They Grow Them Big In California

Locust?

Somehow, calling this a grasshopper sounds too small, so I'm calling this a locust. Thank you to LeeAnne W. for lending her fingers so you can see how big this sucker is. He was sunning himself on a chaise lounge at the pool this morning. It was only about 77 F. then so maybe he was warming up. It's at 106 F. now. The humidity is up a bit to 20% (versus 13%).

Friday

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Saturday

Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun ... Here it's hotter around 3 p.m. and we have had another 109 F. day. Our big excursion was this morning out to CVS to get sunscreen and other exciting things.

As we were leaving, I saw a woman carrying a Starbucks cup and, of course, I had to have one. Mom said, "Can you afford Starbucks?!" and my retort was, "I'm on vacation!" I'm not sure that makes sense to anyone except us but she dutifully got into the drive up window line at Starbucks.

"We want an iced decaf with cream only."

"What drink do you want?"

"Iced decaf with cream only."

"But what do you want as the drink?"

"Coffee."

"We don't have iced coffee. But you could have an iced Americano."  

At this point, I'm feeling like Rick in Casablanca -- frustrated.

"Fine."

"Okay, that's one iced Americano grande. Do you want anything else?"

I wanted to scream, "Just give me the fucking coffee!!" but I didn't and said, "No, thank you." 

So they may not serve iced coffee but an Americano, iced, sure tastes like iced coffee.  

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You know the phrase, 'The names of fools are oft found in public places,'? This fool was on the front page of the Amherst Bulletin. Scot (the reporter) asked if I remembered what I was doing during the moon landing. Of course I did. Unfortunately, he did not remember that we were standing in the Amherst Senior Center -- the paper said Hadley. And I worked for the main (telephone company) Boston long distance office, not the Maine-Boston office. Oh well. 

Today, Saturday, is the actual anniversary of the walk on the moon and I must admit, I'm tired of hearing about it. I would rather have respect for this country as we did 50 years ago. Rather than looking back, we must be looking forward.

And I am looking forward to when I won't be ashamed of our government.

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Sunday

We saw two coyotes today. We were sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen and looked out the window to see two coyotes trotting by. One stopped to go onto J and J's patio which is surrounded by a hedge. I wonder if he sniffed their grill or if he sniffed a bunny. 

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We went to Phil's birthday party during Happy Hour at the Agua Caliente Casino.

Tina Louise (AKA Tina #1) is on the left. I am Tina #4 because I didn't like 2 or 3. Tina is the prime organizer of these birthdays, happy hours, and informative luncheons. In fact, she was collecting money to see "Elvis" at the end of  September. I thought it sounded like a good show, but I will be long gone and in Massachusetts.

Of course, after the party, Mom and I went in to gamble. I lost $15. Oh well. It was still 109 F. when we came out, but there was a breeze. A hot breeze. I had never experienced that before. It was as if I were standing in front of an open door of a clothes dryer that was running. Hot breeze. Sounds like a new drink.

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Monday

Today should be interesting since it's partly cloudy but much more humid. We are expecting thunderstorms.

LeeAnne and I are going to Planet Fitness today. Wish me luck.

Well, I survived the gym even though my body told me I have never done this before and you are hot and hurting, bla, bla, bla ...

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From a newsletter written by Theresa Hanafin, Boston Globe:

The Old Farmer's Almanac says the expression getting off "scot-free" has nothing to do with Scottish people. Rather, it's from the Old Norse word "skot," which was a municipal tax dating back to the 13th century. Someone who was exempt from paying this tax was said to be skot(scot)-free. It eventually came to be used to refer to anyone who got away with stuff.

Like allegedly sexually assaulting 20+ women, cheating taxpayers out of millions of dollars, stiffing scores of small contractors, obstructing a federal investigation. Interesting. I always thought that was called getting off trumpfree.       

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It's still Monday and I got nuthin'. I'm going to make some eggplant parm -- with Mexican cheese which has less salt than parmesan -- in the microwave and steak for lunch. 

I hope you all are not suffering with the heat wave. As someone who broke a sweat brushing her teeth today, I'm not a good person to ask if it's hot. It is very humid today, certainly not by Massachusetts standards, but definitely over the top for the desert. 

