Things are slowly getting better here at the cottage. Don is still pretty weak, but he is staying downstairs for longer periods of time. We even watched a few episodes of Frasier last night. His sleep patterns are off, his dreams are very intense, and the weather we’re having doesn’t help. We’re under a heat advisory and an air quality advisory through tomorrow night. It’s extremely hot and humid here.
After I write this post, I’m going outside to water everything. We try to keep the a/c off as long as possible in the morning but I suspect I’ll turn it on soon.
We’re very grateful. It’s been a scary week but Don is improving and his eyes are clear and he’s had no fever for the past 24 hours. We’re both wiped out, for different reasons, so we’ll take it easy today.
I finished Death in La Fenice and have now started two books: Weather by Jenny Offill, which I bought several months ago – it seems a lifetime ago – from Oblong Books, and Let’s Just Say it Wasn’t Pretty by Diane Keaton, which I’ve had on my shelf for a few years. I pulled it out because Don and I were having a conversation about Keaton, about how much I have always loved her ever since the Annie Hall days. I love her wit, her style, her humor, her talent, and her determination to live life on her terms. I follow her on Pinterest – though I almost never go there these days – and on Instagram, where she has been doing wonderful videos during lockdown. If I could sit down and chat with anyone it would be Diane Keaton. I think of her as a long lost sister.
She recently did a video about wearing hats (I love hats) and I showed it Don, saying that I needed to get some hats like hers. After researching, I found a place in Hollywood that designs a lot of hats for her. The one I liked was $750.00. Gulp. I guess I’ll have to find a Claudia version that is much less expensive. And then there’s the pair of jeans she wears: wide leg, almost like the bellbottoms we used to wear way back when. They are so cool! I’d love them. On to the research: they’re from a company in Italy and they cost $650. Gulp again. I also love her house, which she highlighted in a book I used to have The House That Pinterest Built. Why I donated it to the library, I’ll never know. Anyway, it’s not my style, but it’s really fabulous; so unique, so her.
Though I can’t afford that hat and those jeans, I love her nonetheless. She inspires me. She’s down to earth. She sees the absurdities in life. And this book, which is a series of essays on beauty, perceived beauty, her family, children, friends, is so honest. She’s insecure just like the rest of us. She doesn’t like the shape of her eyes. Her forehead is too high. Her hair is too thin. She, like me, has to come to terms with aging, with things that cannot be changed, with negative self-talk, for want of a better word.
I will always be an adoring fan. And this book is a lovely read.
Okay, friends. Thank you again. I have to do some watering STAT.
Stay safe.
Happy Sunday.
