I went to Los Angeles on business this week. When I left, early Tuesday morning, the temperature was in the 50's and the daily high was supposed to be in the low 70's. When I came back on Thursday, the daily high was just about 40. All I can say is "brrr." It did not help at all that L.A. was experiencing a heat wave and it got up over 80 there.
The pain in the neck part of the trip was that I hadn't been able to get a hotel in El Segundo, so ended up staying at the Renaissance by the airport. The hotel is actually very nice, but, as is typical of more upscale hotels, you get nothing extra without paying. Yes, my company will pay for the parking and the high speed internet access and so on, but it annoys me when I can get the same stuff for free at the Courtyard.
The trip was reasonably productive, though hectic. I had time for a quick lunch with Mary Joan and Milo when I got in on Tuesday, but we couldn't talk long because I had a meeting to get to. And, on Wednesday night, I got together with Penny for dinner at Bombay Cafe. The food (palak paneer, a smoky eggpant dish, and pillau) was good, and the conversation was nicely stimulating.
As for the weekend, Saturday's walk of the week was in Leesburg. There was a nice mix of country (including a couple of horse farms) and town (the historic part of Leesburg, which I've wandered around before). The day also warmed up nicely and, in fact, my winter jacket was a bit warmer than I really needed. I didn't even need to wear my hat and gloves. On the way back, I stopped at the outlet mall, mostly to stock up on pantyhose. I had lunch there, too, which was a mistake because their food court is badly organized, with one line to pay for food from any of the outlets. That more or less guarantees that one's food will be cold by the time it's paid for. And the seating area was an obstacle course of strollers - and not particularly clean, either. But I did get my pantyhose, as well as some new long underwear, a purple folding umbrella, and a pair of slipper for my mother. There's other stuff I need, but my patience for shopping is pretty limited these days and I just didn't feel like delaing with the crowds at the mall.
Today was the Jewish Folk Arts Festival. My performance went okay, but not brilliantly. (I do, however, admit that I am my own worst critic.) I was particularly pleased to the reaction I got to The Clever Daughter, because I hadn't told it in public before. People seemed to think it's as sweet as I think it is, without being syrupy. I plan to tell it at the Folklore Society mini-fest in February, by the way. While at the festival, I also bought a couple of things - two books I'd been looking for and a very cute fabric bowl for bagels. Overall, it was a pretty fun event.
Copyright 2005 Miriam H. Nadel