Reporting In

La Quinta, California: My how time flies when you aren't doing anything. It has been weeks since my last update. We came back to La Q after Lucile's birthday bash and have basically hunkered down inside our well air conditioned house. Daily temperatures have been between 110-115°, and terrible air quality due to all the California wildfires. Most everything on my to-do list that required indoor work has been accomplished. The 2023 photo book is on our coffee table and the 2024 photo book has been laid-out through August 2024. I'm on top of it!

So I have been busy and my days are full... but just full of stuff no one would be interested in reading about. New toilet in the powder room? Reorganized closet? Happily, other people have more exciting lives and send me photos of their interesting activities. First, Leo flew to Idaho for a long weekend of fishing with a school friend, staying in their family cabin on a lake:

But possibly his happiness didn't last long as school started a few days later. Leo (13) is now in 7th grade; Lucile (10) in 5th.

But here's a tale! Twenty years ago, Lisa had graduated college and landed a job with a book publisher in Boston. Fenway Park (Home of the Boston Red Sox) finally decided to allow events and concerts in the stadium. First show, drum roll please, was Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band on 10 September 2004. You know I wasn't going to miss this show. Lisa bought tickets in the 6th row, I flew out, and we went together. This show was the best of the 47 Buffett concerts I attended, and now will always remain so.

Do you know about the Curse of Bambino, where the Red Sox went on an 86-year World Series drought after Babe Ruth was sold (!) to the Yankees in 1920? Mr. Buffett did, and during his 2004 concert staged a curse-removing ritual involving a witch doctor, fire, and all sorts of voodoo. The Red Sox won the World Series a few weeks later!

Boston decided to honor the 20-year anniversary of the Removal of the Curse. They held a Margaritaville/Jimmy Buffett tribute night on 10 September 2024! How cool is that? And how cool is it that Brother Steve and Kris were in Boston for her work - and they went to the game.

They reported it was more of a Parrothead Party than a baseball game, with more people in costume and Hawaiian gear than team gear. Prior to the game, Kris and Steve were in the Bullpen Bar and the DJ pulled a woman from the crowd for a trivia contest. They asked if she knew where Jimmy's last concert was held. She did not. No one in the bar knew - except Steve! He was allowed to help and knew it was in San Diego. Yeah! (He knew because Dave and I were at the San Diego show with the 4L's.) The woman won a free trip on Margaritaville Cruises! How fun. The Red Sox lost to the Orioles that night, but I don't think too many people were there for the game. Best thing? The Red Sox made a Jimmy Buffett bobblehead doll for the fans and Kris and Steve grabbed one for themselves and one for me! (In the Curse of the Bobblehead Doll, Jimmy's doll is a copy of the Live at Fenway Park album cover, and oddly does not bobble.)

While everyone is out fishing and going to concerts, I was home stitching. I finally finished a roaring tiger started on our summer RV trip. It is an insert for the front of a cute small evening bag (produced especially for needlepoint canvases).

Now I just need to go out to dinner to show it off! But still cooking a lot and still trying to think of things to cook, and thinking of things to prepare: The Curse of the Goddessino? One night, I went back to old Taiwan favorites:

This season our clubhouse restaurant started serving little rolls baked in a teeny casserole. I have made these a few times (using my recipe and preparing the dough by plopping everything in the bread machine). We still can't eat all four, but the rolls were big enough to use for lunch sandwiches the next day. These rolls were made with milk, butter, flour, salt, sugar, yeast and a bit of rosemary from the garden.

It's college football season, so the air fryer is getting use on Saturday for Buffalo Wings. The Ducks (now in the Big 10 18) were ranked 3rd at the start of the season, but barely hung-on to beat Idaho and Boise State, so fell back. Yesterday the Ducks faced their in-state rival, the Oregon State Beavers, and solidly crushed those rodents. Personal Note: I am not a fan of the Pac-12's demise. My entire life, the Duck v Beaver game has been held on/around Thanksgiving weekend. Oregon State did not join the Big 18, so one of the oldest rivalries in college football will fall out of the record books. Rumor has it, the two schools will play each other every other year, but who knows? I should have roasted a turkey as a tribute to the long tradition.

Dave and I are watching Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selina Gomez on Hulu. Very clever show and they always have so many "guest stars" in the cast. This year they are Eva Longoria, Zach Galifianakis and Eugene Levy.

And we are both fans of Carl Hiaasen and have read most of his books. One of his books, Bad Monkey, has been produced as a series on Apple TV and stars Vince Vaughn. We are hooked on the bizarre weirdness of this crime/comedy/drama and the interesting cast. Hiaasen is a native Floridian and is a famed environmentalist, so there is always something endangered and his stories are set in Florida - Key West and Miami this time. I especially enjoyed reading Skinny Dip and Squeeze Me. Hiaasen also pens books for teen readers - same themes - just no one loses an arm.

So that is what has been happening the past several weeks. Not much. Things are looking up though as next week the temperatures are going to drop into the 90s! The over-under for me golfing is 105°, so hopefully we can play a few times before they close the course for the annual scalping/reseeding six-week fiasco.

Until my next update, your slacker correspondent.

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