A good night’s sleep put me right physically. Then I made a light breakfast of whole wheat English muffins with cream cheese and marmalade, strong coffee, and cranberry juice. I finally cut up the watermelon, too, and put it in the refrigerator, something I intended to do while my brother was here so I didn’t have to eat watermelon morning, noon, and night. Oh well!

The boys are in better form today, too. Dougy was up for play with their Neko dragonfly toy; Andy was less ready at first, but came around to play later.

One thing Andy did do was stop by my chair while I caught up on reading, put his front paws on my arm — his way to getting my attention. I hadn’t given him his blood pressure medicine yet. He forgot that, I guess, but wanted the post-dose treat of Greenies. Silly cat! All I had to do was reach down and pick him up, cradle him on his back (without the towel, even!), and squirt the dose in his mouth.

He took it like a big kitty. Good boy! Then Dougy ate his treats. Geez! What’s a kitty gotta do to get some Greenies around here? I put out some more Greenies later, and he got his treats.

🙂

May 1971, off Sardinia on a blustery, miserable day at the beach filming a missile firing.

The photo has nothing to do with anything. I didn’t remember it, found it among other photos, scanned it, and realized I didn’t really have anything similar to tie in with it. But I like it!

🙂

Um, sorry for the brief loss of my train of thought! Back to getting back to routine, I took a look at a five-week-long stack of magazines that accumulated during the family visits. I couldn’t work reading them into my day, so now have five weeks’ worth of magazines to read, which I began during breakfast. What a concept! Reading at the breakfast table! It was nice.

Though I enjoyed family talk during the visits, I am not a morning talker by habit or choice. Reading, though, is comfortable as an old pair of jeans.

🙂

At the Paris apartment of Ralph and Deborah in 1971. I’m second from the left, Tim’s next, then Ralph, Deborah, and Deborah’s sister Kathy.

There is a time and place for chatter at mealtime, and some of the more pleasant moments of life center around family and friends sharing light conversation and a delicious homemade soup or a dish new to some at the table. (Unless the dish involves squid, stinky cheese, or durian fruit, for example. 😉 )

Of course, if you are chatting at the table with friends in an apartment on rue des Boulangers in Paris, the food and wine taste much, much better!