Microblog

Paid 50 cents senior fare to ride a city bus to Desert Hot Springs on the other side of Coachella Valley. Walked through a land of strip malls. This honors a childhood tradition: my Aunt and I would ride a bus to the end of the line to see what was there; usually not much.

Crossed the road in the steps of people who bring our community together. Actually crossed many roads, grateful my errant knee felt good after 7,000 steps.

Today I’m reading about the opening up of Japan to the world from 1853 to 1873: Western gunboat diplomacy, the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, the beginning of the Meiji era, a time of rapid change and modernization. This period keeps popping up on my Japan travels, it’s interesting.

With my wings (or, more precisely, a knee) clipped on this year’s snowbird trip, planned next winter’s trip. Reservations opened up today for our outbound travel day: used SkyMiles, Seattle layover (much cheaper than nonstop), exit row aisle seats on an otherwise empty seat map.

Climbed above Palm Springs through a desert that had become a meadow. Sprained a knee, leading to an excruciating descent and a knee brace at Eisenhower Urgent Care. Rest is advised for a week, which is a bit like flying Delta One; Dwight reminded me he’s here for my safety.

We’re both listless couch-dwellers as our colds work their way through. Created a pointless adventure to get me off the couch: did some online research, found an early Liberace house, a 10-minute city bus ride, found the house undergoing a remodel, walked back, returned to the couch.

On my neighborhood walk, found another Liberace house. For some reason this one made me think of a funeral parlor. Over the years he owned four homes in Palm Springs.

On my morning walk past bars open to the sidewalk, people were getting a head start on St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

A stream bed had come to life, cutting short our short walk. Recent rains have made any trail that crosses an arroyo (a normally dry creek) suspect. We backtracked and drove back into town to share a grilled cheese sandwich washed down with IPA.

When you’re staying in a desert, you don’t expect to look out the window and see a rainbow. But there it was this morning.

Finalized details for picking up a car tomorrow. Rather than renting through a traditional car rental company, we’re renting peer-to-peer via the Turo app. Blue Betty (the car) will be waiting for us in a parking lot; we’ll find the key in a lockbox in a wheel well.

Lying low feels good while we both wait out stubborn colds. A 10-minute walk to a cafe for coffee and Madeleines provided a sufficient sense of accomplishment. We’d rather be up on the trails, but our bodies say otherwise.

On my neighborhood walk, “an Americano for here” became “un Americano pour ici” in Café mon Amour where all the staff speak French. Edith Piaf sang her heart out while I lingered.

Deicing fluid battered the fuselage at MSP, en route to Palm Springs.

In Minneapolis I lay on the couch, grouchy, nursing a cold, periodically flushing out radiation. From Palm Springs Dwight remotely watered our apartment garden. The plants look good to me, but doubtless he’ll see issues when we both return to Minneapolis at the end of the month.

Nibbled cookies a friend brought over, drank vast quantities of water (doctor’s orders) and looked out at falling snow.