All is Calm, All is (Somewhat) Right

After what has unquestionably been the shittiest and most stressful year of my life, I was really looking forward to recharging my mental, physical and spiritual batteries with a mellow and relaxing Christmas break in Palm Springs. And, in keeping with the running theme of 2007, I didn't get one; instead, Santa brought us a massive gas leak at our house, which resulted in the Gas Co. shutting our gas off until we could get a plumber to fix the problem. Of course, this was no easy task to accomplish during Christmas week; the gas was turned off on Sunday, and if we're lucky we may get it back on again by tonight — four thousand dollars and one new main gas line later. Merry fucking Christmas, indeed.

Carole got really ill on Sunday, and — understandably not wanting to remain in a house bereft of heat or hot water — headed back to LA on Christmas Eve, while I stuck around to deal with the gas crisis. Cue for a lonely and depressing Christmas Day, right? Well, not exactly. For one thing, I had our cats Peelu, Shadow and Kyuko with me, who amused me no end with their antics — especially Kyuko, whose "new thing" is breaking into a bag of shiny Christmas bows, selecting the one she wants, and trotting around the house with it in her mouth while making loud bleating noises. Too sweet for words...

I was also blessed with an absolutely gorgeous Christmas Day in Palm Springs — sunny, in the low 70s, with a cloudless sky and the occasional gentle, tinsel-rippling breeze. I spent most of the morning and early afternoon hiking in the wonderful Indian Canyons, exploring areas that I hadn't previously trod, including the West Fork Falls (currently dry) and the Fern Canyon Trail. At the beginning of the latter, I found a beautiful spot on a large rock above a small running stream, where I plopped down and meditated on all the good things in my life for the better part of an hour. (You can see the view from "my" rock, above.)

Afterwards, I drove around downtown Palm Springs for an hour or so, grooving to the Martini Kings' Kings of Jing-A-Ling CD, looking at the Christmas decorations, and basically just savoring the lovely spectacle of a traffic-free Palm Canyon Drive. Then it was back to our pad for some leftover rigatoni and meatballs (from my Grandpa Fred's famous Christmas Eve recipe; I try to keep his memory — and his meatballs — alive by making them for friends every year) and a viewing of No Country For Old Men on DVD. (Yes, I know it's not out on DVD yet — but I gots connections, baby!)

I found the movie to be as intense as expected, but also kind of disappointing; Javier Bardem's performance, which has been getting most of the raves, seems cobbled together almost at random from a buffet of post-Hannibal Lecter psycho killer tics. Tommy Lee Jones was great, but you get the sense that he can pretty much do "wizened Texas sheriff" in his sleep.  Josh Brolin was actually pretty impressive in an early Nick Nolte way, the Coen Brothers' sense of humor definitely comes through in the scenes with the maddeningly obtuse local yokels, and the whole thing looks fantastic. Not sure it deserves the "best film of 2007" accolades that are being strewn at its feet, though; then again, there didn't seem to be a whole lot of competition out there this year.

All things considered, my solitary Christmas could've been a lot worse. And at least Carole and I had a great time with my sister, my mom and my stepdad-to-be when they visited us in PS, the day before everything went to shit. We had a tasty Mexican lunch at El Marisol, followed by a walk around the old Las Palmas neighborhood, decorating some of the succulents and tikis in our back yard with Christmas ornaments, some late-afternoon cocktails around the fire pit (in retrospect, I'm surprised we didn't all blow up!), an Italian dinner at the always excellent Al Dente Trattoria, and a drive by Kenny Irwin's annual "Robot House" Christmas display — which is either a fantastic explosion of outsider art or a goddamn blight on the entire neighborhood, depending on how close you actually live to it. Pics from that lovely day, as well as my Christmas in the canyons, can be viewed here as a FLICKR set...

Hope all of you are having a great holiday season, or at least managing to hang on to your sanity while it runs its course. See you in '08...

Comments

[stu]

God. Sorry to hear about all that b.s. on Xmas eve. I hope your house is better and that Carole is better, and that 2008 brings you unfettered joy. And pho.

[Erik]

Sorry about the gas line, man. But damn... That hike into the Indian Canyons sounds incredible. A little time in a place like that can certainly heal all ills, (or at least some of them)...

Here's to a rockin '08, brother!

[Maura]

The fact that you're still eating meat makes me feel blessed. Send me the recipe! Many, many good wishes and thoughts to you and Carol for 2008. Happy newish year.