Another Day In Paradise.....

The curtain rose on lunch at 11.30am, to much applause….reluctantly the curtain came down shortly after 6pm, again to applause. However, our steps weren’t as sprightly as they were at the beginning of the afternoon. The reason…we were weighted down by the intake of food! This, of course, was balanced by the ingestion of champagne, wine…and Tia Maria coffees.

The sun made its path across the sky, suspended like a pendulum, but we were ignorant of its presence. Whatever happened in the outside world this afternoon affected us not. Engulfed we were by what was in our immediate surroundings. One could not blame us for such lack of interest in what was happening elsewhere. We were far too intent on what we were doing within these four walls.

A small antipasti of char-grilled eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes, feta-stuffed large green olives, black olives, dill-pickled cucumbers and puff pastry squares filled with a mixture of blue cheese, shredded Parmesan, grated mozzarella, ricotta and diced bacon began the indulgent feasting. With these tasty tid-bits we sipped on sparkling rosé, followed closely by a bottle of champagne.

Entrée and main, as I mentioned in a previous post, consisted of Prawns and Calamari Creole and Veal Oscar. By the time we’d ploughed our way through those two courses, the sun was on the wan and our bodies were screaming for a break! Heeding the request, as is my may, time was allowed to drift away between courses, so dessert came….much later.

During the planning, preparing etc., my plan fluctuated and I finally decided upon rhubarb and apple crumble served with hot custard for dessert. After all, it is winter and the days have been pretty chilly of late, so a hot dessert seemed very appropriate. Not to mention, rhubarb grows here on this property where I live. Oh! Dear! I did mention it!

By the time, the Tia Maria coffees were presented us three were beyond hope or caring! So, too were our stomachs! What fun! What the hell! You’re dead a long time and these small pleasures should be enjoyed now…while they can be enjoyed! That’s my philosophy and I’m sticking with it!

Full of good cheer and good manners, my two guests left. Having bid them farewell, I came back inside, pumped up the music. I filled up the kitchen sink with soapy suds, a few times, and my attack on the dishes had begun in earnest. It’s amazing how quickly one can get things done while urged on by the sounds of Shel Silverstein, The Marshall Tucker Band and Bruce Springsteen and Gram Parsons!

Presently, I sit here, sipping on Tia Maria. All is washed sparkling clean (except me!). Of course, nothing is put back to its rightful place. Damn that…they can drip-dry until morning, The final step in this exercise will be done then. I’m not that organized or particular! Who cares, anyway? It is me who has to do it and I don’t feel like doing anything more this evening other than to enjoy the music and this drink by my side.

It was a wonderful afternoon. I don’t know what we talked about, but we discussed it all in depth, whatever it was, with much laughter and little pause to take a breath. The problems of the world we did not solve, but I’m sure we could have done so, and could do, if anyone ever listened intently to us.

I’ve had good years. I’ll have many more, I hope. I’ve had soft places to fall. I’ve fallen onto hard places. Sometimes they’ve come up to meet me or arrived uninvited, but I’ve never let them defeat me. Hurdles I have jumped over deserving of Olympic Gold. I’ve picked up the pieces, glued them together and started all over again, many times. Between happy times, the sad times sneak in, between anger and frustration come understanding and empathy. The splendour of life wins, every time.

And then at the end of the stroke of midnight, a new day begins. This my 501st post, so that also means I've begun my run-down to my post Number 1000!!

Take a deep breath everyone!