A little blurry, but a monarch visited us on Saturday afternoon. He was feeding on whatever zinnias were still viable. I don’t know whether he came from an egg laid on one of our milkweed plants, but I like to think so. I’ve only seen about 3 monarchs this season. That doesn’t mean there weren’t more, but if there were, I missed them.

Don’s gigs went well. He had great, attentive audiences, so he was jazzed when he got home.

The hurricane damage and flooding in North Carolina is heartbreaking. I didn’t mention it on Saturday because I still wasn’t fully aware of how devastating the situation was. Who would have thought a hurricane could cause such flooding at such a high elevation? Entire towns gone. So many lives lost. I pray for all who are impacted by the flooding. The loss is unfathomable.

We haven’t walked in a few days because of other commitments and rain, so we hope to get back to it this morning. I found myself missing that exercise, and for someone like me, who can be a slug, that’s a good sign. We’re mowing less and less, though the front lawn needs to be mowed this week, so we can’t count on the exercise we get from that little task. We have to walk consistently. And we’ll definitely be raking a heck of a lot this week. You wouldn’t believe much of our property is covered in fallen leaves.

I’m really enjoying Playground  by Richard Powers. It took me a bit to get into it, but it was worth it. Powers is one of my favorite authors. Now only does he write beautifully, but he takes on big issues in his fiction. The Overstory, the first book of his that I read, remains one of my favorite novels ever. I think this one is going to be equally beautiful.

I’m working away on the jigsaw puzzle. It’s a difficult one, but I’m making progress. Don made an apple pie yesterday, so we’ll have a piece this afternoon. We’re cheering on the Mets, as they try to get into the post-season. They’ve become our team as we don’t get to see enough Red Sox games in the course of the season to have any sort of relationship with them. Plus, I love the guys in the booth – they’re excellent at what they do and they don’t talk incessantly. And they’re funny. Anyway, I have my doubts as to whether they’ll move on. (I hope they do, of course.) We’ll see today.

That’s it for this Monday,

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

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.