This is a street in Chelsea near where we were shooting one day this week.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

End of the week. Exhausted. Yesterday we worked from noon until midnight. We were in a city north of Manhattan. A van drove us back to the Upper West Side, where, at about 12:45 am, I caught a train heading south. Then I had to transfer to another train which took forever to arrive. At this point it was 1 am and trains don’t run as often at that hour. The line that I transferred to was one of the few ways for me to get home at that hour. Very old train, very noisy, and then, to my horror, it went right past my station. An elderly man tried to convince me I hadn’t missed my stop – bless him, he was trying to comfort me – but I knew I had. I finally got out and talked to a woman working in the booth, who had no idea why it hadn’t stopped. I went up the stairs to the street, called an Uber, which arrived very quickly, thank God, and arrived home at 2 am. I left the house at 9 am that morning. This might be a bit extreme, but these are the kind of hours I am putting in on a daily basis.

I went to bed at 3 am and woke up at 8:30, so it wasn’t the kind of 8 hour sleep I craved, but maybe that will come tonight. Monday? I have to be on the set at 6:30 am.

Love/hate this experience. I love watching the process of making a movie. It is fascinating. The people are lovely. There is a lot of time spent waiting. I am in awe of the talent of the crew members who are experts at their jobs. Everyone is kind and patient. The actors are bringing these characters to life and it’s amazing to watch the process, especially when everything is shot out of sequence.

I sit with the producers watching the screens in what is called Video Village. They’re all youngish and funny and smart and I like them very much. One of them is Jim’s husband and I am so grateful for this opportunity to get to know him.

The ceiling in one of the Court buildings downtown, where we filmed on another day this past week.

I won’t be seeing Don this weekend. He came last Sunday and we had a great day together but when it was time to go to bed (I had to get up at 4:15 am on Monday) we realized this bed wasn’t nearly big enough for the both of us. We were jammed together and any move on Don’s part made him nervous about disturbing me and he ended up sleeping on the sofa, which was not at all comfortable. Between my very early wakeup call and Don being 6 feet 4 inches tall, we realized it wasn’t going to work. As I was leaving, we said goodbye and, instead of staying through Tuesday, he went home on Monday morning.

I was so sad the rest of the day. So was he.

We have some shoots coming up that take place in a county north of Manhattan and south of our cottage. I’m seriously considering going home for that part of the shoot and commuting back and forth from the cottage to the set. I wouldn’t have to deal with getting up incredibly early here at the apartment in order to take the subway to a van pick-up point, and then travel with a bunch of other people to the location. Jim’s husband first suggested the idea to me. I’d still have to get up very, very early, but I’d come home to Don and I’d get a weekend or two with him, one of which is my birthday weekend.

The trouble is, when I’m working away from home and I’m in and settled, I don’t like to relocate and then relocate again. But…it seems to be the most practical thing to do.

I’m rambling here, so forgive me, but I’m so very tired. Anyway, several of you mentioned that I would get to see Don this weekend and, sadly, that’s not going to happen.

There’s so much more to tell you, but that will have to do for now. In the meantime, I’ve discovered the joy of dropping off my laundry and picking it up later in the day, nicely folded and in a neat bundle. This is what Don did when he was in Margaritaville and, since the last thing I want to do is spend time sitting in a laundromat when free time is at a premium, that’s what I’m going to do today or tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.