Chucking

I often joke about retiring and opening a beach bar in the Caribbean, Dongo’s by the Sea. (Check out dongosbythesea.com). In fact one of my best ideas is to open a floating bar in the middle of the Grand Bahama Bank. Talk about remote! I can’t figure out how to make that one possible, but what fun it would be!

I really like my job, but sometimes the idea of just chucking it all and embracing each day having fun really appeals. Hey, I liked the movie, “Running Scared,” and “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” plays on many of my playlists. Could I do it? Probably not…yet.

I was chatting with my neighbor just this morning. We joked about how happy the bums are, standing in the sunshine on beautiful Southern California days, while the schmucks are toiling away in offices staring at computer screens and getting stomach cancer. Yes, I am one of the schmucks.

Back in the day, I would have pointed to my possessions; my many toys and cool electronic gizmos, and said: the bums don’t have all these nifty things! Nowadays, however, two things have changed. First, I don’t seem to care about possessions as much, and second, the bums are doing a good job of keeping up with the gizmos.

Where will I be in 10 years? Under an overpass in LA? Asleep in the sun on St. Lucia? In the ground, feeding the worms? Or still chained to this desk…?

Cold Feet

I am such a simple creature. I take delight in many simple pleasures. Just this morning, I was warm and toasty under the covers, but my bedroom was a little chilly. I slipped out of bed and went into the bathroom, where the new stone floor was quite cold beneath my feet. This floor used to be carpet, but now a lovely travertine and occasionally as cold as a well digger’s lunch bucket. Hmm, I thought to myself, perhaps I should have kept the carpet? I went through my usual morning ablutions as the water in the shower warmed and my feet cooled even further. I opened the steamy shower door and stepped into the hot water. What a delicious sensation! My feet warmed, the water splashed most satisfactorily, and I inhaled the heavy steam. I wonder, would I have even noticed the joys of hot water this morning, if the stone hadn’t chilled my feet?

I do a lot of thinking about contrasts and about simple pleasures. Nothing makes me appreciate summer more than these long nights of winter. Getting up before the sun and leaving work after full dark is depressing business for me. It makes me wistful for those halcyon days of summer, when the sun woke me in the morning and I could garden for hours after work. I wonder, how much of the hectic nature of the holidays is owed to the shortened days, leaving us so little time? In the summer, I miss the need for a fire in the fireplace. A full moon party in the summer always runs later, as we wait for dark and the beautiful light of the moon. I was in the backyard last night and the plumeria have dropped their leaves. It is well and truly winter in Southern California, despite the temperature in the mid 70s. Although far from desolate, winters here are just enough to make me fully appreciate the daffodils, which herald spring for me. They make me laugh—they pop up, glorious, then often get scorched by a sudden nice day, here. How frustrated they must be.  

They say, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” It’s the contrast of being apart and being together that makes this so.

Simple pleasures…has it always been so for me? It is hard to recall. I think I have always taken delight in the small things, but I would certainly sacrifice my simple pleasures for something I considered more important. Maybe that’s the change? Maybe what I consider important has changed, and these simple pleasures have risen accordingly?

Perhaps I am simply justifying my burgeoning alcoholism? You see, as a young man, I would never embrace the demon rum when working the next day. Now that just makes me laugh.

Andie MacDowell

I'm not much of a celebrity hound, but it was a surprising treat when I saw Andie MacDowell yesterday. We were in the terminal waiting to board the plane and I actually recognized her voice first. Gee, that voice is familiar, I thought to myself and looked over to see Andie MacDowell! Wow! I am actually quite a fan. I thought she was charming in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Groundhog Day." She was flying 1st Class and I was back with the crowd, so I did not see her during the flight, but as luck would have it, I walked off the plane just behind her.

My only other celebrity experience was seeing Jessica Alba at LAX. Yes, she was very pretty, but people recognized her and she seemed scared as she fled the paparazzi. I felt kind of sorry for her.  

Oh, when I was a kid, I met Billy Barty, too.