Life of Wry

It was a weak day for mom today. It happens. It’s unpredictable… some days, she’s energetic and some days not so much. Mostly, then, we sat and played gin rummy… which is always pleasant. CNN’s muted in the background and if a headline looks like it might signal a new story line.. we might turn on the volume… but mostly we sit and play cards..

Cabin fever lead to a late afternoon gotta get outa here walk. With mom in a wheelchair, that’s a pretty easy outing!

We headed down the street.. two blocks away to our first house on La Selva:

That is a lot of nostalgia there. We lived in that house–we, being mom, dad, Jay and I–from 1957 to 1959. Jay’s the only one of us born in this one.. Chris came along after we’d moved up the street. I started life on earth in the Manhattan Beach cottage.

Anyway. Nostalgia. She shared a lot of stories about the neighbors. I think my favorite story was the one when she had the Schooks and Osbornes over for dinner and served bread and cioppino. She’d made the sourdough bread from scratch, which took a couple of days, and purchased her shellfish from a vendor on the Redondo Beach pier just hours before so it’d be as fresh as possible. She said it was the best meal she’s ever made (of many, I must say). She said the bread went instantly–which, of course, is a compliment, but kind of anticlimactic… you’d rather people savor and compliment you for a longer time! She also said that Irv and Ed–both employees of American Airlines, which is why she paired these particular couples–hated each other and found the evening very unpleasant… which took all the attention off the food, which was not so gratifying for her either.. after all the work.  Hrrumph. But it was still a good story.

One of the Schook girls, legendarily, was quite taken with the size of my dad’s toes… which has always been a good family story. So we laughed about that one, too.

The walk was good.

Matty, Michael and Chris came over for dinner. Matt made pasta with bolognese sauce (of a sort), which was excellent. Also, sauteed zucchini (with heaps of butter and herbs), hot bread, and rocky road bars that Michael made (sinful).

Here we are:

Very nice evening. Appreciating my brothers immensely.

~~

Hoping to remember: Michael, who makes elaborate, themed customs for himself, Matt and always a big group of friends each year for the West Hollywood Halloween Parade, has the idea that the Halloween 2017 theme shall be Cruella Deville and 101 Dalmatians… in which, he’ll invite as huge an entourage as possible, up to 101 of their closest friends/family/pets, who will all be dressed as Dalmatians, as he’s decked out as Cruella. Rent bus, include people of all sizes and shapes, join thousands of outlandishly costumed people on the parade route… wouldn’t that be awesome?  This year, his theme is Day of the Dead — many skeletons and such. This will probably be their 12th or 15th year… each year’s theme more remarkable than the last. Well, actually, some years are more spectacular than others, but all are fantastic, creative and beautifully carried out.