1) To my surprise, I woke well before 6:00 AM — but that is the most beautiful part of an August day in Palm Springs. A morning of dawdling in the pool proceeded until the phone rang. Could I be ready in ten minutes to leave for brunch? The answer, of course, was yes, and with a lick and a promise I joined my hosts in near-record time.
1a) Yes, you read that correctly: “the phone rang.” My hosts collect telephones and have arranged a PDX (?) phone system with around 20 different telephones, including about six in the living room alone and one in the car. I have a flame orange trimline phone in the casita that might have appeared in The Towering Inferno. I love it.
1b) I am so glad other people understand technology, because honestly . . .
2) The car phone was demonstrated for me en route to John’s, a diner where you order at the counter and your food is brought to you just like Bonanza. We had a very good brunch, but I was most taken with the sign at the entrance warning that “Service Dog Fraud Is A Crime” and speculating about what sort of incident led the management to post it.
3) Next stop: the Palm Springs Art Museum’s Architecture and Design Center for the final day of Albert Frey: Inventive Modernist, an architect of whom I had never heard but without whom Palm Springs As We Know It simply would not exist. The center is housed in a midcentury building that used to be a bank, recalling many childhood visits with Mother to Calcasieu Marine National Bank on Enterprise Boulevard. (The exterior of that building was completely changed many years ago, so that now it looks like it was carved from meringue.)
3a) We arrived just in time for the guided tour of the exhibition, which the docent began by confessing she felt emotional about a show meaningful to her coming to an end. She was really an excellent presenter, communicating with just the right amount of enthusiasm (read: not excessive) and making eye contact with everyone throughout the group. I confess I felt torn by a) wanting to show her attentive respect, b) following the material, and c) feeling that post-prandial slump and wanting my nap.
3b) Whaddya know, he designed MoMA! And they had the original model for it right there.
3c) Near the end the docent spoke about Frey’s final home in Palm Springs, built on an “unbuildable lot,” which was fronted by a flight of stairs and a swimming pool. At the foot of the stairs was a large Swiss cowbell, and guests were strongly encouraged to ring it loudly before mounting the steps. Apparently this was because Frey would swim and do yoga in the nude (because of course, everyone should), and the sound of the bell would give him just enough time to get out of the water and wrap a towel around himself.
3d) Afterward we three got to chat with the docent a bit, which was a real delight. Like many others I am guilty of wanting to share bits of information with a speaker that they may not know; this time it was two things that related to her presentation, an anecdote about Le Corbusier and the fact that, while Europeans may not have allowed women to study architecture in the 1920s, MIT was graduating women architects in the 1880s. She really was very nice — just made my visit to that little museum.
4) More lethargy for me in the afternoon, until showered and freshly dressed I reported for duty at 5:00 PM to assist if needed for the dinner party beginning at 6:00 PM. Turns out I was only needed to help set the table and light the candles, but I was comfortable with light duty.
5) And right at 6:00 PM the three guests arrived, launching a really nice evening. We were served Friend Zone cocktails, which involve muddled cotton candy grapes (of which I’d never heard); the resulting pink drink, served straight up in martini glasses, just managed to complement what everyone had chosen to wear: white, yellow, purple, red, blue. Truly, it’s all about accessorizing!
6) Over a dinner of chicken saltimbocca, broccolini, and plentiful potatoes, the conversation ranged from Portugal through circuit breakers, other forms of technology, the Frey exhibition, the closure of the Barracks, recent travel, and wines. For dessert, a substantial and luscious crème brûlée provided the perfect finish.
7) Once the guests left, it was time for more conversation in the pool, but since I never really did get a nap, I retreated to bed about 10:00 PM.