1) Today was the sort of September beach day I’ve always longed for but rarely enjoyed. Blank blue sky, just enough clouds just far away enough to be interesting, not so much breeze to compromise the umbrella (unlike yesterday — what a sirocco!), not many people, a good book — perfection.
2) Sally Gable’s Palladian Days: Finding a New Life in a Venetian Country House continues to absorb me. To my surprise I’m about halfway through it! I’m going to have to learn a lot more about the Villa Cornaro, but several of the stories make me think twice about living as the Lord of the Manor. For instance, having the circuit breaker fail when you’re naked in the bathtub in pitch dark blackness, and you’re not quite sure where the circuit breaker is to begin with. Or discovering and killing three-inch scorpions throughout the house.
3) For awhile I thought the price of the day would be steep: my embossed silver pen on a chain, which I put on specially so I could write. At one point on the beach I realized it wasn’t around my neck. I couldn’t find it anywhere! And the worst words came from the Nice Man at the Counter at Gale Force: “No, I remember you had it on when you stopped by this morning.”
3a) Happily for me, I found it in a secret pocket inside my backpack, where I must have put it absentmindedly. So very relieved I won’t have to return next month with a rake!
