1) After a leisurely morning of indirection and indecision, Hochmina came to call for me a little before noon to go to lunch someplace outside. He is spending the winter here, luckily for me!
2) We ended up on the very large white-furnished patio of Eight4Nine, next to a party including a Gentleman Older Than I who kept not seeing the salmon salad on the menu instead of the chicken salad. I was getting so caught up in that drama that I rather wished we’d been seated at some more distant part of the patio — but in Palm Springs, where the shade is going to fall is of greater consideration.
2a) At any rate, they finally figured it out.
2b) On our other side was a pair of ladies with two tiny dogs in a stroller — I think one of them was a Malted Poo or something — blech! — but we had a nice discussion with them about the doggies and Gizmo.
3) Aperol Spritz + Cobb salad = predictable + delicious.
4) We strolled down the street popping into interior design stores. This being Palm Springs, everything is about mid-century modern, mid-century modern derivitave, and sleek clean lines. Not one curlicue in the whole place, much less any gilt. The closest thing we got to fringe was a chenille throw pillow.
5) Then I actually had a mission in the world of Fashion Retail, which can be very depressing, and was: the search for swimwear. Of course I would rather not be bothered with it at all, but even so, the locals all seem to entertain in the pool, and a) dangerous to assume, b) Fashion sometimes overtakes Style, even here, and c) one might wear rags to the beach in New England, but that is clearly not a West Coast Thing.
5a) That said, few entities are as pitiless as a dressing room mirror. But I left Division with two suits that work.
6) Hochmina brought me home via his place so I could greet Martin and Gizmo, which was Most Pleasant Indeed. And then back to my little casita for a NAP. My hosts are also proponents of naptime. I have found my people.
7) I also discovered the lemon tree behind the casita, next to its bright yellow door, and my host pointed out a rose — currently in a state of suffering — that blooms a brilliant yellow. So of course I have dubbed this charming cottage the Casita Rosa Limón.
8) To say thank you, I took my hosts out to dinner at Chi Chi at the Avalon Hotel, where we sat poolside in the most quiet and refined atmosphere one could hope for. I had some sort of cocktail involving whiskey, ginger beer, and the essence of a few woodland herbs and flowers, I don’t remember precisely what, oysters, and a wonderful strip steak.
8a) Our waiter, who was also the host and serving in a couple other positions that night, could not have been more delightful and enthusiastic. We three were admittedly underwhelmed with the way the dishes had been described on the menu, but one friend asked the waiter what he liked. And he began “When I’m light hungry, I like [Insert Dish Here with Descriptive Rapture]. When I’m medium hungry I like [Insert Dish Here with Descriptive Rapture]. But when I’m bottomless hungry, I get the New York strip steak with fries and without the usual sides.” And I said, perhaps too loudly, “YES!”
8b) Did I mention they were garlic fries?
8c) The dessert, which was not on the menu, was a salted chocolate caramel brownie with pistachio ice cream and extra pistachios. Om nom nom.
9) Once home, talk of watching Down With Love dissolved in the satisfaction of the beautiful cool evening watching the half moon in a black sky flecked with stars, a half moon with a bright rind and darker center — very much like a slice of watermelon, or lemon. Someone could make a neon sign out of that moon, and it would be a hit.