Halloween

I woke up this morning to Los Angeles fog! Not really dense, but my first taste of it. And the weather turns chilly. But where the BSAC Players rehearse, in the theater, the air conditioning continues to chill the chill. During Zumba, I'm sure it feels good.

The BSAC Players' five short plays - skits, really - are not quite coming together yet. I recall the line from Another Open'n Another Show that says, "Five weeks, we rehearse and rehearse, four weeks, and it couldn't be worse." The title of the evening, as of now, is Varicose Variety. That might give you an idea. We're all more or less reading lines right now, but we actually got on stage tonight, where holding the scripts really holds us back. Not only do I have to learn my official part, that of a prosecutor in "Snobitude," but also Scarlett, in Gone with the Wind (revisited in 12 Aches Plantation, Home for the Incredibly Aged) which I've now read as often as the assigned actor. 

Drove to Glendale to the beautiful public health facility where I got a TB test, required for the mentoring project. Feeling slightly as if there's a cold in the back of my throat, so I stayed in instead of trick-or-treating with Ruby, Alwyn, Daniel. Hoping for pictures.

I did finish the Persecution of Mildred Dunlap and it was pretty good, enough so that I'm glad I didn't quit. Then I read a Richard Castle Derrick Storm short book - actually a third of a story - that's how they got me to pay $6 for the whole thing, by charging $2 for each third! Cheating, I call it. But it worked, and I bought the second third. Confession - I think I read the Brewing Storm before, but remembered only pieces as I came on them again. At this rate, I'll never have to get another book. I'll just read the old ones again and it'll be as if they're new!

The day between

The day between a hurricane and Halloween. A bright, just past full moon lightens our night, and I hope the night of all who are living the aftermath of the storm. And it will still be bright enough for the trick-or-treaters tomorrow. Ruby is wearing my hat and gloves. It'll be a whole new look! 

Alwyn came home yesterday and will be here for nine days before she takes off again. We all - Daniel, Alwyn, Ruby, and I - had dinner together tonight. I confessed to Daniel how badly I am eating and sleeping, and now he wants to feed me. Good, I say! 

The Persecution of Mildred seemed less daunting while I was reading it last night, so I will probably finish it. 

Even in Paradise . . .

Even here, one gets tired and I've spent a couple of days mostly sleeping. Except for the usual walks with Jenny Lind - who today got a compliment for her "fit condition." And for writing group today, where I am learning to be terse, with pleasure. 

Of course Hurricane Sandy is whirling around in my mind, and I am concerned about my sister. Last I talked to her, her power had gone out, and she was ready for a battery lit early bedtime. I hope her phone is working in the morning. She's not exactly on the coast, and is not in probably danger from flooding, but this storm is so huge that results are unpredictable. I worry about her being alone and cold. She's on the Town of Essex's call list, and I trust in them right now. 

We all know people in New York, and the most recent pictures of Manhattan are other-worldly. And how is my friend in Newton Corners? And my friend in South Portland? I hope I hear from them soon. 

I have been reading. Of course. Finished the World War II London Blitz, by Ruby Alice Side. Perhaps I already mentioned that. Very good diary/memoir. Then started reading The Persecution of Mildred, Paulette Mahurin, but was interrupted by a Google loan of The Secret Piano, by Zhu Xiao-Mei. I read it in two sittings, and was almost entranced. Perhaps it was the Chinese emotional stoicism that kept it from being a real gripping tale rather than a good page-turner. The Persecution of Mildred is a very dark story of two lesbians in the early days of settling the west. I think it's going to get darker, and maybe I won't read much more.

Halloween Ball

Light Shard 2

I was in the clubroom today, and glanced under the piano. I spied a light shard, and was able to capture it for you. 

Light Shard

I saw a hard of sun on the floor in the hallway.
My hand reached down towards it,
                            Came back,
                                      Told me,

"We can't pick up a shard of light."

I went back down the hallway
To pick the shard up with my camera.

But it was already gone.

Still unpacking?

I know there's no one out there who would have lived for five weeks out of boxes, but that's what I've been doing. I talked to someone the other day who told us that she'd spent the first month here "doing" her apartment, and didn't meet anyone or join anything until after that. Takes all kinds. My first month has been full of activity and meeting people and what's a "done" apartment anyway? Or at least, what's it to me? 

But now that my schedule is settling into place, except for changes and new opportunities that will arise, my nose is to the grindstone. Two boxes emptied today.