Sol (Solveiga), the friend we made when Ed tutored her as a volunteer In the literacy program, came by Saturday and she and I took an hour’s drive to Naples to see the Miami Ballet company’s production of the Nutcracker with the Naples Philharmonic.

It is a new theater, very modern, located in a beautiful landscaped community on Pelican Bay Drive. Sol was impressed and said she wanted to live there. Well the cheapest home is easily 3 million, so I told her she should start saving.

We sat in the balcony. Since there is no upper tier, it was more like a mezzanine and the architecture was unusual. The seats were not in rows, but instead the entire arc of seating was composed of boxes with four seats in each. Each box has a private entry. We sat in a center box in front.

The dancers were excellent and as good as any that I’ve seen in New York. I was very pleasantly surprised to see such quality down here.

Sol is studying for her nursing degree and working at Lee Memorial Hospital, so her plate is full. I have been helping her with her English writing for her courses, and Ed, who has been to medical school, helps her with medical questions. She calls me after a test and says, “we got
an A”.

I find the guidelines for her essays needlessly complex and think the people who write this stuff are trying to look important.

My friend, John, is doing better, but his defibrillator went off a couple of times this week, so he may need a ride to the hospital tomorrow. I walked Buster today, fed him, and filled some containers with juice and water for John’s bedside.

The Isuzu was dead this morning and we called Triple A, and the guy said the battery was drained because one of the doors wasn’t shut. Ed blamed Luella, a ward he took shopping a couple of days ago. Luella is 87, recently widowed, and leans on him for everything. Every month the facility she is in, allows the residents to invite a guest for dinner. She always invites Ed and never includes me. Ed says she is sweet and he likes her and that she introduces him to people who might use his services (that’s the excuse). She has been pleasant the couple of times I have met her, but the reason she doesn’t ask me too is she wants Ed to be her date and enjoys letting her friends think he is interested in her. I told him that, sweet as she is, excluding me makes her rude and not a little tacky.

xx, Teal