Saturday, February 23, 2008

How I Spent My Day

Well, I've had a lovely day out and about on my own in Santa Barbara. Joe was off even before I woke up to a racquetball game. Alice Nan and I puttered around in our separate ends of the house till she finally went to work, leaving me with the monumental task of waiting for the refrigerator repair guy to show up. The appointment was "any time between 8 a.m. and noon." We all know what THAT means, right?

Bzzt. Wrong! The guy showed up at 8:15 and was gone by 8:30, having fixed the refrigerator door, which wouldn't close unless you lifted up on it. This is particularly funny because this is a brand new refrigerator which they bought because the old refrigerator had a door that wouldn't close unless you kicked it. But now it closes and you don't have to lift it or kick it. They are happy people.

The guy was so quick and so efficient the stores in town weren't even open yet, so I futzed around here until after 10, reading and doing I don't know what all. Then I headed over to the mall to buy wrapping paper so I can wrap the stuff I'm taking to the shower (I figured I didn't need to do that before I left home, so it wouldn't get crushed in transit). I also stopped at Borders, hoping to get a copy of "Schuyler's Monster" to bring to my friend Gerry, who was fixing my dinner, but their copies (they will have two, I was informed) hadn't arrived yet.

Next, I decided to treat myself to lunch on the beach, so I drove down into Santa Barbara, drove past Tom & Laurel's house (but didn't stop because I knew they would be at work), and then wended my way around and found a little fish place right on the beach itself, overlooking the busy touristy part. I sat there in a semi-open air dining area (it was tented, but birds still flew through--and you could feel the cold air from the ocean) and watched the pelicans glide along the water, so close you could imagine their bellies getting hit by a stray wave, while I waited for my fish & chips.

After I finished lunch, I walked down along the beach for a bit and watched some seagulls having a bath in a little inlet of water and a guy struggling to get what I guess is a parasail to hold wind so he could wind surf. I watched him for quite a long time and he never did get out into the water.

On my way back to the car, I ran into four people from Kent (England), who were taking each other's pictures. I offered to take a group shot for them, which pleased them greatly. Somehow in the process, I lost the little camera case for my own camera (it was just a black cloth case, but it was padded and it had a strap on it, which I thought I had looped over my arm, but apparently had not). I was sorry to lose it because it was just the perfect size, but I knew that the wind was blowing so hard that if it had fallen off my arm, it was long gone by the time I realized I couldn't find it!

Next I drove into downtown, hoping to check for "Schuyler's Monster" in Borders there, but forget parking (or driving) in downtown Santa Barbara. It's definitely not worth the hassle. Besides, Gerry had told me she never reads anything that isn't "relevant" and I feared she wouldn't feel that Rob's story of his daughter would be relevant enough for her, at least not relevant enough to warrant the hassle of finding a place to stash the car so I could roam the streets of downtown Santa Barbara.

So next I drove to a mall near where Walt's mother lives and went to Rite Aid, where I hoped they had camera bags. The woman in the camera department did not speak fluent English and had never heard the term "camera bag."

I also stopped at Michael's (craft store) and bought more wrapping stuff--probably more than I will need, but we will be back for another shower next month. There is always a temptation to go wild and crazy in Michael's, which would be ridiculous since I almost never do anything "crafty," but I always think that if I had the materials I would. Fortunately, I restrained myself.

Finally, it was 2 p.m. and Alice Nan had said that her mother was generally at her brightest around 2 p.m., so I drove to the Assisted Living facility and spent about 2 hours there. The first hour went well. She looked better than I'd seen her in a long time and we chatted quite a bit, but she obviously tired during the second hour because she started getting confused asking me, for example, what I'd thought of Kansas when I came through it on the train and then surprised when I told her I hadn't been in Kansas. She also said that she didn't like Obama or Clinton and would probably vote Republican and when I asked, incredulously, if she would vote for McCain, she asked who that was and then said she didn't know anything about him. This is a savy woman who follows politics closely, so that's when I knew that she was really getting tired and decided it was time for me to leave.

Trader Joe's is near the facility, so I decided to stop in and see about picking up food for my return trip. I love that place. People in Santa Barbara don't know how lucky they are. There are three Trader Joe's in this town and we have to drive 20-25 miles to find one near us! I did manage to get food to bring with me, plus wine and flowers to bring to Dick and Gerry, and some wine for Alice and Joe (which I bought solely because of the label, which you'll see when I get home and can get to my photos).

And finally, I ended up at Dick & Gerry's in time for their scheduled 5 p.m. coffee which preceded the 6 p.m. martini hour, which was followed by watching the news on TV and then a delicious dinner. We had a wonderful visit, aided by a little in vino veritas and it was about 10 p.m. when I left.

Alice and I sat up reliving our days and planning for the shower tomorrow, then she went off to bed, I came in here and have now finished writing this journal entry. This is my day in toto and you were there to share every bloomin' moment of it with me, whether you wanted to or not!!!

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