Friend,
I have reluctantly returned. My time away was what I had expected it to be. relaxing, funny, sometimes boring but mostly nice. Staying with my mother is always a pleasure. Seriously. One night after she had gone to bed I started going through her things in the room where I slept. Looking in boxes, closets etc. I amassed a small pile of items I would ask her if I could take. As my hand was digging into a drawer it occurred to me that I was doing the exact thing to my mother that is done to me at home. I dream of a house where items remain in the places I last left them, of opening my closet and finding what I am looking for hanging there and not on my daughter as she walks out the door. I felt immediate guilt and put the pile of stashed goodies away. Does my mom need a vacation after I leave?
I also witnessed a gaggle of elder women by the pool in a heated debate. I parked my towell by the woman sitting alone engrossed in a book. The debate of the other women was loud and I was without a book so I listened in. What could cause such a stir among these overly tan women? It seems that an outsider had infiltrated their bocce ball team! And by outsider I mean a woman who does not live in their development. But, the daring woman had already paid her dues for the year so an emergency meeting was to be called. The debate went on for about thirty minutes, tho not much of a debate really since they already seemed to have tried and convicted her. She is unaware of her fate. How was she found out to be an intruder? She invited one of the women to a Valentine party at her place which was not at all in the same development but rather "ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE STREET." Cries of shock and disbelief were declared. I damn near thought they would gather up torches and storm the lying bocce ball players condo!
I picked up my towell, smiled at the woman alone with her book and thought, "Please God, let me that one."
G.
