Tuesday, March 20

Quote of the Day:  “To do today:  Dream, Inspire, Play”  From a necklace given to me by my good friend, Laurie Burt.

I have so missed writing in my blog and it’s my own fault.  I went to Palm Springs to watch the pros play tennis and it felt like every second of every day was used.  I did not come home feeling like I had completed a novel or that I had moved through my magazines, rather every minute there meant hurrying to get to the next event or activity. We even had to schedule time to lounge by the pool, watching the clock insuring that we would not stay too long.  But if it sounds like I’m complaining, I’m not.  It was wonderful.  The fragrant smell of the blossoms on the grapefruit trees says it all for me when I think of Palm Springs.  Warm air, deep blue sky, earth cooled by the night, warming up in morning, fully cranked sun by afternoon, and then around 6:00 P.M. releasing that heat at last as the sun drops beneath the mountains.  

This is the getaway with our dearest of friends, Kelly and Laurie Burt.  We have been coming for many years to watch tennis but really it’s the building of relationships that I love most.  The coming together, sometimes after a heavy winter, more so from the Salt Lakers rather than the San Diegans ( I think that’s the correct term).  Almost, to mark the beginning of Spring.  As a sidenote, Laurie and I met when we were at the University of Utah majoring in English.  We, both, were also getting a secondary teaching certificate.  We started seeing each other in classes and then I guess must have started talking to each other.  I really can’t remember.  I only know I was so glad that we had met and were in classes together.  Laurie has always had style.  Even in the early 80’s I remember her blazers- always fashionable.  Here are two other things I remember about Laurie:  she never wore a coat and she always parked at meters which required her to leave class now and then to fill the empty box.  Laurie and Kelly were newly married, just as Joe and I were when we met.  Pretty soon, we started doing things as couples.  Then we had kids and started vacationing together.  To this day, our kids remember our combined family trip to Mission Beach as one of the greatest vacations, ever.

Each year in Palm Springs we catch up on the events of the past year, get informed about our children, learn something new the other has to offer and sometimes even a book is exchanged.  We also set goals and I’m pretty sure Kelly is the winner.  The rest of us pale in comparison to all the goals he has set and accomplished.  Joe and I just keep listing the same goals every year. Laurie and I love books and also share a love of words.  We have so much fun just sitting watching tennis and sharing the sun.  I’m pretty sure one of the definitions of a friend is someone you can be apart from and start right where you ended last time you saw them.  But here’s another definition too, someone you feel safe with, no matter what idea you try to express.