my mother's estate and the aftermath on the phone and meeting with our accountant.

The week has flown by: I need to catch up.

Marked Woman 1937

It's been years since I've seen the movie Marked Woman. Over the last two days, I watched it twice.

This was Bette Davis's first film after a suspension from Warner Brothers. It was a better role and a better film than some others Warners had offered her (lady lumberjack, anyone?)

Here are a few weird things in the beginning of the film that I noticed. Only the men's last names are listed in the cast of characters. A message says that the film was fictitious. It was widely known to be a version of Lucky Luciano's story. A Warner Brothers movie Black Fury is shown on a movie marque in the opening shot.

The story starts with a new man in town: Johnny Vanning (Eduardo Ciannelli) taking over all the nightclubs/clip joints in the city. He already knows Gabby (Lola Lane) is impressed with Mary's (Bette Davis) smarts, and is interested in Emmy Lou (Isabel Jewell.)  In the next scene, the "girls" (as they're called throughout the film) walk home together.

This is not a subtle movie. The dialog can be over the top. Mary says she knows all the angles, and plans to get to easy street. Here are some direct quotes:

"They found him in a ditch full of slugs."

"I'll get you even if I have to crawl back from the grave to do it."

Davis seems a bit over dramatic in a few scenes. At first it makes sense because Mary is acting to convince attorney David Graham (Humphrey Bogart) to believe her false testimony. In a later scene with Bogart, I don't get the overacting.

In Bette's defense, she fought for realism on this film. Instead of the tiny movie star bandage, she went to her own doctor to be bandaged as a woman who was severely beaten.

There is some weird dialogue in the courtroom scenes. Vanning's lawyer Charlie Delaney (John Litel --an upstanding lawyer from the Nancy Drew films) asked questions that were logically better asked by the prosecution. Did John Litel just need more lines?

I loved the last few minutes of the film. Vanning is found guilty of murder of Mary's sister (Jane Bryan) based on the testimony of the girls. They leave the courtroom as David Graham seeks Mary. He wants to help her because she's had a bad time. She seems to be hoping for more.

Reporters clamor for David--he could be the next district attorney or even the next governor--as the women walk off in the night. (Are court proceedings at night? Never mind, it's a great visual.)

The women walk off and literally disappear into the fog.

Wardrobe Update

Over the summer, I took a long look at my clothes. Part of it was because I needed a dress for our niece's wedding, part was because I noticed some of my clothes were getting a bit shabby. I threw out the worst (a pair of shorts) relegated others (some shorts, skorts, and capris ) to the "around the house/dog park" wardrobe.

I tried on everything I hadn't worn in a while. I gave  away the things that didn't work for me to Goodwill. I needed to shop.

I've never been extravagant with clothes. My wedding dress cost less than $300. I buy most of my clothes on sale or at factory outlets. That's what I tried this summer. I had some success: I replaced some short sleeved and long sleeved v-neck tee shirts, found a good selection of dressier blouses, and a pair of flat sandals. There were another few finds: a teal pencil skirt and a tee shirt dress.

Then I realized that I had only two pairs of jeans. I bought five. Some weren't on sale. I decided I didn't have to wait for sales when I needed clothes. One item was a warm pair of jeans with flannel lining. I'd wanted a pair for years; Jeff had a few; he didn't have the same (mental) limitations that I did. I also got a pair of Tevo sandals.

I recently noticed that my fall sweater is looking worse for wear. I might not find another as nice as it, but I'll just have to try.

I may nurture my clothes over the long run, but they can't last forever.

Just a Dream...

...or a series of unfortunate dreams.

I was in a writing class. We were assigned to redraw a magazine cover, which consisted primarily of a series of triangles, and then write about it. For some reason I was tearing pages from the magazine to find a blank piece of paper. Before I knew it, I had destroyed the magazine and didn't have an image of the cover. My classmates were starting to read their stories, and I hadn't even started.


I climbed to the top of a tower dedicated to Harriet Tubman. To climb down, I needed to take off my shoes and go barefoot. I also had to throw my notebook off the tower before I descended. I didn't get what I needed (presumably inspiration of some type.)


I parked my SUV to drop off my sister-in-law at the Norwalk Airport. She told me that Jeff had taken some wedding or Christmas presents, and, for the second time, the presents had disappeared. I told her Jeff would not resell the gifts. I wondered if they were in our messy second bedroom.


I was with my brother and a friend at an outdoor restaurant. My brother was upset because he punched someone and was on parole. My friend was fighting with the waitress. I worried the waitress would do something to my friend's food.


There were other disjointed parts to these dreams: my niece talking about a high school rivalry, an art show, a bus collapsing a bridge, a bunch of us being wet for some unknown reason.


I woke up 10 minutes before the alarm went out. In the next few minutes, I was thinking about my dreams while half asleep. I dreamed I was walking and started to trip over something on the trail. I jolted forward, now fully awake seconds before the alarm went off.

Dreams are weird. There is no Norwalk Airport. I didn't climb a Harriet Tubman tower. There are only a few real things in the dream: it was my real sister-in-law, my real niece, I am married to Jeff, and we have a messy second bedroom.


I guess the weirdest thing is that yesterday was a pretty good day. Where did all this frustration come from?

Pop Open a Party

Jeff and I returned to Total Wine tonight for a tasting of sparkling wines.

We learned about champagne, cava, prosecco, cremant (I had never heard of this, it's sparkling wine made in France but not in the champagne region) and brachetto and tasted eight wines.

