Day 10 of Governor Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”
A close approximation of J. and R.’s pool during Labor Day weekend…
Sunday. 9/6/20
8:30-9:30 - I drink my Hydroflask and read I’m Just Happy to be Here.
9:30 - 10:30 - the dog started barking off-and-on around 8:30 so it’s time to go downstairs. She pooped in front of the door. We go outside and there is more alerting on the tree again! but there are no animals in the tree - I don’t understand what the problem is. This causes a delay in her finally going potty - she is obsessed with that tree and the area around the fountain.
I water all my plants - they seem miserable on account of the heat. I pick up the dog poop and then cut several rose vines that are growing over the wall into my neighbor’s yard. I drink my coffee while I work.
10:00 - L. has found an apartment in Burbank, retailing for $2500 a month. It sounds beautiful…but it’s $2500 a month. She is ready to spread her wings and wants more independence. I get it - I left home at 18 myself and in an alternate reality, L. would be living in a dorm, in fast-paced New York (our favorite city), making art and friends and doing cool stuff. L. will have to settle for Burbank, it seems…
We talk about the apartment as L. is preparing to leave for the Cat Cafe, with R.
11:00-12:30 - Spa day. I listen to Global World News while I shower. Very light makeup. I wear shorts and a crop top today.
12:30-1:00 - I take out my braids. I listen to the New Yorker - Politics and More. Its Sunday - brunch day - so I have a Mimosa.
1:30 - 7:30 - B. arrives and we head to J. and R.’s reno-project and backyard pool in Pasadena. Readers of this blog will know that I’m unable to attend my own community pool. This is a source of irritation for me and I feel like a true asshole, complaining about an irritant in my life that resonates with ‘white privilege.’ I’m almost ashamed to write about it…almost… But I will because my HOA TOOK EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF POOL FURNITURE FROM THE COMMUNITY POOL!!! when no other HOA has done this!!! And, I can’t spend more than 50 minutes at a time there!
Its 116 degrees out.
We arrive, change into our bathing suits, and set up shop. We always use J. and R.’s Ikea chaise lounges (so nice) and B. brought the beach umbrella. It is so hot it feels a bit like being inside an oven. I sit on the pool steps, with the water all the way up to my neck - it feels great.
B. and I take turns going in and out of the pool and talk politics the rest of the day. Over the course of the day, I eat my overnight oats and salad, with water and prosecco-in-a-can to wash it down. B. drinks his Margarita-in-a-can(s) and I give him a TJ snack pack.
L. texts me that R. almost took home a cat from the Cat Cafe….I ask if she felt like doing the same thing - she says no.
Around 4:00, I notice there is a lot of pollen and/or plant material falling from the trees. This continues…
At 6:30, B. and J. leave for Jersey Mikes but they don’t come back for an hour. I read I’ m Just Happy to Be Here. They return and it’s at this time I discover that the pollen and/or plant material is actually ash from the numerous fires occurring in the surrounding areas. CA is burning again…
7:30-8:30 - We move indoors and talk politics while I eat the best BLT I think I’ve ever had. I actually eat the entire 12-inch sub, a rarity for me.
8:30 -9:45 - B. and I pack up and leave. He drops me off at my house. A nice day.
9:45-11:30 - I put everything away and do my nighttime routine. Bed.