Colonial

 I know you look at this photo and think, "He really needs that $10,000 worth of camera gear."  Right?  Imagine what I could accomplish!

Rather than going out and making pictures, though, yesterday I went to my mother's and made another stretch of flower garden.  Boy oh boy, her backyard is really looking nice.  I put up a bird feeder, too, and the birds are already coming, but my mother worries about rats.  Hmm.  I hadn't thought of that before.  Funny, I think, because my parents always taught me to see the charcoal lining.  

In the afternoon, I bought ten different vegetables and a bunch of tofu.  Spent a long while chopping, then oiled and seasoned it all and put it all on a pan on the grill.  Put on some jasmine rice to cook.  And then. . . 

I sat myself to rest with a Campari and soda.  Sent the pic around to friends, of course.  

"What are you drinking?"  

And so I had to show them what I was smoking, too--and with what.  My new cigarette holder.  Holy smokes!  Now all I need is the jeweler's necklace to hold my glasses.  I have the linen pants, of course, but they no longer fit. . . of course.  I'll have to get some new ones (of course).  

How'd I become this way?  

Books and movies, I imagine.  A longing for something gone.  Colonial splendor.  You know, the bad stuff.  Not like Russia, mind you.  No. . . .  Civilizers and nation builders.  

Ha!

I should just wear robes like Jesus.  Wait. . . I pretty much do.  

The vegetables grilled then plated, I poured a mixture of toasted sesame seed oil, soy sauce, honey, and water over the top.  Can't remember what that concoction is called, but it sure is tasty.  

Chardonay.  I know.  But it went well.  

Then a movie.  "Red Rocket."  Same fellow who made "Tangerine" and "The Florida Project."  I had high hopes.  Very disappointed.  

And that is my life.  It is not a bad one, but. . . .  Maybe I should move to Boca del Vista and join a Canasta Club.  That seems to be all that is missing.  Cocktails by the community pool and a slight sea breeze.  

But the weather will turn on us soon enough, and the outside world will be a challenge.  That is when I'll need that camera--and a reliable vehicle.  

Today, though, I'll be content to paint the stairs to the apartment and wait for the next sundowner.  Life its own self.