I liked all the wines, even the sweet one--it would have worked as a dessert wine. Surprisingly, I wouldn't buy the most expensive wine ($85.) Jeff and I preferred the $35. wine. We also liked the cheapest wine of the tasting a $10 cava.

I guess we're cheap dates after all.

My Canine Crush

This is a picture of my friends' dog Ben. He died last November. I used to call him my boyfriend; I grew very fond of Ben over the years.

Here is my new canine crush Dylan.

Dylan lives on Highwood Avenue. As we walked by with Lola, he used to bark at us. We learned his name and started to talk with him. He would run to us on his stone wall, and we would pet him.

We don't see him as much now. Afternoon walks are limited by darkness, and he hasn't been outside lately.

But he's my new guy--my canine crush.

What's Cooking?

Two weeks ago I went to lunch with my friend Elaine. Chicken Milanese was on the menu of the restaurant we visited. I didn't order it; we went with one of our standbys: pizza. But I got Chicken Milanese on my mind. In the past two weeks, I sampled three chicken cutlet sandwiches from Norwalk restaurants/delis.

Today I made Chicken Milanese using the Blue Apron recipe. It's good, but it's a pain. I need three bowls/plates to dowse the chicken in flour, mustard and water, and panko bread crumbs.

I also made Romesco Sauce. This was originally a side to steak in a Blue Apron recipe. It's easy to make and delicious as a side to the chicken (okay I forgot the pistachios, but it's still good.) To complete the dish, I made a side salad of romaine. 

A good meal 

Book 20: Wait Until Next Year

I had started the book as I was waiting to move up to the top of the library waiting list for The Testaments. Doris Kearns Goodwin is known for her works of history, especially Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. 

Wait Until Next Year is her memoir of growing up in Brooklyn with a focus on her love of the Brooklyn Dodgers. That love affair started when Doris was six and lasted until the cursed Walter O'Malley moved the team until Los Angeles.

Baseball permeated all parts of Doris's life. In her first confession she was worried because she had gone to see Ray Campanella at the Episcopal Church. Was that a sin? She also confessed that she had wished a broken arm to a Yankee pitcher as well as other injuries to Dodgers' opponents. She had a camaraderie with people in the butcher shop even though they supported the Giants.

The memoir also includes things beyond the neighborhood: the fear of polio, the atomic bomb drills in school, the McCarthy hearings, and the integration of the Little Rock high schools.

Wait Until Next Year is one of the best memoirs I've read. It captures an important time in a life memorably and poignantly.

Singular Sensations

Tonight Jeff and I went to our second single single malt class at Total Wine. Our first spirits class was about a year ago. All our tastings were real single malt scotches (from Scotland and aged a minimum of three years from 100 percent malted barley.) We tasted nine scotches. Eight were set out for us, and then the speaker gave us a surprise ninth. He said it's because it's the last scotch tasting of the year.

I love the classes at Total Wine--a combination of learning about wines, whiskeys, etc. and tasting several. They usually cost $5.00 per person. The last one we attended was on Cabernet Sauvignons. We're going next week for sparkling wines. That will be fun.

Hooray for Jacob deGrom

Last night Jacob deGrom became the eleventh pitcher in major league history to win his second consecutive Cy Young award.

It wasn't smooth sailing for Jake; he had a rough April. He rebounded with a major league leading 2.07 ERA from May through the end of season.

Here are some fun facts about Jake and his AL counterpart Justin Verlander.

Congratulations Jake!

To the rest of the Mets, show him some support next season!

Star of the Month: Bette Davis

Bette Davis is the star of the month for November on TCM. On Tuesdays, it's Bette films for (approximately) 24 hours. The first Tuesday, I watched parts of the films when I could and recorded several that I haven't seen recently. I was psyched to see Special Agent again; it had been years.

Frankly, Special Agent isn't very good. Many of Bette's early films aren't or she had very small parts. It's still fun to watch her. I've been working my way through the recordings.

I've seen all these films before. Now I'm noticing small things in Bette's expressions and movements. I'm also noticing the supporting actors. For example, Allen Jenkins is in five films with Bette; Frank McHugh in four, and Ricardo Cortez in two.

Thanks TCM.

Book 19: The Testaments

The Testaments is Margaret Atwood's sequel to The Handmaid's Tale. It is incredible; I loved it.

Three women narrate the book: Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid's Tale and two young girls, Agnes and Daisy. Agnes and Daisy appear in The Handmaid's Tale, but we know nothing of their thoughts in that book. Both girls are daughters of June (or Offred) the original handmaid.

I was most interested in Aunt Lydia's story. She had been a judge in the United States before Gilead. She describes her transition to becoming an aunt and her efforts to consolidate power. Her story was much better than what was shown in the television show.

Agnes has spent most of her life in Gilead. She loves her adoptive mother Tabitha, but her world is upended when Tabitha dies. Daisy's adoptive parents are killed in an explosion, and she learns that she is the famous baby Nicole, spirited away from Gilead.

I love how the three women come together and joined forces.

Atwood does a great job of world-building beyond what we learned about Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale: the Rubies school to train commanders' wives, how the aunts were established, and how new aunts were trained.

I've already returned the book to the library; fourteen people are still on the waiting list. But I want to read it again.

Edited to add: I just found this post by Rhiannon. Good reading.

November So Far

I want to write about November goals.

Working Out

I previously wrote about prioritizing working out. I restarted consistent working out on October 5 and logged 13 gym visits in October. Since then I've completed two weeks of three gym visits and three weeks of four gym visits.

