Wednesday, August 14, 2013

            Susan is currently in the New World where she had been for the last two weeks or so.  She spent a week in LA visiting with a number of friends and then moved on to Colorado where she spent a week with Rachel. Currently she is in San Francisco and, if I am not mistaken, will head out to Nevada City this afternoon.  As the Spaniards say yo estoy de Rodríguez.  In the summer months many families retreat to a beach house they own or rent.  The mother and the kids are there week round and the father visits on the weekends.  During the week the dad is on his own or está de Rodríguez.

            Being on my own, I have assumed all the household duties.  I am doing the shopping, the cooking, a modicum of cleaning, as well as the laundry.  I have made a daily visit to the market to pick up fruit, vegetables, cold cuts, meat and chicken.  I have enjoyed a varies menu that has included a goodly amount of gazpacho, as well as a variety of salads, beef and chicken fajitas and a variety of grilled meats.  The fruit this summer has been absolutely amazing.  Every melon has been at the peak of perfection.  The watermelon has never tasted as sweet and the cherries are amazing.  I have eaten at friends’ houses a few times.  In a short while I will join Paquito and Pepe at Paquito’s house for lunch and Friday I will be enjoying dinner with Brian and Ofelia,

            My days have been full.  I am in the last stages of my translations for the next issue of El Manuscrito.  I have also been able to work rather intensively on my magic.  I have worked on making my magic more easily accessible so that I know where to look when I need to locate something.  I have also spent some time revisiting old effect and trying to remember how to do them and, at the same time, making slight changes here and there so that they are more magical.  I have managed to solve several presentation problems that have been bothering me for a while.

            I have done a great deal of reading this summer in both Spanish and English.  I have just finished a 700 page novel called La verdad sobre el caso Harry Quebert. Other books that I have read include The Rosie Project, Stardust, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neverwhere, The Burgess Boys, The 100-Year Old Man who Climbed Out the Window, The Illusion of Separateness, Crashed, Little Elvises, The Fame Thief, The Orphan Master’s Son, Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, Bad Monkey and Skin Tight.

            Susan returns on the 19^th and, in the meantime, I will just keep on doing what I have been doing.  The weather continues to be hot and sunny and does not lend itself to long walks unless one has a specific destination in mind.  August is a very quiet month and most smaller shops are closed until the beginning of September.  The streets are mostly empty except in those areas frequented by tourists.  The scandals surrounding politicians past and present continue to multiply and those who testify seem to have defective memories, as well as defective moral compasses.

            That’s the word from here.  I hope wherever you are life is treating you well.