When we lived in California, we would go to the beach to watch the sunset, hoping to capture that moment when the sun was almost set – just a blip of orange or yellow light on the edge of the horizon. That’s what I was attempting to capture in this photo.

It looks like we’re going to have warmer than usual temperatures this week. In fact, it’s supposed to reach 67° on Christmas Eve, not unlike the temperatures we used to see on Christmas Eve in San Diego. Topsy-turvy. And obviously, not a trace of snow in the forecast, though we did see some flurries on Saturday.

I’m off to the city later today to see a 7:00 performance of a one man show about C.S. Lewis that I have had a small hand in. It’s still in development, so I’m going to take some notes on what I see tonight. They’ve been trying to get me in there for a couple of weeks, but the darned ankle kept me from going in. My dear friend from my Old Globe days is producing the show and I’ll get to see him tonight, as well.

But I’ll leave early in the afternoon, which should give me time for a visit to The Mysterious Bookshop. Heaven. I’ll stock up on a few books, drink in the shop’s atmosphere, IG a photo or two, then I’ll grab a bite to eat and catch the show.

Long day. NYC is wonderful but a trip into the city is always a long one, with three hours of travel time in addition to the hours in the city. Ah well. There will be no time to catch a glimpse of our little town’s tree at Rockefeller Center. I’ve seen pictures, though, and it’s beautiful.

Still having problems with timely email delivery of the daily blog posts. I don’t know why. It’s ticking me off! Hang in there.

Happy Monday.

I’m late to my laptop this morning.

Blame it on this:

I read it on the bus to NYC yesterday. I read it on the way home. I read it in bed last night. And I read it this morning. I’m getting very close to the end. But, as with all good books, I don’t want to race through the final pages. I want to savor them.

Because I know the final pages will be unputdownable (my new word) and I also know that it will be another year until a new Jack Reacher adventure arrives in the bookstores.

Tom Cruise? What were they thinking??? Don’t answer. I already know. They were thinking box office.

I got into Manhattan a little early yesterday and I had to walk from the bus station to East 59th Street, which took me up expensive Fifth Avenue, past Bergdorf Goodman and Tiffany and the Plaza. Along the way, I stopped at Barnes & Noble because who can resist a bookstore? Not me. I saw many books I wanted, but didn’t bite. Except for one: Broken Monsters  by Lauren Beukes. I read about it last year and tried to get a review copy but I was too late, it had already been published. It takes place in Detroit, which always draws me in because it’s my hometown. While browsing in the Mystery Section yesterday, I remembered the book and tried to find it, but I wasn’t sure of the author’s last name or even the title. I figured I’d see the last name and find it that way. No go. I finally resorted to signing on to NetGalley on my phone so that I could find the rejected request for an advanced reader copy. Ah, Beukes! As sometimes happens, it wasn’t under mystery but it was under literature.

Like I need another book on my To Be Read pile.

Anyway, it was a lovely day and I was on the edge of Central Park, but had no time to explore it. People were everywhere, as you can imagine, and I find I am always amazed at how many wealthy people there are in this part of Manhattan. You can see it in the clothes they wear, in the way they carry themselves. And there are many, many wealthy tourists. Where does all that money come from?

And then there’s me, in jeans and sneakers, wearing a sweater and a funky jacket that’s more than twenty years old. More like twenty-five.

My coaching session lasted twice as long as I had planned and was a difficult one, and I was hungry and dehydrated when I left the theater but, you guessed it, I had to walk about 25 blocks back to the bus station in order to grab the next scheduled bus, so I grabbed something to go and ate it on the bus. New York is lovely, or can be, but I’m usually racing through it on my way to and from some point in the city.

We have about a gazillion leaves to rake over the next few days. They are everywhere. Did I mention I don’t like raking leaves? When you’ve got as many trees as we do, it loses whatever appeal it has very quickly. And we don’t even tackle the back forty.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page with some links for your reading pleasure.

Don’s CD is back in stock at CD Baby. You can either click here or travel over to my sidebar and click there.

Happy Wednesday.