In November, I've been to the gym six out of 11 days. Only two of those visits included cardio. But as Laura Vanderkam says, don't make perfect the enemy of good. I got to the gym six times this month and exercised here the other five days.

Writing

One goal is to blog every day in November--so far so good--and to write 500 words a day. Now I wrote 500+ words the first two days. After that I edited some pieces. I decided that was acceptable as my daily goal.

With a goal of 500 words a a day, I should have 5000 words by now, but I only  have 2144 words.  NaNoWriMo's goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. My monthly goal is 15,000 words. I hope I can make up the words.

Thinking about Thanksgiving

This will be the first Thanksgiving when Jeff and I won't be with other family members.

We discussed our options. Dinner at a restaurant: only a few are open. I didn't want to invite people over because I didn't want the stress: I've never cooked a Thanksgiving dinner before. Jeff and I decided to stay home and cook a turkey breast: sides to be determined. I got a Stop and Shop magazine with ideas and figured I'd start from there.

Since our decision, I found that a friend Marti is thinking about hosting Thanksgiving if she can get her house in order. I laughed because that was something Jeff and I discussed: we would have major cleaning/organizing to accomplish before inviting anyone over.

I ran into a friend in our condo; she and her boyfriend are alone this year too. And they don't cook. She mentioned getting a turkey breast, instant mashed potatoes, and stove-top stuffing. She's in retail and has to go to work around 6 PM on Thanksgiving. She says it's better than going into work on Friday at 6 AM. I get it.

This year's Thanksgiving is still a work in progress.

Strange Dreams

I've experienced weird dreams the past three nights.

Dreams are ephemeral: I don't even remember my dream on Wednesday night. Thursday's dream involved some sort of home invasion. A couple was detained in a soft-sided cage suspended from the ceiling.

Last night's dream was the most vivid. I was at some kind of work getaway--conference--like ones I used to attend. I was walking down a street and saw a vendor selling parody maps of Connecticut towns and cities. The vendor was someone I knew, but I don't remember who. He didn't have a map of Norwalk.

I want back to another store at the beginning of the street  It sold jewelry and polished stones and shells. The door was open, but no one was there. I put on a bunch of the rings and a pair of earrings and filled my pocketbook with stones, etc. I don't remember what I was thinking.

The owner returned and we talked for awhile. Suddenly she realized some of her stock was missing. I emptied out my pocketbook. A few employees suddenly appeared and tallied up what I had. It covered the counters (don't know how it fit in my handbag.)

The cost for these items was $500 plus. (In reality, pretty good since I had so many items including an emerald and a ruby ring.) I couldn't afford that. So I went along the counters and indicated what I didn't want, and an employee took that off my total. The earrings were the most expensive. Of course, they were what I wanted the most. Ultimately, I gave them up.

I got the total down by about half. I apologized for making more work for the employees because they would have to put all the merchandise back in the display cases. I didn't apologize for attempted theft because I didn't think of myself as a thief.

There was a discussion about a one percent surcharge because I lived in Norwalk. When the employee learned I was from New York City area, she said she would have charged me more.

I checked the time and said I would miss dinner. An employee said she would miss dinner too.

I tried to call Elaine who was at the conference to tell her I would be late.

I couldn't get my phone to work. There I was: back to my standard frustration dream. The other two dreams also ended with some version of the frustration and futility.

I don't remember ever succeeding in these dreams.

Just reread this article that I linked to in a previous post. I  don't consciously feel a sense of relief after my frustration dreams. It's more like--oh, here we go ago. I take comfort that others have the same kind of dreams.

I'd rather return to the dreams in which I can fly.

Another Open Studios Reception

This is the second of three local Open Studios weekends. This weekend it's in Norwalk at Firing Circuits. Here there were more and larger studios than the location we visited last week. 

We saw mostly paintings. some photography, a lot of mixed media, some sculpture, and jewelry. 

I usually feel inspired when I attend these art shows, especially the mixed media. I enjoy collage and even painting, though I've done very little of either (especially painting.) I realized tonight that I just don't have confidence in my art. 

That means I have to keep practicing it. 

Scheduling Calculus

I thought about calling this post Scheduling Gymnastics or Scheduling Negotiations. I went with my first idea.

I woke up at 6:30 this morning. I had a lunch date with my friend Elaine at noon, and I had already decided what to make for dinner.  I wanted to go to the gym, take Lola to a park, go food shopping, do the laundry, write a blog post, and write something else.

Did I realistically think I would get all that done? Sigh.

I fell into my slow morning trap. Around 8:30 or so, I washed up and dressed to take Lola to Taylor Farm. I figured I'd take Lola there from 9 to 10, go to the gym from 10 to 11, then get ready to meet Elaine at 12.

First, I didn't get to the park by 9 because I got stuck in traffic by the new mall (The Sono Collection.)  I realized that my "plan" didn't include travel times back home and to the gym. I would have to shorten my time with Lola at the park. Then I felt guilty about that. It was supposed to rain later in the day, and be cold the next. This morning was the best time to get a good walk in with Lola.

I gave Lola a full hour at the park and blew off the gym. I figured I could wash my hair today instead of tomorrow, finish sorting the laundry, maybe write--at least start--a blog post before I left for lunch.

Well, that didn't work out so well either. I did wash and dry my hair, but didn't have enough time to even finish sorting the laundry.

When I called Elaine to tell her I was on my way, she said she forgot we had lunch plans.

Sigh. At least she was ready when I arrived.

After lunch, I got the food shopping done, finished sorting the laundry, and did a half hour of exercise.

That will have to be enough.

