I flew to Arkansas Monday night and got to Hot Springs in the late afternoon. I love being home in the fall with crisp, chilly mornings and sunny afternoons.
I’ve been busy since I got here with appointments here and there, including a skin consultation with a delightful doctor, Dr. Pabona, plus a dentist and hair appointment. I went out shopping and to dinner with Alison and PeeWee on Wednesday as usual, and we worked in happy hour tonight at Capo’s Tacos. I drove to Fayetteville on Friday for lunch with Ginger and Phillip (mother-in-law and brother-in-law), and had a good visit with them. I came back through Conway and spent the night with Ann and Jim. The next morning, Ann, Pam, and I went to a memorial service for one of my very favorite professors, Ralph Scott. He was a wonderful professor – so smart. He was my professor when he very first started teaching at Hendrix (he was also an alumn), and he was still teaching up to the end. Such a lovely man.
After the service, I headed back to Hot Springs where I met a few junior high friends at Fisherman’s Wharf. We had a lot of fun catching up, and moved the party to Miller’s condo to continue visiting. It was very nice and it’s funny how little people have changed — and how comfortable it is to be around them again.
I had a good video chat with Lea and Rachel on Sunday, then had dinner with David and Alison on their porch later that day.
I enjoyed listening to Ari Shapiro’s “The Best Strangers in the World” on my drive to Fayetteville. It was a good mix of serious and not-so-serious stories. And it made me want to listen to Pink Martini more (oddly, my friend/spin instructor in Islamabad always played Pink Martini during class, so it always reminds me of spinning in Pakistan). We were fortunate to see Ari perform with the band in DC a few years ago.
I’m reading Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel, “Partita” but am having trouble getting into it. I’m not sure if it’s lack of concentration or if I just don’t like it (I did not like “Demon Copperfield”). But I’m hanging in there with it – we’ll see. I’ve been watching Sharon Horgan’s “Youth” and enjoying that.