Oh Happy Day!

Last night we were invited to a stunningly delicious gourmet feast, prepared by Ken and Laura Wooten, owners of Orzo restaurant in Charlottesville, VA, a grand place to eat. They are visiting our friend Patty, Ken's mom, here in Santa Cruz. As anticipated, every bite was fabulous, from the carefully selected and scrumptious appetizers (sizzling dates wrapped in bacon; alderwood smoked salmon with dill sauce; a Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk triple cream cheese) to the superb salad, leg of lamb, mashed roasted veggies, and wonderful broccoli rabe, followed by a variety of pears and cookies purchased at the divine Ferry Building in San Francisco. Wine pairings with everything. Yum!!! Thanks Ken & Laura!!

What struck me at the dinner was when 6 year old Max, a charmer in every way, asked "can we play our dinner game?" It turns out that whenever this lovely family has dinner together they share the following two questions: 1) what was the best part of your day? 2) what was the worst part of your day? We proceeded to have this conversation around the table with much laughter and love exchanged. Honestly I was amazed that I had big difficulty finding any "worst part" of my day.
In fact my day, yesterday, was so terrific. I took our two dogs to the beach for starters, and the weather and conditions were just perfect. Nobody much was there, and dogs were overjoyed. Next I picked up my grandson, Desmond, and took him to a park where he clambered around on all the slides, swings, and climbing areas until I noticed him rubbing his eyes, whereupon I scooped him up and took him home for a nap. While he slept I read a book (Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Nieffeneger) and rested, and then his Mom returned and I came home. There was a phone call from Daniella with the message that our friends Wendy and Judy (traveling companions in Korea) were planning a new trip to Turkey in April/May and wanted us to join them once again - but we had to decide immediately. I took about 10 minutes to consider it, then phoned back and said "Yes! Let's do it!". Yipes, the audacity of that moment, like leaping off a cliff when I had no idea of what was down there. It was scary but also exhilarating, and details will need a lot of work. But hey, we're not getting any younger, and Turkey has always been on my wish list of places to go. Finally, after another neighborhood dog walk, we went out for that fabulous dinner I described above. Now how can anyone find a "worst" moment in all that?!?So this post is really just to record, for what it's worth, the happiness of yesterday, the general contentment I have with my life right now, and the awareness of being blessed beyond measure. I am so blessed! It's huge.