I'll have to do better tomorrow.

The End of the Road (Yellow Trail)

After I voted yesterday, I took Lola to Bradley Park in Wilton. We haven't been there in a while. My goal was to finish what I call the second yellow trail.

I think Lola was a bit impatient with me. She wanted to run down the trails. I was carefully stepping among the fallen leaves, tree roots, branches, and rocks. She slowed down when we were on flat terrain, and I could have sped up.

We started on the orange trail and went clockwise around the park. Lola started to turn down the first yellow trail. I pulled her back and continued to the second yellow trail on the bottom of this map. (If I count the yellow trails clockwise from the parking lot starting point, it is the fifth yellow trail.)

This was our third try, and we finally made it to Woodchuck Lane. It  had been too muddy on our previous attempts.

It was a lovely autumn walk.

Thinking about Spike

As we were walking along the NRVT on Sunday, I suddenly realized why I'd been thinking so much about Spike lately.

Today is his birthday; he would have been 19. Here are a few pictures of Spike from this blog through the years.

Spike was special; he is special. That's why he's the star of this blog with 169 posts so far.

I need to write his story.

Today is also Lola's designated half-way day. Since we don't know her real birthday, we chose May 5.

We're lucky to have shared our lives with these two special pups. 

Top of the List

Several weeks ago, I put myself on the Norwalk Library's waiting list for The Testaments, Margaret Atwood's sequel to The Handmaid's Tale. 

As I waited, I re-read The Handmaid's Tale and caught up on some magazines. Last Monday, I picked up two books at the Norwalk Library book sale. I started to read one, Wait Till Next Year: Doris Kearns Goodwin's memoir of growing up in Brooklyn as a Dodgers fan. At that time I was number three on the waiting list, I had only moved up one place since the previous week.

In effect, Goodwin's book was my pinch reading, until I could get The Testaments.

I love baseball terms.

Lola and Ruby

One of the pleasures of neighborhood walks is meeting some of the neighborhood dogs.  On one of our walks we met Ruby.

A few weeks ago, Jeff, Lola, and I were on one of our semi-regular late afternoon walks. We were heading up the Maple Street hill, walking into sun glare, when we saw a couple and a dog walking toward us.

"Is that a beagle?" Jeff asked.

I was thinking, could it be?

Yes, it was Ruby; we hadn't seen her in months.  I fumbled with my phone to snap a few pictures before we headed our separate ways.

An Art Fix

This week apparently was the start of artists' opening weekends: I've seen ads for at least two other groups holding open studios over the next few weeks.

This was the first: Stamford Loft Artists. Most of the studios were open and the artists served wine and appetizers. I talked with a few of the artists. One told me he doesn't use a brush when he paints. Instead he uses things like cut-up credit cards. Another had shelves of books, several about Paul Klee. I had never heard of him until a few weeks ago when he was named in a poem.

I got a kick out a sign I saw in one of the studios. I didn't take a picture of it, so I have to paraphrase it. Modern Art is something you can do, but you didn't. Obviously, the original sign was better worded.

We also met the cutest candidate for President of the United States.

Vote Canine!

Down to the Wire

It's November 1st. I made a goal that I would write 500 words a day in November in lieu of doing Nanowrimo.

I had a tutoring appointment today, the day before the SAT which is unusual. I had to prep for that, then write a report on that, and then enter my hours before I started working on my 500. I just made it by working on my last assignment for my WPA mural inspired writing course.

Whew.

Happy Halloween

We went to a Halloween Party  two weeks ago, we went to hauntings last weekend, and we get no trick-or-treaters. So, what do we do on Halloween? Watch scary movies, of course.

We started on Sunday afternoon, watching some vampire movies. Today I watched House on Haunted Hill, a William Castle classic.

Now it's Black Sunday, a gothic cult classic directed by Mario Bava with Barbara Steele in a dual role as a witch and her descendant. Now this is a good horror movie--atmospheric with good performances and no gore or torture.

Happy Halloween.

Autumn Saturday with Haunted Happenings

We hadn't heard of Cherry Lane Park until we saw it on a map on the Wilton loop of The Norwalk River Valley Trail (NRVT.) Last week after we walked the NRVT, we drove by Cherry Lane Park.

This past Saturday afternoon, Jeff, Lola, and I headed to the park (here's the trail map on page two.) We started on the orange trail, but got off on the blue-white trail which was too short. Then we found the orange trail again and continued our hike.

I call it a hike because it wasn't a smooth path like the NRVT. We had to navigate tree roots and acorns, and go up and down hills. I'm serious about the acorns: there were so many in places that it was dicey walking downhill.

We hiked for an hour. It was a beautiful autumn day, and Lola loved exploring all the new scents.

***

We've gone to the Haunting on Mill Hill for the last three years. This year Jeff told me about Haunted Victorian Ghost Stories at Lockwood-Mathews mansion. I asked which one he wanted to do. In typical Jeff fashion, he said "Why not both?"

Lockwood-Mathews: Haunted Victorian Ghost Stories

This was our first haunting of the evening. We walked around the first floor of the darkened mansion.  Early in the tour, a volunteer was reading a story and the tour guide screamed in my face: I was standing next to her. I'm proud to say I didn't react at all.

The ghost stories were good, but they suffered because the volunteers were reading them--and holding flashlights to see their scripts. That took me out of the moment. I liked that volunteers were hiding in the shadows. I recognized one guy among the mannequins before he started talking. Some were lying on the floors calling out, and there was a good use of piano to punctuate some of the stories.

