Three Thousand Hits

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

Here we are, back in Carmel. While September is not a usual time for us to go to Carmel, at least not in a decade or so, the past few years have been so different and complicated in so many ways, that we find ourselves not traveling afar as we have in the past. So this year, we are once again spending extended time in one of our favorite places. And that's ok. While we listen with some envy to stories about our friends' travels; while I eye the Silversea and Radisson cruise line brochures that come to our home with a small sense of yearning; while I long, long to feel the way I do while we have spent time at The Kona Village; it's just not our time to do that. It's our time to stay fairly close to our Los Angeles home, close to my mom, close to our business. And so here we are.

It does feel like home to me, even though we're not in the same house we rented for so many years. It's our second stay here at this house, and it is a really nice one. I've gotten used to being on the opposite side of town from where we have always rented; I've gotten used to the odd fact that this house doesn't seem to have a name (no street addresses or mail delivery in town so all houses are named, or so I thought); I've gotten used to the push-button fireplace which altered my opinion that those things are cheezy. It looks very much like a real fire-in-the-fireplace. And if we need what Billy calls a true Carmel smell, there is a wood-burning fireplace in the living room.

This house has an outside patio with a table surrounded by flowers and trees. It has a barbecue. But the weather has been foggy and cool since we got here on Sept 1st. I remarked that Carmel doesn't know it's September yet, as the foggy days of summer seem to have lingered on. But the house is warm and cozy, and the town is Carmel. And so we begin our process of winding down and getting recharged up for the rest of the year.

Lest I lose you all (all one or two of you reading this), I should try to refrain from listing the reasons why the past couple of years have been hard. Last year, at this time, we were rehabbing our rental property after it was trashed by a tenant. Billy was doing all the grunt work and heavy lifting, as he has done two other times in the past three years during which time we have twice moved my mom. Then there was that pesky economic thing which reigned terror on all small business owners, which is what we are. But life is more stable now. It's just that we're both a little older and a little more spent.

I commented to many people, and probably wrote it in a previous post (available here in limited quantities), that I got through this past year with the help of salsa dance, an unseasonable taste for Guinness beer, and baseball. That's Dodgers baseball. The Dodgers helped me along by coming out strong at the beginning of the season, after the heinous McCourts sold them to a consortium which included Magic Johnson. Our boys in blue played with verve and joy through April and May. Then there were injuries. They dropped a lead which I will recall (without checking) was about nine games. They were barely at the top of their division going into the All-Star break. After much back and forth, they had regained that slim lead, and then. And then. The Giants smoked us through a three-game series last month. Now we are 4.5 games back of the Giants, and Billy and I are heading to San Francisco today to watch tomorrow's game at AT&T Park. Looking forward to it. Nervous. Excited. Go Dodgers (like win, before I have a heart attack)!

Meanwhile, my blog is nearing another pinnacle, and once again, it is occurring while I am in Carmel, where it began. I will pass 3000 hits this weekend, which should make me feel a little bit like a blogger all star. I just looked at the Dodgers' stats and, they have a combined 1167 hits this season as of Sept 4th. And I want to guess that I've seen about 1100 of them, either on television or at Dodger Stadium. Looking forward to a few more over the weekend, before we return to Carmel and I settle in to write a boatload (a McCovey Cove reference, get it?) of blog posts. In the meantime, in-between time, ain't we had fun? Ok, maybe fun is too strong a word. But I do thank you for joining me on my writing journey by reading my blog -- especially if you've looked at it more than once. I implore you to leave a message on any post that speaks to you. And I hope you will enjoy the next three thousand. I haven't said it all yet. You must trust me about this.

I do need to repeat the comment that I'm not sure if there are three thousand of you who have each read my blog once, or one of you who has hit on it three thousand times (you know who you are, LOL. For the rest of you: see post entitled The Monogram available here at newly reduced prices). Regardless, I thank you, one or all. And for the love of heaven, GO DODGERS!!!

