Lunch With Marcelle

I met my park pals, Irene and Diane, while walking Kimball, so things are pretty much back to normal. It was a beautiful clear, blue-sky, morning at 7:00 am--except for the miles of beige smoke all along the ridges to the north. But that was far away and I easily forgot about it.
After breakfast, I spent the rest of the morning on the computer, including trying to figure out how I'd get Christmas gifts to Singapore Son and family. I e-mailed him asking where they'd be staying in Germany.
Showered, dressed, and left about noon for my lunch date with Marcelle. When I went out, I was taken aback to see a smoky haze. Clearly, the wind had shifted and now we were getting it.
Met Marcelle at the Black Angus and we ordered lunch. I had a Blue Moon, she a red wine--she ordered it by name, so probably knows something about wine.  We then settled in for two hours and learned more about each other.
Marcelle: married, no children, husband retired, lives just above the college.  Her parents emigrated here from Malta, of all places.  I was surprised to hear she's 65; she seems a lot younger to me. I'm not sure if I think she actually looks younger--she does to an extent, I guess, maybe because her blonde hair is almost to her waist--or if it's because of her baby voice and big blue eyes.
I also can't decide if I think she's interesting or a bore. I perked up my ears to hear she and her husband are regular theatre-goers--they go to L.A. regularly--and also, that they had introduced the parents of the Neil Young drummer to each other.  I wasn't going to admit I didn't quite remember who Neil Young is--looked him up later and geez, he's 72, although the drummer's only 30 or so.
We stayed for two hours, then said goodbye, then I drove to town and did my walk. Annoyingly, the library was again closed. There was more smoke in the air than there had been, but it wasn't too bad.
El called before dinner and we had a long talk. I hope to see her before I leave for Alameda on Friday.