The stories also suffered by attempts to include descriptions of odd things that happened at the mansion itself. These weren't particularly scary such as there was a sound of footsteps upstairs, but no one was there.

Overall, I thought the event was a bit too hokey.

A Haunting at Mill Hill 

I wouldn't have been as critical of the Lockwood-Mathews event if I hadn't been to A Haunting at Mill Hill. This was our fourth Haunting.

At Mill Hill, actors perform the stories--and they do it with relish. We started inside hearing one story, then we split into two groups and walked through the cemetery to learn about other deaths. This year including a funny story about two socialite sisters who died together. I also learned something: the term lobsterback for British soldiers.

Work in Progress

I forced myself to go to the gym Wednesday. I was exhausted Tuesday night, but didn't do the practical thing and go to bed early. I was posting and writing until midnight.

It wasn't that I got a late start on Wednesday (I was up by 6:30) but that I got off to a slow start. Before I knew it, it was 9:30. It would have been easy to blow off the gym: I would have done that a few weeks ago.

By the time I got to the gym. it was 10:15. It wasn't a particularly good workout, but it was a workout. I did better on Thursday: I was finished with my workout by 10:15. I also had a good workout today.

I've been prioritizing my workouts, which obviously has made a big difference in my gym attendance. I've also been prioritizing walks with Lola. I'd say our walks average 50-55 minutes. I want to take this time now before winter sets in, and it gets too cold for leisurely walks.

I finally got started on my new ACT manual. I've only had it since the end of August: just another example of me sabotaging myself. I start with a new ACT tutoring student next week; he's already taken an ACT course. That means I need to get my manual updated as well as figuring out additional material to cover with him. I had a similar experience with another student last winter (without a new manual to update) so at least I have some idea what to do.

I've been seriously considering doing nanowrimo this year. I had an idea to write a murder mystery set in a dog park. Now, I don't think it's  a good time for nanowrimo. I've got the ACT manual to do, ongoing major cleaning, organizing, and decluttering, finalizing (I hope) my mother's estate, financial planning, you get the picture. Even as I write this, I wonder if I'm just making excuses. This just might make me crazy.

If I do forgo nanowrimo, I have to do nablopomo, at least. Oh look, there's also a NaNonFiWriMo, National Nonfiction Writing Month. Pressure.

My last WPA mural inspired writing class is November 5. I want to keep writing. I can try for 500 words a day in addition to my blog posting. I failed when I tried to do that a few years ago, but at least it's doable: not as onerous as nanowrimo's 1667 words a day.

Now it's time to work on my story for my WPA mural class on Monday.

The State of the Estate: The Hearing

My nephew waited until the last day to request a hearing from the probate court. He didn't have to show any kind of reason to request a hearing, so we didn't know what to expect. Last night, I reviewed a list of expenses and documents I had to complete for my mother's long term care insurance.

He handed the judge a copy of a letter he wrote back in May requesting a complete accounting of everything my mother did financially from 2014 to 2019 that would "impact the beneficiaries" of her estate.

Every dollar she spent would, of course, impact the beneficiaries of her estate. Was she supposed to live in a shack or forgo medical treatment just to preserve her estate?

The judge told him this was outside the purview of the probate court (not in those exact words.) Probate is only concerned with the time after death.

I thought he would have researched this. Apparently not.

Working on Working Out

A few posts ago, I wrote about going to the gym three times in a week. Last week, I went four times. On the other three days of the week, I exercised at home for about a half hour. It had been four months since I went to the gym either three or four times a week,

I didn't expect to get to the gym on Sunday, so I did leg, chest, back, and ab work as well as cardio on Saturday. My Sunday tutoring student canceled, but I don't think it's worth going to the gym just for cardio. Yesterday I was finishing a story/essay for my writing class, and today I had a hearing about my mother's estate.

Tomorrow will be four days now since I've been to the gym. Not an insurmountable obstacle, but this is when it gets easy to forget about the gym, to just blow it off for another day, and then another.

Last year by this date, I  had been to the gym 69 times. This year, it's been 49. That's pitiful.

I'll go to the gym tomorrow and see if I can start a new trend.

Reading: What's On Deck

A few days after I finished my last book, White Fire, I put myself on the library waiting list for Margaret Atwood's sequel to The Handmaid's Tale,  The Testaments: I was number 16 on the list. Two weeks later I had risen to number 10. As of Monday, I was number four.

I wasn't sure how quickly I would rise through the list. At first, I focused on catching up on some magazines that had piled up. Then I decided to re-read The Handmaid's Tale--my fourth time. Now I'm not sure what to do. Maybe I'll pick up a book of essays (Virginia Woolf) or a collection of short stories (science fiction.) I just know that as soon as I get The Testaments, I want to concentrate on that.

About Last Week

The week started with me editing a story for my writing class. The library was closed for Rosh Hashanah, so I had two weeks to write a story inspired by the WPA oystering murals by Alexander Rummler. I had an idea for my story shortly after receiving the assignment. I wrote most of the story last weekend. On Monday, I edited it and read it in class. It was very well-received--people thought it was a true story. All of the stories were good--even better than the agriculture-focused stories in our previous assignment. I am really enjoying this class.

I also wrote four blog posts last week. This included two posts about our wedding getaway three weeks ago.

I went to the gym three times. It's been months since I've made it at least three times a week. I exercised here three times. Of course, I'm walking Lola every day. Our average walk is around 50 minutes. We've been fortunate with nice weather and need to take advantage of it. Last Monday I saw the (or a) hawk at Oyster Shell Park. It was too far away for me to get a picture before the hawk flew off.

