TURNING THE PAGE

“Calendar Girl” Lisa pictured in our friend Tom’s ’67 Brabham BT-21 Formula B open wheel single seater

One month ends, another begins…

It was a busy weekend between July and August!

Friday p.m. Spiritual: I hadn’t been to temple in a while. I went for Shabbat services and sat with friends Marla, Anita, and Jeni, and met our two new assistant rabbis. We once again have a full complement of clergy. I got kind of emotional being there again (A new beginnings kind of thing? The music?), and appreciating my friends.

Saturday a.m. Physical: Bike ride to the Bike Hut to celebrate the Bike Hut Classic (recent big ride that included the requisite 8.3 miles and 2,000 vertical feet of climbing of the very steep Tunitas Creek Road!) and eat ice-cream.

Sat p.m. Musical: Didn’t go in person because of full schedule Sunday, but livestreamed “young phenom” Zack Shubert’s jazz quartet concert at Bird & Becket book store in SF.

Sunday a.m. Goal Time! I tagged on for the beginning of a Western Wheelers local bike ride, then took the last leg back on my own in order to reach my 2021 year-end total mileage of 2,500 miles on the last day of July this year! All the miles in just over half the time–Yay!

12 noon: I got to talk to Sophie as she packed up her Brooklyn apartment and moved on to the next place—a bit of limbo for a week, then a week at home, then on to L.A. for the fall semester. Her last “fall semester” of college! Then it was time to get everything ready for…

3pm: Literary! The California Writers Club/Story Café Live/Fault Zone Anthology reading at the Belmont Library! Our first in-person public event in 2 1/2 years. It was so fun. I had a blast being the emcee, and the readers all did a great job. Even the weather was nice so we held it outside in the amphitheater. About 40 people attended. Lots of happiness and compliments all around.

6:30 p.m. Comfort Food: Back home, Aaron and I had a nice meal of roast chicken, homemade mashed potatoes and green beans. And I had a banana cake on hand that I made the night before. My boy seemed happy.

11:29pm: Publishing! My latest article came out in the bike club newsletter, The Flat Tyre. One of my bike friends said, Gee, maybe you should be a writer! Ha ha. *I’ll reprint the article in my next blog post.

12 Midnight: Return! After a 10-day visit with his mom in NYC, Jon came home!!! Just as July was turning to August. And perfect time, he arrived on the 35th anniversary of his first arrival in California. Happy anniversary, Jon! Two weeks ago Jon and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, so double milestones.

Does it ever feel to you like lots of things happen at the same time? It was a confluence of riches, a weekend that covered all the bases. Life is good, what can I say?

August 1. The new month lies ahead. The cycle continues. My big goal this month is to finish my Siren Dialogues novel edits. This novel has been a long time in the making. One way or another, it’s time to get it out into the world!