There are three times as many leaves now. Yikes.

I wanted to speak about Maggie Smith. She was and will always be my favorite actress. I first saw her in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which came out in 1969. With that performance, she became my ideal. Years later, in 1980, I saw her onstage at the Stratford Festival in Canada. Those were the years when Robin Phillips was the artistic director and Maggie was there for at leasts 3, maybe 4, seasons. I saw her in 1980, when she played opposite the late, great Brian Bedford in Much Ado About Nothing. She took my breath away. She was brilliant, with perfect comic timing, great wit and style, yet she was able to convey great longing and heartbreak. I was particularly fascinated by her elegant hands and the way she used them onstage. She could say more with a flick of her fingers than most actors could say with a slew of words. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Or her. I was a young actress in my twenties and that performance had such an impact on me. I have treasured the memory of it for years.

To me, there is simply no one better. She is irreplaceable. Rest in Peace, Maggie.

To so many people she is known for the Harry Potter movies and Downton Abbey. But, as a very young actress she worked with Laurence Olivier in his acting company. She played Desdemona to his Othello. Her resume consists of so much more than those movies. There’s a photo going around online of Alan Rickman, Maggie, and Michael Gambon from Harry Potter. They’re all gone now. I realized that I have been blessed to see all three of them onstage, to hear their voices, to watch them work in the moment. Brilliant actors, all. I saw Alan Rickman in Tango at the End of Winter at the Edinburgh Festival. I saw Michael Gambon in London in The Caretaker. And I saw Maggie doing Shakespeare in Canada. I’m deeply grateful to have seen them onstage, to have felt their energy, and I miss them.

Last night, Don had a gig, so I watched Tea with the Dames on Amazon Prime. I’ve seen it before but it was even better the second time. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s an extended conversation between Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Eileen Atkins. They’ve all been made Dames for their work in the theater. Four incredible actresses swapping stories, sharing their experiences onstage and in movies, laughing uproariously, and talking about aging. It’s simply wonderful. They’re all friends, but Judi and Maggie were especially close – a 60 year friendship. This must be a profound loss for Dame Judi.

And – my father’s birthday is today. Happy Birthday, Dad. I miss you.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Yesterday was a very rainy day and, though I got tired of it as the day went on, I’m well aware that we need it. Scads of wet, soggy leaves are on the ground all over the property. We changed the day of the coaching appointment, so I’m coaching via zoom this afternoon. Don has a gig tonight and tomorrow night.

I started working on a jigsaw puzzle yesterday, the first I’ve done in a long time. I stopped doing them over the summer because I was outside a lot. And, since I finish one fairly quickly, the cost of buying another and another can add up. But this one was on sale, so I purchased it. It’s another in that series I like, “The World of…” This time, it’s The Great Gatsby. I’ve also started reading Playground  by Richard Powers.

Yesterday, I heard a lot of noise on the porch. I peeked through the blinds to see a squirrel carrying a huge black walnut in his mouth. He went from the bench to the glider to the railings, never dropping the walnut. I widened the opening of the blinds with my left hand and shoved the phone into the opening to get a picture. I’ve cropped the heck out of it so you can see him. I admire his perseverance! He never once dropped that walnut.

Mabel and Zoe. I forced myself to change their outfits. I haven’t felt all that motivated lately, but I’m sure they were getting cold in their summer clothes. It forced me to reorganize their clothes. Mabel is sporting a new pair of high tops that, of course, will be shared by all the girls. But she’s so sassy that she seemed the obvious choice to be the first to wear them.

I’ve got a whole list of projects that need to be done and I’m hoping to check them off one by one over the next few weeks.

However –  I feel myself entering ‘lazy mode.’ Uh oh.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

I can’t even grasp how many leaves are on the ground now.

It’s September 25th.

Yikes.

September 25th is my best friend’s birthday, so I’m going to write a note to myself to call her.

I have a lot of dialect prep work to do today. I lost a day yesterday because I was going on less than 4 hours of sleep and I knew any attempts at research would be useless. So, today is about making up for yesterday because my coaching session is tomorrow.

I’m just about to finish another Gregg Hurwitz book in the Orphan X series. This one is Into the Fire. I have a couple more books from the library on hand, but I’m hoping the latest Richard Powers novel, Playground, arrives at my library today. It was just published yesterday and the hold list says “In transit.” He is one of my favorite writers and the pre-publishing reviews have been splendid.

I’m starting to like Don’s haircut. Now that the shock has worn off, it’s kind of cute. Boyish. If you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I’m a bit obsessed with Don’s hair. He has a great head of hair, naturally wavy. Frankly, I’m jealous if it as my hair is straight and baby fine. His hair is thick and gorgeous. (He does have a tiny bald spot now, but it isn’t real obvious.) Anyway, I was expecting one look, and when he came home from the salon, he had another. I took a moment yesterday to whisper in his ear that I liked his hair cut. He was pleased.

Laural, my best friend, turns 73 today. She’s Don’s age. I’m a year younger. How did we get to be in our seventies? I’ve known Laural since I was 12 years old. 60 years. Sixty! How is that possible? Yesterday, Don was talking on the phone to a woman who wants him to sing at a memorial service for her husband, who died in January. She said they were married for over 50 years and Don (like me, when I heard that) thought she must be elderly. You know how you sometimes think that you’re younger than people of a certain age? Don quickly realized that she is probably a contemporary of his. If his first marriage had worked out, he would be celebrating 51 years. Laural has been married over 50 years. But Don, like me, tends to see himself as younger than he is. Maybe that’s because we don’t have children and grandchildren. All I know is that quite often we have to be jolted back to reality as to our actual age.

Okay. I have to get going. But more coffee first.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.