Wow, what a great trip to Los Angeles! Was able to make a quick return to Rudolph Valentino's old house in Beverly Hills, Falcon Lair, even though there is hardly anything left of it. All but the guest house has been torn down. (The guest house used to be the servant's quarters and horse stables.) I feel so incredibly grateful that I had a chance to spend a couple hours in the house several years ago when it was still actually a house and not that much different from when Valentino lived there in 1925-26. At that point, however, I had no idea that I would eventually fall totally in love with him. Sigh.



I got to meet with a couple writer friends while in L.A., as well as spend time in Palm Springs with my family. Most importantly, I got to spend all that time with Peitor, who has recovered almost miraculously from that aortic aneurism and open heart surgery. He is phenomonally healthy, that guy. It is awe-inspiring. (And he's an incredible cook, gang. Wow. We ate some amazing meals -- and I didn't gain any weight. Not even a part of a pound. How odd!)

Luckily, Peitor lives right at the best part of Sunset Boulevard, in West Hollywood, not far from where the Garden of Alla(h) used to be. It makes me feel so incredibly happy to be there. For me, even though all these things I love about Sunset Blvd. are in the distant past & don't exist anymore, they feel so totally alive for me. And....

He's only about 4 blocks from the Chateau Marmont where I had my fateful meeting with my agent to discuss the new novel that I'd written so feverishly over the last year. What a night! It will stand out in my memory for a long, long time. It is sufficient to say that the novel had the desired effect. I don't recall ever being happier than I am right now, gang. (All writers with agents know that nothing feels worse than when you turn in your book and your agent doesn't like it; but when she loves it, it's like the opening credits of the old Love, American Style TV show: fireworks going off everywhere, in living color. It feels too fantastic for anything but fireworks.)

The trip home was one of those "nightmares in airports" kind of things. Getting up at 3 AM to make the plane on time, then sitting on the runway for 2 1/2 hours while they tried to fix a mechanical problem; missing your connection in Denver; sitting in the Denver airport for 4 hours waiting for the next plane home; feeling that during that final 30 minutes before landing, you would positively lose your mind... But then when we did land, it was warm and sunny here and still light out. The very moment I got out of my car, I ran over to the lilac bushes outside my kitchen door, and sure enough, there they were, in full bloom! I don't think I missed more than a moment of it, though. Here are some of the lilacs sitting in a pot in my bedroom. (As ever, my photo skills leave much to be desired but oh well.)

Thanks for visiting, gang. I hope that life is filling you with joy, too, wherever you are!