We had a small last DPF of the year.

On Saturday, Jeff, Lola, and I walked on the NRVT from Wilton Center through Merwin Meadows Park to School Road and back again. I suggested we stop at the Red Rooster Pub afterward: photo here. I figured it could be our last opportunity to have a drink outside this season.

I finished the week at a reception for the Autumn exhibition at the Rowayton Arts Center. That could be my first artist date in years.

Overall, it was a good week. My biggest fails were in housework and prep work for my ACT Manual.

Keep on trying.

The Eternal DPF Optimist

That's how I described myself to Jeff last night.

Jeff wondered yesterday if it were too late in the season for DPF, but I was game. It's been a bleak few days, but yesterday wasn't bad, around 60 degrees. Plus I promised Lola that we were going to DPF when we visited the vet. I didn't expect many people, but I expected to see John, Jen, and Chris (with Katie and Indy.) I hoped to see Nick and Lauren (with Ellis.) We only saw Chris and Indy. Indy first appeared by herself; she likes to roam a bit.

Jeff and I brought wine, but we didn't bother to open it. If it had been a screwtop, I would have. We could have had a toast. Chris and Jeff were sure it was the last DPF of the season. It was dark by 6:30; next week it will be dark even earlier.

I'm holding on to this: a DPF in November. I guess that was just a one-time thing.

I mentioned last night that our first DPF this season was April 19 with just Jeff, Chris, and me with Lola and Indy. This post has a photo. I guess it's full circle that it was the five of us at the last DPF. Jeff took this photo last night.

Good bye DPF until next spring.

Book 18: White Fire

I loved this book. I spent a few hours last Friday morning finishing it when I should have been doing other practical things. I couldn't wait to find out what happened.

White Fire somehow combines a sadistic arsonist/murderer, a 150 year old mystery, poisonings, FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast, Corrie Swanson in a major role, Arthur Conan Doyle, and a missing Sherlock Holmes story.

This is one of Preston and Child's best books.

Wedding Getaway: The Wineries

Here is one of my worst frustrations about this trip. About two months before the wedding, I was looking online and found a great brochure that listed antique places, hiking trails, distilleries, wineries, breweries, and cideries in the Hudson Valley. I had planned to compare it to a county map to figure out what would be reasonable to visit. 

Unfortunately, I didn't download it or print it when I first saw it. I could never find it again. The things I did find were limited (a list of antique places) or unable to download. I figured I would find lots of brochures and maps once I got into the area. That was not the case until we were headed home. 

We decided to take Route 9W home; Jeff remembered reading about wineries on this road. After passing through Catskill, we drove through sparsely populated areas, by abandoned industrial sites, and through Saugerties for what seemed like hours. Then I saw a sign for El Paso Winery (Funny name for a winery in New York.) There was a deck off the tasting room. It would have been nice to have a glass of wine and maybe some cheese out there. Unfortunately, the winery wasn't dog friendly, and it was too hot to leave Lola in the car. Jeff and I separately tasted two wines each, and I bought a bottle of the peach sangria. 

We pulled into a second winery whose name escapes me, but it was closed for a wedding. Too bad, it looked very nice. Someone told us about a cidery down the road, but we didn't see anything. Later I saw a sign for a distillery. It must have been the place to turn, because I never saw another sign. 

Our next stop was Kedem Winery. I was concerned its wines would be sweet, but it offered several wines from around the world. We bought a few bottles of Israeli wine.

Shortly after Kedem, we decided against a visit to another winery and continued south. Jeff wanted to try one more winery. A circuitous route led us to Palaia Vineyards. Some kind of music event was going on. Palaia also has a restaurant, but we were able to sit outside with Lola to taste some wines. Lola attracted attention from some passersby, including a woman whose son lives in Norwalk and goes to Taylor Farm. 

We left Palaia and continued home to end our getaway. 

Wedding Getaway: The Hikes

We hiked every day on our getaway. On the first day, we made a quick stop at Lovers Leap State Park and later hiked at Kent Falls. It's a short walk up the falls (a quarter mile) but steep.

The next day we visited Millerton, checked out the Antique Center, Harney & Sons Tasting Room, and hiked along the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. Here are a few shots along the trail. Jeff and I liked the arrangement of rocks.

.

The next day after checking out Reed Street and Riverside Park in Coxsackie, we headed to Kaaterskill Falls.  Signage to/at the park was rudimentary. We found an empty space in a parking lot, but learned from a visitor that there was an uphill climb to the falls (okay) but we'd have to wall along a winding path along the side of the road. I was unsure about navigating that with Lola. The visitor said there was another trail from the top of the hill, so we headed there. 

We walked from a Historic Society building along another rail trail (not as easy a hike as Harlem Valley, but relatively easy for the most part.) It was a 3.6 mile walk. As we approached the fall lookout, we realized there was a parking lot about .3 miles from the lookout. D'oh.

Here's a photo of the falls. 

I must admit that I expected more. Someone said I should have gone in the spring. We enjoyed the hike, but were a bit disappointed in the falls.

 On Saturday, Jeff researched Hannacroix Falls just north of the wedding site. We got off to a late start and had to pick up sandwiches and salad for the wedding party. Jeff set the timer on his phone to 15 minutes, so we could turn around and get the sandwiches on time. After lunch we checked out a short hike at Four Mile Point Preserve and walked around Riverside Park. 

We returned to Hannacroix Falls on Sunday for about an hour. Unfortunately, I didn't get very good photos, but we got a new hike on our last day away. 

