Issue 19
It is hot here.
It is hot there,
It is hot everywhere,
But I don’t care.
Dear Friends and Family,
July we flew off to northern climes, hoping to escape the oppressive Gulf of Mexico heat. For months I had dreamed of a cabin in the woods next to a mountain stream, and the cool, fresh Canadian summer air. It was not to be found. In fact, I am happy to be home again in Port A where the weather at least is normal.
First, we went to Lake Tahoe, to attend a writer’s workshop in Squaw Valley. Arriving two days early to survey the area, we stayed at an adorable B&B. I learned Doug hates adorable. You can read my review by going to www.tripadvisor.com and search for Cottage Inn, Tahoe, CA. I recommend adding this place to your list of must-see vacation spots; it is a lovely cabin-in-the-tall-pines experience. Lake Tahoe, called the Lake of the Sky, is spectacular for its natural mountain beauty and the blueness of its water. I’m glad we arrived early to explore, because once we got into the workshop, I never saw the outside world again.
Aspiring writers of varying talent came together to sit at the feet of James Frey and learn how to write good, I mean well. It was a very intense week. We began at 9 am, only broke for lunch and dinner and continued to 10pm every day. We learned how to critique each other’s stories, what heroes do and don’t do, and when to ask, “Is your hero at maximum capacity?”
We were high in the mountains, 6000 feet above sea level, where it is supposedly so cool you need a jacket in the evenings. Houses are not equipped with air-conditioning; ours didn’t even have screens on the sliding doors. Yet that week, my jacket never made it out of the suitcase. We found ourselves in the midst of a heat wave. It was almost 100 degrees every day.
Doug and I enjoyed a week of sweating, cooking, (we traded my fee in exchange for doing the meals) more sweating, and having our writing ripped apart, (I use too many adverbs). The high point was the Friday night sex scene contest. Mine was the hottest, judging by all the squirming and giggling, and everybody couldn’t believe I wrote it. A box of chocolates was the prize, which was torn into and eaten by all with gusto.
Early Saturday morning we left Reno for Montreal, and the very mention of the word Canada sounded cool and refreshing. To my chagrin, not even by going to another country could I avoid the heat wave. Unusually high humidity made it even more uncomfortable then Tahoe. Delta lost our luggage, our hotel room was stuffy and by midnight I was yearning for good-old Texas, where at least our air-conditioning worked.
The next morning our bags were delivered and we were moved to a cooler room at the Queen Elizabeth, a very lah-de-dah hotel. John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their “Sleep-in-for-Peace” on the 17th floor here. Doug had to work a booth at a Retinal show, but we did have time together to enjoy seeing the highlights of the city from a tour bus, taking a romantic late-night walk, speaking French, and eating at very chi-chi restaurants.
Meanwhile, hurricane Emily was taking aim at Brownsville, and we were relived to arrive home to Corpus to find everything hadn’t blown away. I needed two weeks of rest to recover from my two week “vacation”. Whew, I am swearing off traveling for a while.
Back in home port, I find myself getting involved in a new theater in Aransas Pass, the Rialto Actors Theater. Our friend Trish, a playwright and director, came to us full of enthusiasm about her new theater she is starting as Artistic Director, and since we both love the theater, we couldn’t help but get involved. Now it seems we are founding members. Doug is the idea man, and also the chief carpenter, and we have put in a couple long weekends with Trish and her husband and a few volunteers, and the stage is almost complete. I will be stage designer/director/actor. I auditioned for and landed the part of Carmen, a drunk, Jewish, gypsy who gets hypnotized into acting like a chicken (the whole life cycle) and Zsa Zsa Gabor, and has a food fight (spaghetti) with Gus the chef (played by Doug Johnson). This could be fun. The play opens January 6th.
Our home has not sold as yet, although our realtor assures us that we will have a sale in a few weeks. Meanwhile, we have started negotiations on a very retro 1950s house that Doug and I think has a lot of potential, if we can get it cheap. It is on a big corner lot in Corpus, just over the causeway, about 1/3 of a mile from the bay, and a block away from a golf course. We have looked at what feels like a hundred homes, new, old, big, small, country, city, expensive and cheap. I hope this is the right one.
Oh by the way, if anyone has a cure for heel spurs, let me know. I have been limping around for about two months now and it is really painful. I figure it is God’s way of telling me to lose weight. When I was walking the dog, a guy drove by and yelled “Fat Ass” from his pick-up truck. I assumed that was God, too. So, I have joined the new health club that opened up in June about one mile from my house. I have my own personal trainer and have lost almost 10 pounds.
And for the last bit of news, I traded in my PT Cruiser for a new, 2005 Ford, F-150 crew-cab, bright red, PICK-EM-UP TRUCK! Finally, I have reached redneck nirvana, and am a real Texan. Doug still has the Merc, had the whole dang frame replaced; expects to get 300,000 miles or so out of it. He feels cool because now he has cop suspension.
Hey, three months summed up and I’m done! Now I have to start re-writing my novel. Have a great summer! Love, Janis