Julie picked me up at 9:15 and off we went to the BCNN meeting. I paid my dues--a paltry thirty bucks--and got myself a cup of coffee. The meeting was just a kind of introduction to the new officers of the new year, plus compilations of the various side activities (dining out, furry friends, book clubs, etc.), and the like. The new president, Dusty Arcari, is full of personality--in a wonderfully unpretentious and upbeat way--and did a great job of emceeing.
A woman named Margarita Cobelens sat next to me and and she and I had a great time talking. It turns out her late husband was Dutch and they had lived in the Netherlands for ten years. I mentioned The Serpent, which I've just finished watching on Netflix and she had heard about. This man killed twenty tourist, including several from The Netherlands. One of the main characters, who was instrumental in catching the killer, worked at the Dutch embassy and now Margarita is anxious to see it. I gave her my card and hope she gets in touch.
Julie and I decided not to go to lunch after, as we usually do. We were both aware of over-doing it during the holidays and that T.O.P.S. was only two days away. That was just as well, as I had told my friend, Leslie from Sunrise Bay that I'd call her at 1:00, my time, 4:00, hers.
I did so and we talked a good long time. Leslie is lonely; she said the old, close-friends group we had enjoyed when Pat and I were both there, no longer exists. Pat and Anne Mary died, Frank and Barbara are no longer friendly, and others, including yours truly, have moved away. We vowed to keep in closer touch.
After spending an hour going through and separating out more of my stuff--the hardest part is paring down my book collection--I texted Suzanne to see if she was available for a chat. She was, asked me over, and we had an enjoyable tete a tete for a half hour or so.
Yet another jigsaw; me a few years ago in Arizona:
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