Keep cool and keep smiling! (Or at least keep your frowns to yourself. Don't you hate it when someone tells you to smile?) Cheers.

Hamlet

I watched the National Theatre production of Hamlet (with Cumberbatch) at the movies last night. (Monday)

Wow. First of all, it was in modern dress, which surprised me because I hadn't noticed it on the trailers. But that was a good thing because, often when I watch period pieces, the costumes distract me. I look at the yards and yards of fabric and wonder how heavy or hot the costume is and I linger on the detail and workmanship. None of those distractions here.

Cumberbatch has Hamlet's hysteria and suffering down pat. I was exhausted after some of his protracted outbursts. He and the other cast members managed to play the humorous parts (yes, there are some) broadly, inducing belly laughs.

At first, I was not impressed with the woman who played Ophelia. But when she entered the stage as "Mad Ophelia," she owned it. I have never seen such a convincing portrayal of insanity. 

And when Hamlet's mother announced Ophelia's death (whom she had hoped would become a daughter in law), the actress was really crying with tears and stuff dripping from her nose. All in all, the cast was great.

Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the production.

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A couple of days ago after lunch (Wednesday?), Nancy Wight invited me to her house to paint. I was (and am) thrilled because she had the canvas, acrylic paints, and even a table top easel. I was in heaven in her kitchen while she painted around the corner at her draftsman easel.  Here's what I came up with after a couple of hours.

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It occurs to me that I never showed you the pictures from my July 3rd Tanglewood soiree.

This is how we viewed James Taylor. He really is way to the left of this under The Shed.

Here's the crowd from my seat about a half hour before the performance began.

Here's most of our merry band in picnic mode. Three more women, including myself, are not in the picture.

Thank you again to Nancy Pagano (white outfit with sunglasses) for being the organizer for this trip!

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Here is the famous Stop and Shop robot. I think he's really a busy body. I wonder if he can "listen." I may have to try bad mouthing the store and see if an employee comes running up to offer me a complimentary steak or something. Ha!

Speaking of really nice complimentary offers: I got an email from Amherst Coffee and it said, 'We haven't seen you in a while, so come back for a free coffee.'  Woo hoo! I am there ... maybe I'll do that today. 
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Yesterday (Saturday), Nancy W. and I went to the Forbes Library in Northampton to see the Plein Air Society exhibit which consists of art from 30 of their 70 members.

The works of art were all gorgeous and all media were employed. I got to see Val Steinberg's fabulous water colors again and I fell in love with paintings by Steve Schneider. He was there (as was Val) and I got to tell them both how much I liked their work. I did not see the thought bubble over their heads saying, 'So why don't you buy some?' which was a relief.

(Going by the prices I saw there, my little ditty up above would be priced at $300. Ha!)

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I have learned a new game at the Senior Center! Well, it's new to me. It's called Mexican Train Dominoes and it's fun.

It's usually fun. On Friday there was one lady who couldn't see and couldn't hear so she had a 'helper' who really played for her. But she seemed to enjoy being there. And there were the two ladies who got into a verbal altercation about where they should sit and who would have to reach the most to place their tiles. I was worried that one would hit the other with her walker, but we avoided physical violence.

I am so happy that I bought a Sr. Ctr. sticker for my car. For $25, I can park in the Bangs Lot for free Monday through Friday when the Senior Center is open. In California, the Mizell Senior Center has a large, free, parking lot but they ask you to join for $25/year. You can use the center without joining but they add a dollar to the lunch donation.

Speaking of which, from what I saw, they are religious at Mizell about collecting the lunch donation. Here in Amherst, I only see 3 or 4 people out of about 15 to 20 who actually put in their $3 donation.

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I've got to go and walk Brownie, the beagle next door. But I will leave you this Palm Spring sunrise from last winter. I'll be heading out there this coming Thursday.  Cheers!

Woo Hoo!

On Friday, a lady danced up to the bain marie where I was serving the senior luncheon. The radio was playing a salsa tune in the background. I served up her 'picnic' of chicken salad, cukes, tomatoes, and cut up cantaloupe.

