Catch-up

We traveled to Asheville, NC , over the weekend. The reason was not pleasure -- I have an aunt there who is elderly and not doing well so we took my mother (and a cousin) to see her. Aunt Dot is the only sibling my mother has left (out of eleven -- thirteen if you count a set of twins who did not survive). My mother will be 85 this month and Aunt Dot just turned 89 -- and they are very close. It's funny -- I know they are as old as they are -- just as I know that, chronologically, I am now fifty -- but it's hard to look at either of them -- or myself -- and think in terms of those numbers. Neither one looks it -- and my mother is actually is in pretty good health, considering.

I love Asheville. It's very artsy-fartsy and I love going to the art stores -- especially those which have pottery -- which is pretty much all of them. I don't know what it is with me and pottery but I adore it. As usual, I bought a lot of it -- much of it actually usable. We also stopped by the Farmer's Market on the way home -- I bought more pottery there -- but also Amish butter and bacon -- and cheese -- as if I can't get cheese at home. Or butter or bacon.

Mark and I stayed at the Haywood Park Hotel. It's an old hotel in the middle of downtown Asheville and it was fabulous. The room -- and bathroom -- were huge -- much more than we needed. What was really great was being able to walk outside and go right into all the shops. Mark grumbled at having to have the car valet parked -- but, hey, sometimes, it's just what you have to do. To make your wife happy.

I also like to visit Malaprops when I'm in Asheville. It's a bookstore with a lot of new-agey type stuff which I don't care for -- but a lot of books packed into a small space. Of course, I was there too early -- author Diana Gabaldon will be there soon in celebration of the release of An Echo in the Bone -- the 6th book in the Outlander series. This happened once before -- we were there the week after she'd been there. Of course, I had a chance to go to Atlanta just recently and hear her speak but didn't -- so it's my own damn fault on that one.

The last six weeks have not been good ones. I try not to carry on incessantly about all the not-so-good things that have been going on. I'm still grieving over Darcy. I'm depressed and can't seem to shake it -- though I was already on medication. And I've had some sort of respiratory thing which will not let go. I've joked that it's the swine flu but it's not -- there's no fever -- just congestion (mostly in my chest), coughing, sore throat and just feeling blah and yucky. I've been on a round of antibiotics but it looks like I may need a different one, which Dr. Mark is going to get for me today.

So, tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day...during the summer of my discontent...