Friday, January 18, 2008

I continue to be surprised at the speed with which days pass when you have nothing to do. This morning, I was planning to head for Guaymas at 9 a.m. with Chantal - but I woke up realizing that it was Friday already, and Friday is library day - so I put off the Guaymas trip for a few minutes and walked to the park next door. There is a woman who volunteers there - I haven't got her name yet - whose taste in books is pretty well identical to mine. I knew that, because I had heard her talking to someone last week. So I approached her today and said "I need your help. I read The Kite Runner last week, then tried to read The Devil Wears Prada, and I just couldn't do it. It was nothing but fluff. I need another life-changing book. She understood completely, and we had a great tour of the shelves. Have you read this? Yes. Have you read that? Yes. Have you read anything by Barbara Kingsolver? Oh, yes. "You're going to be a hard case, I can tell. You like all the same books I do." Heh.

After a few minutes, I came out of the library with William Styron's Sophie's Choice, which I've long wanted, but been afraid, to read, and books by Joyce Carol Oates and E.L. Doctorow. I returned the favour by recommending Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance. I know my mentor will love it.

Then came the bus trip to Guaymas, the successful hunt for cazuelas, beans, chiles, cilantro and oregano, the fruitless search for sticky-backed hooks and raw shelled peanuts, and the thirsty trip home. I washed the cilantro, seasoned the cazuelas, ate a lunch of tortillas, beans, and pico de gallo, read a bit of Sophie's Choice, and took a nap. By then it was 2:30, time for a walk on the beach.

Pelicans. Half a dozen of them, splashing and diving and making lots of noise. They were being so raucous, I nearly missed the same number of dolphins appearing and disappearing, appearing and disappearing in the water behind them. I was so entertained by this dance that I walked farther than I had intended, but I'm very glad I was there to see it.

Back at the rv, I finally managed to get on line, and I was just about to post here when Chantal came to the door to ask if I would trim the back of her hair - of course. Then Robin turned up to ask if we were ready to play bocce, so once the haircut was done, we followed him and Roger to the other end of the park, where Robin and Chantal made short work of Roger and me.

Now it's time to cook dinner. How do I find time to go to work when I'm at home?

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