A "Wasted" Week

Around Thursday I was thinking that this week was a waste. Later I decided that was only partially true.

I should have done much more cleaning and chores. I cleaned the bathroom, including washing the bathroom rug, and did the daily dishes. I pre-washed my new jeans before wearing them, and did the weekly laundry.

I talked myself out of going to the gym from Sunday through Friday, though I did go on Saturday. Otherwise, all I've done for the past three weeks was walking/hiking with Lola. I told myself yesterday that I had to return to my goal of working out at least one half hour a day besides walks. I already missed that goal (I stretched for maybe five minutes.)

I started the week on the a writing roll: two posts and a start of another. My writing class was off because the library was closed last Monday. I really enjoyed our last class and felt inspired the next day. While I wrote stories in my head, I didn't even start to put them on paper until Thursday. I wrote most of the story yesterday, and added and revised today. Annoying because it would have been better if I had written it down earlier, leaving me more time to revise.

I took a friend out to lunch. She doesn't drive, and she doesn't get out often. I enjoy getting together. and she likes to get out, so it's a win.

So the week wasn't all that bad; I just have to make it better.

Acknowledgement

In my last post about the Mets, I said that the game was a microcosm of the whole season.

On Monday I watched Fast Forward, an hour version of the game with highlights (or lowlights.)

On the replay, I heard Gary Cohen say the game was a microcosm of the season. I apologize Gary. I didn't realize I'd stolen that from you.

162

Yesterday was the Mets last game of the regular season and unfortunately the entire season. The game was a microcosm of the whole season's highs and lows.

The Braves scored first. The Mets pulled ahead in the bottom of the first 3-1. The Braves tied it up in the fourth. Joe Panik homered for the Mets in the eighth. Adeiny Hechavarria responded in the top of the ninth; he hit his second homer in the top of the 11th. I'm sure he was happy to get some kind of revenge against the Mets who released him earlier this season. This was immediately followed by another homer by Adam Duvall. The score was 6-4 in the middle of the 11th.

I was wondering why I had invested so much time in this game. How could Noah Syndergaard be so good and so bad simultaneously? How bad could the Mets bullpen be? I didn't want to end the season on a bad note. Even with a loss, the Mets would still win the series. But it was too little, too late: meaningless.

On to the bottom of the 11th a single, an out, a single, an out. Dominic Smith came to the plate for his first at bat in two months. On the second pitch, he hit a three-run walk-off homer.

My time watching the game paid off. I could be happy with the end of the game: a walk off homer, a series sweep, a record 10 games over .500.

Wait until next year.

Book 17: Lincoln in the Bardo

I took me a while to finish this book. I read less over the past month than I did in previous months. I usually like multiple points of view, but I didn't get the narrative structure at first. I didn't understand who the narrators were. I didn't understand the concept of "bardo."

Overall I enjoyed the book, though it was weird.

Requiem for the Mets

The Mets season officially continues until Sunday, but it basically ended last night. Even though the Mets won, so did Milwaukee and that eliminated the Mets from a post-season opportunity.

What can I say? It's been a rough year: many ups and downs, many times to believe and many times to curse a broken heart.

The Mets had been declared dead several times during the season.

They kept coming back. I have to give them credit for that.  But they ran out of gas.

Jacob deGrom had a second incredible year and should win his second consecutive Cy Young award.

Pete Alonso hit 51 home runs (so far) surpassing the Mets single season record.

Jeff McNeill had a wonderful year with a .318 batting average, 23 home runs, and 75 RBI's. Unfortunately, that season ended when he was hit with a pitch last night and suffered a fractured wrist.

Amed Rosario improved both offensively and defensively to become a legit major league shortstop.

J.D. Davis was an excellent addition to the club, and Michael Conforto hit 33 home runs. In fact, this year was the first in Mets history in which five players hit 20 or more home runs (Alonso, Comforto, McNeil, Frazier, and Davis.)

Back to what can I say? With all these positives, the Mets aren't going to the post-season. They've had two years with arguably the best pitcher in baseball, and the Mets have a losing record when deGrom starts.

It's inexplicable.

All I can do is wait till next year. I hope it's not too late.

Wedding Getaway: The Wedding

Last weekend we went to West Coxsackie, New York for our niece's wedding. Lindsay wanted a barn wedding; I didn't know that was a thing. Of course, I'm not up on wedding trends. I was happy this destination wedding was somewhere we could drive to, and that we could take Lola with us.

The wedding was held at Owls Hoot Barn (a translation of the town's name.) We stayed on site in a house--very convenient.

Owls Hoot offers three outdoor wedding sites. Lindsay and Chris chose a spot on a bridge. It was sunny and warm (around 80) so we were given fans. They wrote their own vows and used a lock as part of their ceremony. I didn't expect to cry, but I did: a beautiful ceremony.

The cocktail hour offered his and her tacos and his and her drinks (Tequila Sunrise and Rose Moscow Mule respectively) among other selections.

The reception was held in the barn which was beautifully decorated with flowers and lights. The food was delicious, and the disk jockey had everyone dancing.

I didn't take any pictures. I'm sure there will be several--this is a couple who had proposal and engagement shoots.

Here's one shot I took on the grounds:

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Jeff and I both had frustrating days--worse for him because it's his birthday and he had to work all day. My frustrations were minor, but they were the kind that could easily derail my day if I let them. I didn't.

We had Jeff's birthday dinner at Peaches. We had only been there once as part of the Norwalk's Lit Crawl, but we didn't eat.

