Getaway (Far Away, So Close!)

[Yes, this is what I had in mind. Writing from the folks' place in Sonoma, where the living is so easy it's hard to detect a pulse. Upper-70's, breezy, plenty of provisions, and the folks in question on a camping trip. I took Mom's Meals on Wheels route on Monday (shut-ins ranging from depressing hovels in Boyes Springs to rich but isolated spreads in the Sonoma Mountains.) Watered Dad's vegetable and flower gardens. (The process that takes almost two hours.) Fed and watered the cat Bo and the goose Lila. (Yes, the Sharps, with their big backyard, just became the proud body slaves of a goose - and she's quite vocal in her opinions. Y'know, the alarmists who think gay marriage could lead to more widespread acceptance of bestialty may have a point - my father is clearly besotted by La Goose.) Fetched the mail and the paper. Otherwise, I've been left to my own devices: reading books left over from childhood, walking around, but mostly...staring into space? "Meditation" connotes too much structure to fit what I've been doing.]

[Oh, there was the day trip yesterday to the redwoods. Lil' ol' Guerneville hasn't changed a bit since my last visit, must be three years ago. Mostly, I simply changed venue for the staring-into-sp...er, contemplation, to the side of a certain swimming pool, where the lounging and sunshine are free, the drinks are overpriced, the midweek regulars are extrrrremely friendly to anyone they perceive as new meat, and the jacuzzi is a health hazard. Of which of these amenities did I avail myself? None of your business...but I do have my first sunburn since Greece. Just enough to remind me that I was outside.]

[I'm about to head back to the city today for a quick shift seating at the Friendly Neighborhood Cabaret, where the headliner has sold out her entire run. She's a biggie for the FNC, but I have yet to meet her. And no, much to the chagrin of several pissy, provincial theatre queens in attendance, "Argentina" is not part of the current repertoire.]

[Back to Sonoma either tonight or tomorrow, dinner with the folks up at their campsite. They're camping at a state park a mere 30 minutes' drive away; weird, I know, but it's a pleasant spot, Mom has a hair appointment tomorrow, and I get the feeling they wanted a getaway not so far away...just like me.]

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