Still Married--With Cake!

We had a lovely day yesterday.  We found a bison ornament at Taylor Creek, strolled through Sam's and Copps, then went to Prime Quarter for steaks for supper.  (does it say "old" that our anniversary activities were shopping and eating?  probably, but we enjoyed being together, that's all that counts)  We told our waitress that it was our anniversary and she brought cake.  Mediocre cake, true, but still... CAKE! and she and another waitress and one of the strolling helper chefs sang us a Happy Anniversary song.  It was nice.  Today's Photo a Day theme is "looking up" and I took it literally, waited for the barest hint of sunrise, and looked up with the camera.  I looked up both East and West and couldn't pick one so here's both. (I am in love with the sky these days--clouds, moon, sunrise & set, stars--I think I need a better camera)  Oh, one of Durwood's pals drove by the other day and thought we'd had a grandchild or other happy something because of the "stork" in the yard.  Tsk, it's a FLAMINGO, silly, storks are white with long yellow beaks.  Totally different birds.  Totally.  That made me want to get the palm tree out there too but there were no yellow or green light strings at Taylor Creek.  I keep thinking of ways to make the palm tree lighter both so I can carry it and so it's not so easy to blow over.  I'm thinking I'll jigsaw out the centers of the fronds and triangular spaces in the trunk so that the lights can outline them; it'd lose a lot of weight plus let the wind blow through.  If I can find yellow and green lights.  Maybe K-Mart...  Everybody's got so many holiday lawn doodads, it's crazy.  The people across the street have a creche (Jesus, Mary & Joseph for any heathens reading this), Frosty, a tree, and a couple other things.  It looks cool at night but it's a lot.  Other neighbors have lighted coil trees, a blowup Santa on a motorcycle, a blowup Mickey, and a different Frosty, plus roof-edge lights.  It's a lot too.  Kinda makes Fifi feel paltry, although I do have another small flamingo DD's friend KS gave me last year when I wasn't going to put Fifi out because I was sad; that'll go out on Friday, but still... (no. flamingos are enough, Barbara. E. Nough. they're random and fun and just exactly right.  you can fix up the tree for next year now that you've had an idea, so just chill. CHILL. really.)  Aaaand the piledrivers are back at it out on the highway.  Sheesh, will they never finish?  It's a real confusing snarl of barrels and roundabouts out there.  Probably good we don't have snow so they can just keep working, but get done already.

December 5--Paul Signac, Evening Calm, Concarneau, Opus 220.  Claire walked along the pebble beach, not seeing the sunlight dancing like diamonds on the choppy water in the bay.  She didn't hear the shouts of the children playing or the calls of the parents to come and get packed for home.  All she heard was the voice in her head repeating, where's Mason, where can he have gone?  Three days since he kissed her goodbye to go visit a winery someplace up in the hills behind the little cottage they'd rented across the street from the town beach.  She had been too focused on her writing, too frustrated by characters who weren't doing what she wanted to pay close attention to what he'd said.  Had he meant to be away for days?  Why wasn't he answering his cellphone?  The police were no help.  They said that it wasn't against the law for an adult man to "move on."  They had eyed her too familiarly, making rude faces and laughing when she'd shouted at them.

That's not good, I mean for her, not good for her.  Although I suddenly wonder if there's really a Mason at all.  Wouldn't that be an excellent twist?  Better write that down.  Okay, kiddos, I'm off to do what I mostly always do.  I'm thinking of taking my sewing machine to work with me today since I "goofed off" all day yesterday with Durwood and didn't get any presents made... maybe I will.  Have a nice day.  God, that's lame.
-Barbara Sue