"Obligado."
"De nada."

Excitedly, she asked if I spoke Portuguese or Spanish. (She spoke in Portuguese.) I told her I speak a little Spanish (in Spanish) and that my grandmother was Portuguese. I said she was from the Azores. This woman told me that her grandmother was from Cape Verde.

"Ah," I said. "No wonder you are dancing -- Cape Verdeans love to dance!" I joined her in a bit of dancing before she sat to eat her lunch. I love serving lunch at the Senior Center because I never know what I will encounter. (This encounter was after a guy said he would fire me because I wouldn't run to McDonald's to get him a burger, lol.)

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Yesterday we had our first heat wave of the season. That's when the temperature hits 90 F. or above at least three days in a row. I don't think we hit 90 today but it sure was/is humid! We had a pretty powerful thunderstorm, but it's only drizzling a bit now.

Speaking of powerful, my heart goes out to those who suffered a 7.1 on the Richter scale (after one the previous day) in California. Mom is hundreds of miles away, but she still felt a rolling of the floor. Ugh.

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I went to see Renoir: Revered and Reviled at the Amherst Cinema today. I had no idea he had been reviled, but the critics were beyond harsh. They mainly did not like his later works which consisted of many nudes. Somebody said the women looked like they didn't have a brain in their head. How can you tell from a portrait, clothed or nude, whether a woman is intelligent or not? I thought that was a really stupid comment. Others commented on his "objectification of women." What I saw in his nudes is a guy who really knew how to paint and who really loved women!

I was thrilled to see a black and white movie of Renoir as he painted, sitting in a wheel chair. But my heart hurt for him when I saw his horribly twisted hands which had fallen prey to rheumatoid arthritis. My movie companion told me that at the end of his life, his aide taped a paintbrush to his hand.

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Flash notice: Wednesday is Pina Colada Day. So here's Escape (aka The Pina Colada Song) for you: https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-iba-1&hsimp=yhs-1&hspart=iba&p=pina+colada+song#id=8&vid=4082cf716a5b88bb92eb6ca7ded71e36&action=view

I glanced at this as it started playing to see that the lyrics must have been written by a third grader, since I saw two grammatical errors in 20 seconds. But the words are mostly there for you if you wish to sing along.

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Just when I find something I really like, it goes away. I really like the HMM (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries) channel and they decided to make it "Christmas in July."  Ugh. I don't even like sappy Christmas movies at Christmastime, never mind July.

Which is why I ended up watching "The War" on an unknown channel. It stars Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood and was made in 1994. I liked it a lot -- and wish I had seen the beginning. It's about a very poor Viet Nam vet and his family while they struggle to survive and overcome his ptsd. I highly recommend it.


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I went to the Jones Library Stitchery Club today and Jess was VERY patient with me showing me a way to cast on so that you 'knit' it on. I'm not very good at it, but I'm going to keep trying.

Another woman picked it right up. I had noticed earlier that everything I said, if it was my opinion, she contradicted. And she wanted to make sure that I knew she was right. It was most unpleasant.

Since my retirement, I don't "do" conflict, but I will not be manipulated. I had 30 years of that while I was working and that was enough.

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Did I tell you how wonderful it was to hear James Taylor at Tanglewood on July 3? It was great. We had a modern coach bus and it took us about an hour and a half to get there. We had all brought a picnic but Nancy P. (the overachiever) also brought two tables and re-usable plates and a couple of salads. Others brought more food to share and a candleabra with candles that dripped very artistically.

The weather was perfect, although it was a bit hot until the sun went down, but I had brought my sun umbrella so I did not crisp. The music was great, the company was nice, and I was so glad that I did not have to drive! We sat in traffic a long time trying to leave Tanglewood. We got back to our cars about 1 a.m. and since the bus had left at 3:30 p.m., it was a long day. But it was a good tired!

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I'm off now to buy tickets for Hamlet starring Cumberbatch (National Theatre). It's tomorrow night, but we don't want to risk a sold out theatre.

Then it's off to the gym to make it two in a row. O.k. so I haven't been in a while. Actually, it has been so long that there is a whole new crew of teenagers at the front desk ...

Cheers!