Tonight we shared catfish tacos. Jeff had chicken wings and fried green tomatoes; I had a chicken pesto bowl. We came home for dessert. I had purchased two small desserts: chocolate mousse cake for Jeff and carrot cake for me.

Happy Birthday Jeff. I love you.

A Summery Start to Autumn

It's the first day of fall, and temperatures in Norwalk hit 90 degrees. This is especially weird because we had a few fall-like days over the past few weeks: I woke up to 45 degrees on Thursday.

Jeff, Lola, and I returned from our wedding getaway--mini-vacation last night around 6:30. We were away for five days. It may be our only getaway for the year. (We've talked about going away for Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure that will work.)

I want to write about many things we saw/did this weekend: a wedding, wineries, hiking. I'll probably spread these topics out over a few posts.

Today I took a writing class (want to write about that too) and had a tutoring appointment. Tomorrow is a trip to the dentist (not like Veronica's) and another tutoring appointment. Jeff's birthday is Wednesday. Thursday I'm meeting the buyer/mover of furniture for Jeff's mother's apartment and officially surrendering the unit. I need to firm up other tutoring appointments and revise my ACT manual. I have to get the bathtub drain unplugged and get my PC's internal mouse fixed. Then there's the usual: laundry, chores, and food shopping.

I'd like another getaway next week, please.

A Dress Success

We celebrated our anniversary yesterday and left today for a getaway. We are at Interlaken Inn for tonight, courtesy of two gift certificates we received for Christmas. We took a kind of shortcut in New Milford. It was a longer distance, but probably a shorter time. Lola seemed antsy after about an hour in the car, so we made a quick stop at Lovers Leap State Park. This was our first visit, and luckily Lovers Leap is dog-friendly.

Next we stopped in Kent. I had told Jeff I was hoping to miraculously find a dress for the wedding. (I wasn't happy with the dress I bought online.) Our first stop was Foreign Cargo. I've enjoyed Foreign Cargo in the past, but I hadn't had much luck there recently.

Things worked out for me today.  I saw a dress on the porch that could work. Naturally it was a small. (I wonder if I ever fit into a small.) Inside the store, I found the dress in my size. I love the dress, even if I'm not so crazy about the body in it. Sigh.

I had packed jewelry to go with my original dress and wish I had a few more things. At least, I have two sets of earrings that will work. The new dress is dressier than the first and kind of sparkly, so I don't need a necklace at all.

After all my frustrated shopping attempts, it's nice to claim a success.

31

Today is not a milestone anniversary, but every one is worth celebrating. I spent about half the day packing for our getaway/wedding trip. Our niece is getting married in upstate New York on Saturday.

When Jeff got home from work, we took Lola for a walk before heading out to Tengda in Darien for dinner. It was delicious, but I ate too much. I only ordered appetizers, and they were generous. I brought some leftovers home,

Tomorrow we head up to Interlaken Inn for a night.

New Writing Class

I signed up for a writing class this summer but didn't make it to even one session. I'm happy that I started another class yesterday. This is my fourth class with Kim; she's encouraging and supportive. The work of her students is inspiring.

The focus for this class is on the Norwalk WPA murals. Of course, that's right up my alley. Today we got background information for Ralph Bloom, Norwalk historian. Later we had a writing exercise using one of the Gruelle paintings illustrating A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It was fun to hear the different takes on the paintings.

The homework assignment is to take inspiration from Rummler's farm murals. Let's see how that goes.

Mets Beat the Dodgers Tonight

It's been a lot of ups and downs for the Mets this week. After losing the series to the Phillies in a Sunday night game, the Mets swept the the Diamondbacks in a four game series.

I was upset at last night's loss to the Dodgers 9-2. I couldn't watch anymore so I did the dinner dishes. (Note to self--watch bad Mets games to get inspired to clean.)

Tonight the Mets won 3-0; a pitchers' dual until the bottom of the eighth when Rajai Davis hit a three run double to score all the runs the Mets needed.

As usual, deGrom was awesome; as usual the Mets didn't score for him. But we got the win. We're still alive. Can this be the beginning of a new winning streak?

LGM.

The State of the Estate

Yesterday I signed accounting paperwork for my mother's estate. I thought I was at the end of the road. It's more accurate to say it's the beginning of the end. The paperwork will be sent to the probate court. The court will send the information to the will's beneficiaries who have a few weeks in which they can request a hearing. 

In our lawyer's experience, no one has requested a hearing. I have a selfish, litigious nephew, so I don't know. A hearing will delay the distribution of the proceeds, so there's that. In addition, I contributed money to the estate that I could have claimed as mine, because the bank accounts were in my mother's and my name. My mother intended the monies would be shared. I doubt my nephew would have honored my mother's wishes if it had been up to him. 

I'll be glad when this is all over. 

Class Dismissed--ACT Version

Today was the last session of my ACT class--just over a month since it started. We met Saturday and Sunday afternoons with a break for Labor Day weekend.

I'm glad the class is over--nothing against this class or its students--it's just been a busy summer. I just have a few tutoring students to schedule in the next month.

I've made a decent amount of money the past month. Plus I admit that my mother's death has put me in a good place financially. I don't have to worry about money right now.

I have to do some work related to the accounting for my mother's estate this weekend. Next weekend I have a tutoring appointment and I'm proctoring a test.  In between, I can work on the new ACT manual.

I also need to do some shopping to find a dress for my niece's wedding in two weeks. I bought two dresses online: I'll return one. I think the other is too casual for the wedding. It's frustrating. I'll have to figure out something--soon.