Another Interesting Interlude

Last year at this time we were in this same Palm Springs house as we are now but for different reasons.

1n 2018 we had a fire, a mud slide , many injuries and tragedies in our town of Montecito with evacuations, in many cases for at least a month . That, believe me, is the simplified version.

This year, my new neighbor’s pipe burst and went down two floors, through the walls, into our bathroom and completely took it out, down to the studs!! We are talking walls, ceiling, tiles, floors, everything gone!! Quik Response (that great company} was called right away to make sure there would not be a drop of moisture anywhere.  Huge funs were set up everywhere, immediately. My entire condo in one hour was turned into what looked like, a war zone. So there you have it. No master bath. Everything out of my closet All meds and beauty stuff from my bathroom in boxes all over. The house looks like we moved in yesterday, except with plastic taped all over everything because of the dust. I have no idea where anything is. Oh, I’ll just reach for that new cream I bought. Nope, don’t know what box it is in or what room, for that matter.

Meanwhile, having no idea this was going to happen to us ,  and because we liked this house so much last year in Palm Springs, when we were evacuated ,we had rented it for a few weeks , in January and beginning of Feb. anyway, for this year. So, here we are, back in Palm Springs, in the house we love.  Thankfully , we had a place to go to.This time the rest of Montecito is wet but fine , thank God, although  they were evacuated a couple of times from heavy rains . It’s a weird bit of a déjà vu trip, I must admit!
We are not waiting for the evacuation to lift, we are waiting for the walls, floors tiles , sinks and shower to all come together again.
Everything is picked out. Now it’s the waiting game and a lot of texts back and forth between, contractor, insurance adjusters , designer, and me.  Thank God for AIG and Hoffman Brown. No, this is not a commercial. I mean it ! I think you would call this” an almost vacation”. A little sunshine between rain drops, a little fun between texts.
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I have managed to take wonderful walks, great hikes and even a third of a round of golf with Bob. BTW, we both did very well. I’m afraid to play again. It went so smoothly. I’m a bad sport golfer . When I play well, I love it and when I can’t hit the ball , I hate it!
I’ve seen Maureen Dowd interview ex Governor Brown at the Literary Conference and   gone on a bus tour to see midcentury homes.
Now it’s raining cats and dogs here like it is in the rest of California. The good news is that I’m working on my new book called “As we Grow Older ” so I don’t mind the record rain and cold.
I have been thinking a lot about how we feel about things as we grow older and have been writing thoughts down as I think of them for about a year.. Here are a few examples. For instance: As I Grow older; “ Because I am thin on patience, I need to fatten up on compassion and empathy”. Or, As I grow older; “I disappoint myself less and forgive myself more”. “I’m getting quotes from everyone I talk to. One friend says, As I grow Older; “I feel younger”. Another says, As I grow Older; “I don’t look in the mirror unless I have to”. You get the idea. Let me hear from you and give me your version of that sentence.
Meanwhile, Bob, Sophia and I are living in the desert, grateful for this great house, feeling a little displaced, but seeing old good friends, We have Montecitans come visit and we are finding our way around new favorite places to eat and hanging out in a town that is an old friend itself.


It’s an interesting interlude in our lives.

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