Terry and Lila asked us to join them for brunch today at the Hyatt at Coconut Point where they had booked a room. We started out for Estero at 10 a.m., and got there a few minutes after 11. You approach it down a very long 2-lane road with tall, dense trees on both sides, and this incredible tall tower sits at the end, looking like Oz. It has 6 or 8 swimming pools with waterfalls and statuary, all loosely connected with patios and steps and greenery interspersed. It is a stunning example of luxury living. We ate at a mostly empty café in a small hexagonal room with windows on all sides and a view of a large waterway with a fountain in the middle. I had blackened grouper and maintain that this fish is a nothing fish and the only thing that saves it is seasoning. I had a mimosa and then a glass of white wine.

Terry and Lila were great company as usual and the talk was about their work (Lila is a fashion rep and Terry puts together high end fine art shows) and about how “the old neighborhood” is changing. They were my loft neighbors on lower 2nd Avenue in New York and that is still their main residence, although they have a summer house in upstate New York. We left them to their resort interlude to drive home.

On getting home, I slept, courtesy of early drinking, for two plus hours. I awakened and looked at E mail and then took my bike ride and it got dark while I was riding, but I kept on instead of returning straightaway, convincing myself that I would be careful (I don’t have a bike light). I wanted to see everyone’s Christmas lights.

I had a sad encounter with Kate, the wife of my chat pal Curt. She called out to me and I stopped. I told her I had missed seeing Curt out with the dog and were they okay and she told me Buster, their purebred cocker spaniel, had died. I was truly upset at this news. The little guy was a joy. Nothing much can be done to ease this kind of pain but I’ve been through it and commiserated.

Then I saw my neighbors, Gary and Tammy. We exchanged a few words and I told them that their landscaper friend (Cemetery Gary) had lost his wife last Wednesday. She had been ill (yes, cancer) for a couple of years. He had asked me to give them the message. That prompted Tammy to tell me that her cancer was in stage 4. She and Gary got married this past October. They were on their way to a short cruise and Tammy was wearing a tube that infuses her with nutrition since eating makes her ill. She has been very brave and continues to try to function. She told me some weeks ago that she is tired of fighting and wants it all to be over.

How sad to know friends in crisis and be able to do nothing but offer sympathy.

xx, Teal