Tuesday With Lora

Lora picked me up at noon and off we went to lunch. She suggested Outback Steakhouse in Oxnard for their coconut shrimp and that sounded fine to me, so that's where we went. 

The shrimp was excellent, but even better was the conversation. Lora is very open and honest about her family problems and told me about her mentally ill son, who is in a facility about an hour away. She recently visited him and it's a difficult road she has to walk. Her daughter isn't exactly Little Miss Conventional, but she has gifted Lora with a nine-year-old grandson and adorable six-month-old Joy. Lora, a travel agent, is trying to persuade me to go on a tour to Turkey and Croatia in September, 2025. I'm actually sort of considering it--will see if Ellen might want to go, too.

Got home a little after two and immediately took off for town. Why? Partly because  had succumbed to temptation at lunch and had a slice of cheesecake with raspberry sauce. I rarely eat sugar and I could have kicked myself after, so I wanted to get some exercise in. It was quiet and pleasant in town and I just stopped in the library, plus a few shops, but had a good walk. 

On my way back from the bus, I saw this display in front of a tree:

These are all carefully arranged, not just tossed there. I assume it's a memorial to the woman pictured, but it seem an odd place right on a main street. It made me wonder about her life. What is the book about? Was that her purse? What is in the labelled box in the middle? It couldn't be her ashes, could it? I think I'll look again today.