Ojai And Carolyn B.

Again the rain came down, which scuttled Kimball once more. Just as well, because of the damn cold. I actually toyed with the idea of cancelling my lunch with Carolyn, but I was looking forward to getting to know her better. (As I told her later, I greatly enjoy our weekly Happy Hour with the four of us, but once in a while, it's nice to just be able to talk together.)
So I armed myself with my raincoat, boots, scarf, gloves, and umbrella, and set off. I first walked the two blocks to the post office, to mail the documents that came for my daughter-in-law (she, Mike, and the girls are now back in Singapore), then got the bus from there to the mall. I had to wait about twenty minutes for the second bus to Ojai, but that was okay. It took longer than I thought to get there, though, and it was just about 1:00 when I met Carolyn at Sea Fresh.
Gee, we had an enjoyable time It was good to learn more about her and her family and background. She's very quiet in the H.H. group; in fact, I often ask her a question just to draw her out a bit. Yesterday, though, she talked and talked and I listened and listened and was happy to do so. Carolyn is just a month older than my oldest daughter, but we seem to have bridged the age gap easily.
We were in Sea Fresh (crab salad and a Blue Moon) for more than two hours until I suggested we walk down the Avenue, which we did. We window-shopped, then went into Rains, the small department store, which has some wonderfully different and interesting merchandise.
After we strolled here and there, I found I had missed the 3:22 bus and had to wait for the 4:22. Carolyn insisted in waiting at the stop with me--there's a bench--and we continued our conversation. Bus came, we hugged goodbye, and off I went. It took a whole hour to get home and I stopped at Von's, so it was almost 7:00 by the time I walked in the door. That was okay, though.
I still have the cold, and as my colds always are, no matter how I treat them, it's worse today. I may have  exacerbated it by going out in the cold rain, but I refuse to curtail my activities unless I really feel lousy.  So  far, I'm not bad, so I'll just ignore the damn thing. I did, however, skip Kimball again. I think it would be foolhardy to walk it, as it's still chilly.
Looked at my email when I got home and saw a nice "enjoyed lunch" note from Jim. Must arrange for a gathering with the rest of my acting group soon.
Darn, I just looked at the weather and now it's supposed to rain for the next week--no fair!