TGIF

• My lifestyle in Hemet seems to have developed a rhythm, alternating between weeks when I’m exploring the world outside the resort and weeks when I stick close to home. This quieter week has whizzed by as I’ve enjoyed a great deal of time “feet up”; reading a book, sharing happy hours with friends, people watching, or, increasingly, deep in thought.

• Along with my fellow artists, I have been preparing for an art show and have framed several watercolour paintings for that event. With a craft fair scheduled for this weekend, I have also continued to paint rocks. However, the other day, my friend Donna asked to buy some painted rocks for her grand-daughter. When she refused to accept them for free, I realized that the genuine satisfaction in parting with my artwork comes when I give it away. A sale may net a few dollars in my pocket but priceless is the incredible delight of hearing people say they think about me when looking at a painting or rock that holds a place of honour in their home, on their desk at work, on the dashboard of their RV, or in their pocket. Accordingly, I withdrew from the craft fair and my only hope is that people will enjoy my watercolours at the art show.

• A highlight of this week was a visit from Leone and Lenny, full-time RVers with whom I struck an instant friendship in Arizona. Stopping for a week in Palm Springs on route from San Francisco to their home base in Florida, they took a day to visit with me. After hugs all round, we had a chatty visit on my patio and a chatty 3-hour lunch in a local restaurant followed more chat on the patio. Before leaving they pored over the painted rocks and each took one for their collection. They are hoping to visit Victoria in the fall and I will have more rocks ready to offer as mementoes of their visit and of me.
  

• Even though I’m not on a work schedule, the lure of weekends remains basically the same. For some reason, I continue to anticipate Friday evenings as my “crash night” when I crawl into bed early, read for a while, watch some TV and drift off to sleep early. Likewise my Sunday ritual when I am keen to wind down early as if needing to be “ready” for the week ahead. The other habit I’ve drifted back to is tuning into the news first thing in the morning and flipping back and forth to news channels during the evening. Obviously those are habits I truly enjoy since there is no other reason to follow them.
  

• It’s a much-needed rainy day in Southern California. While the weather has postponed my first hop into the pool with an exercise group, it is a perfect day for an afternoon excursion to the local movie theatre where I look forward to jamming my hand into a box of hot popcorn.
  

• TGIF!