Happy Fall

Last month I had the pleasure of going back east for my niece’s wedding. It took place on Block Island, a beautiful place where our family had a house for many years. The whole weekend was spectacular, and the weather was perfect.  It was touching to see young people in love swearing to stand by each other, and to see the pride and joy in my brother’s and sister-in-law’s faces.

Ah, to be young and in love with a future.

The flights were fine, except when we couldn’t depart due to thermals (winds created by the dramatic difference between ground and sky temperatures), which are common in the desert during the summer months. When the pilot said that we might have to “drop some weight” before taking off, I started calculating who on the plane weighed more than I.  However, we had a brief lucky break and took off in a hurry.

A few days before the wedding, the immediate family gathered to scatter my recently-deceased brother’s ashes on the beach, as we had promised him we would do.  The beach at sunset was lovely, and we all had a celebratory dinner in his honor.

Upon my return to Palm Springs, I jumped into what is now my busy season.  Then, last Tuesday, I had oral surgery to begin the process of have a dental implant. All went well, and now I have to wait a few months before the next step. That’s when I’m scheduled to have shoulder surgery as well, so December should be quite a month.

I just read a remarkable historical novel called Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence, which delves into the meaning and importance of language and culture.  It was written by the Chinese-American author R.F. Kuang, who also wrote the Poppy Wars trilogy. She’s writes like a Brit and her mastery of language is amazing.

My doctor of 20 years kind of fired me.  He switched to HMO-only, which seem bizarre to me, since he’s giving up his PPO clients. Today I met with a new doctor (to me), who seems fine. Luckily, I can self-refer when I need a specialist.

It’s crunch time for my consulting gigs, since both huge projects are due in December.  I had a virtual meeting with the leader of the team of educators whom the state is sending to evaluate our findings. I did a great job of creating my own user-friendly system of linking sign-up sheets to editable documents. I proudly showed it off during the meeting, only to learn afterward that I had failed to share my screen correctly. The team leader kindly told me that it sounded great.  Sigh.

The weather is cooling, and I can actually open my windows and doors. I miss the ever-present breeze I enjoyed in Costa Rica, so I am relieved at no longer being encased in an air-conditioned box.

If you haven’t seen the movie Elvis, I recommend it for the performance of the young star.  Also, Merli, on Netflix and from Barcelona, has some of the smartest writing I’ve found in a Spanish film. The alcoholic philosophy professor’s lectures and dialogue are well worth the watch.

That’s it for the moment.  And good Yom Tov (aka yontif) to all.