(no subject)
Tomorrow I will catch the train to Gerona, Spain, where I will rendezvous with Titi who will be driving up from Barcelona after flying in from Kuala Lumpur. It was his birthday last week, and as has so often been the case, we were half a planet away from each other. So I decided to bake him a birthday cake.
It was a recipe I had used before so I know it should work out. Alas by the time it had finished baking in the oven it much resembled Mt. Vesuvius. I high central crater surrounded by sharp jagged edges. The one thing I can be grateful for is that it didn't actually erupt. Which was a relief considering all the carrot, banana and walnuts that were inside it. So during a discreet moment, perhaps whilst Titi is taking a shower or having a jetlag nap, I will lop the peak off and hide it all under a philly cream cheese icing. No-one will ever know the difference.
I dragged my lazy bones back to the pool today. I was shocked by how busy it was, teeming with kids and parent's making the most of their few last days of Summer holiday before next week when they will be rushing to drop their kids off to start the new school year, before they themselves return to work. Quickly their lazy days by the beach, the stolen kisses, the BBQs and the summer festivals will become a fading memory, packed away until the cycle repeats itself next Summer. And oh my how they were making the most of these dying moments of freedom. Screaming kids everywhere. So much shouting and banging of doors in the change-rooms, playing under the water in the showers and heaven help us all, swimming across the Lap Lanes!!! Where was Seinfeld's Pool Nazi when you needed him? I could only bare to complete a dozen laps before giving up and getting the hell out of there.
My new upstairs Tenant dropped by my apartment today to give me a large portion of watermelon. Last week it was a plate of his wife's delicious couscous and now watermelon. Last week I returned their plate full of humus I had prepared. There was no plate this time with the watermelon. It is very generous of them to share with me their victuals but at the same time I am a little embarrassed. They are a retired couple of French Moroccans. I don't want to offend them by refusing so I guess I will continue to accept any future offers and keep them in mind whenever I am making something that can be easily shared. It's a shame I will have no figs from the tree this year. I am usually looking for people to share these with.
I am trying avoid becoming a little bitter over a recent issue with my next door neighbour. They had gone on holidays for four weeks and I was asked to look after their considerable collection of pot plants during their absence. They cover the entire five balconies, the fireplace and an internal stairwell. This had been the first time my neighbour had asked me to do this. She hinted that I should come and water them every day during the hot summer days. Already feeling like four weeks of watering her plants was going to restrict my movements over the month I limited the watering to every second day. This was enough to revive any plant that was wilting a little from the heat. In fact most of the plants put on new growth. The two plants that died were her Impatients that had finished flowering and weren't looking terribly plucky well before I became their guardian. So what's my beef then? It has been a week since they returned home and I have not had a single word of thanks from her. Perhaps it's wrong that I expect her to be grateful, but I do expect some word of thanks. None of her plants would have survived during this dry hot summer we have endured had I not been watering them. She always makes such a fuss about them too. Perhaps there is a reason I have not heard from her?
I recognise that my life is very small at the moment and that minor things can have disproportional effects. I haven't had any real human contact since I went on a hike with friends almost two weeks ago. I have all the best intentions to do lots of things, ride my bike to the beach, go scuba diving down the coast, even take a three day sailing course. I haven't been down to the gym in days and even when I tell myself I will go for a walk around the Lake I don't end up doing it. In the end I have done nothing. My only rescue is that I am enjoying greatly the current book I am reading - The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shark. I have also been streaming lots of Japanese films and Tv programs.
I did manage to get to the cinema to see Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In America. I always love the look of his films and this one was no different. Although I suspect it could have been made in half the screentime. Way too many driving scenes!