Steve Arrives

Monday began with a massive soaking of all the gardens. Thank God for all my chairs. I just cannot bear standing or walking for too long. I was on my feet for just over two hours and when I was done, it almost brought tears to my eyes to sit. Ron came by at 11:00 to take Sheba for a walk, and I got into the spa immediately. Oh, to be weightless in that nice warm water.

I loved being in the spa on such a lovely morning and with the wind keeping thigs cool and clean. Feeling refreshed by the soak, I got to cleaning up Sosa’s and Sheba’s poop from the yard. And then I had lunch and spent some time with Guido Brunetti in Venice to rest and relax before going to Silva Bay to pick up Steve.

When I got to the bay, I discovered Steve’s flight was delayed because the plane’s transponder was broken. They could not connect air traffic controllers without it, so it had to be fixed before they could take off. He arrived just over an hour late and it was lovely to welcome him to Gabe in such glorious weather. The wind has saved us from scorching temperatures. It was 36° at 4:00. He was abuzz with stories as we drove home, and then I really enjoyed walking through the garden with him because he is always so very complimentary about Pinecone Park. He noticed many of the changes.

We sat in the garden and talked for a while, and then Steve had a nap and I watered plants. Then we went for an early dinner at The Surf. It was a busy night there, so we were offered a table right in front of the huge window that was in the former living room of the lodge. It was perfect, we were right beside an open door, but we were out of the wind and there were no wasps.

Once dinner was done, we went down onto the beach, and I was suddenly feeling like every problem within me, and the world vanished. It was so wonderfully warm, and the waves were breaking. Steve did some wading and we watched with glee as a man threw a huge piece of wood for his dog who would attack the waves to fetch it. We both knew we were having an experience that we would remember forever. 

We sat at the beach for about half an hour and then we made our way home. We watched a movie and then, just after 10:00 we got into the spa to watch for meteorites of the Persid shower. And we were lucky. The first one was a huge orange burst of burning ball across the sky; the second was more of a traditional streak of white high in the sky. We were in the tub for over and hour and then went to bed.