Two Thousand Hits

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California


The holidays have come and gone. The house guests have done similarly. Our friends, Todd and Christopher, rented a house here for the week including Christmas and New Year's. Their house was a nine-minute short walk away. Actually, it started at nine minutes. Then it got shorter as I pushed the envelope on the walking speed. I got it down to seven, maybe seven and-a-half.


It was great fun to have the two houses and go between them. Their house has an ocean view from the balcony, whereas ours, almost five blocks further from the beach, has no ocean sound whatsoever. Small price to pay for two fireplaces and a short walk to Mission Ranch, is what we think.


We went thirteen days here before anyone turned on a TV. And, frankly, I was all for bringing in the new year without watching the ball drop on Times Square. I'm the superstitious type. We've watched that (through no fault of our own) the last few years, and look what it has got us! I thought maybe starting the year without it, could put the cosmic tumblers into better alignment. I fool around with the Hoppin' John in this way as well. But, what do I know?


Blogwise, the new year is starting with another milestone. I have just, today, passed the two thousandth hit on What Would Sandra Do? Again, with the joke: either two thousand of you have landed on it once, or one of you has read it two thousand times (I know who you are, Ms. LOL). I was thinking, though, that instead of giving you stats on where the ersatz readers reside, or which posts are the most popular or un-, I would share a couple of anecdotes about my blog's life since One Thousand Hits, which I posted on April 25th of last year.


The first is about my blog doppelganger. On July 1st of last year, I received an email from Sandra. Not my Sandra, however. This Sandra wrote to me to say that she had been dismayed to discover my blog had the same name as hers, and further dismayed to discover that I had started mine quite awhile before she  had launched hers (I'm paraphrasing here). We corresponded back and forth a bit, discovering that we had both been English majors in college, and that we actually live near each other in Los Angeles. But the real beauty of this was discovering the other WWSD blog. Her blog is insightful, witty, and, unlike mine, full of photos (my bad). I've enjoyed getting to know her through it, and so can you right here.


Apart from discovering a kindred spirit named Sandra, during the last few months I also got my first comment from a stranger. It was in the post entitled Octoberfest? and it was from Carlos. Evidently, Carlos is affiliated with the Red Tale Ale people in Mendocino. He thoughtfully posted a comment at the bottom of that post -- the second post in which my current favorite beer was mentioned (see Other Cities Only Make Me Love You Best -- available here, for free!).


The only other point I would like to make about my two thousandth hit is that I am gratified that it happened here and now. As those of you who have been following along (again, really . . ?) know, I started my blog just two years ago, on a Dell laptop sitting at a little round table, here in Carmel. And now, here I am again, just two years later in a different house in Carmel, at a small square game table, on a MacBook Pro. Things change; things stay the same. Life is like that . . .


While it is fun to receive a comment from a stranger, I am more humbled by my friends who follow along. As any of you who have spent time with me know, talking is something I like to do a lot. And, increasingly, in a rambling, where the F was I?-style manner. Not that I don't also write in that style (because I do, especially in my love of parenthetical explanations as evidenced in this particularly long one which you are reading right here and now. You're reading this, right? Right?). Anyway, my heart is warmed by the knowledge (or delusion) that my friends are reading, and even occasionally enjoying my posts. That goes for those of you in Hawaii (you know who you are), as well as MCM in New York.


My life has changed a lot since I began What Would Sandra Do? And I needn't reiterate that here. But life does that. Someone said (it may have been Steve Jobs, since there has been so much of that around of late) that change is the only thing that succeeds. I do have a grudging understanding of that. I also know that we mustn't try to stop change. If we do try, it will just drag us along with it. So as the new year begins, I am taking this time to stop; to thank you all, and to take a deep breath before getting back on the big ole, sometimes scary, ride.


Happy New Year. I wish you all health, happiness, and a world at peace. Now, let's go . . .


Thank you all for reading my blog . . . but, what is wrong with you (ok, sorry, couldn't resist . . .)?!