Every Woman Alive

AFTER I POURED THE PERFUME
DOWN THE DRAIN.

When My Mother The Dowager Duchess was in hospital for her back surgery during the summer of 2015 and I spent my "down-time" cleaning her apartment, I noticed a full bottle of Chanel Number 5 perfume sitting on a shelf in her bathroom. The label was brown with age, as was the perfume. The bottle had sat on a shelf in my mother's bathroom my entire life. When I was visiting her that day, I finally asked about it.

"Your father brought that from Paris for me when he came back from the war," she explained. "I hated that scent, so I would never use it."

"Over the next 39 years, until the day he died, he never asked you why you didn't use it?" I asked.

"Oh, I immediately told him I hated Chanel No 5," she said.

And, as if it made perfect sense, she told me, "I didn't want to hurt his feelings [um, too late] by throwing it away."

So, she instead placed it in plain view on a display shelf in their shared bathroom.

And there it remained for nearly 70 years.

EVERY WOMAN ALIVE WANTS CHANEL NUMBER 5? REALLY???

Traveling With A Saint

We arrived home to Málaga yesterday (Tuesday) morning. I feel great at the moment. Well, not at this specific moment. OK, now I feel great again. But only at the moment. Jet lag and two months of non-stop activity and travel.

I have four gazillion photos to sort through and then share. But, don't worry, I plan to hone that down to under three gazillion. Today I'll simply share what it looks like to travel with San Geraldo.

It's a good thing I don't care about what anyone thinks (within reason).

On the other hand, San Geraldo is clearly without reason.

AMAZINGLY, NOT SAN GERALDO UNDER THAT BLANKET.
FLYING FROM NEW YORK TO MINNEAPOLIS.

COMING IN FROM THE SCREEN PORCH AT NEPHEW AND
NIECE-IN-LAW'S, RYAN AND EMILY'S, SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA. 

GREAT-NIECES AND GREAT-NEPHEW (ELOISE, ALICE, AND BENNETT).
THEY WARMED THEIR BACKS AT THE FIREPLACE AND THEN WARMED SAN GERALDO.
(THAT'S AN 'ELOISE' STICKER ON HIS FOREHEAD.)

AT A SUPPER CLUB IN SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA (MORE ON THAT LATER).
I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE. (TOWEL AND FAN BOTH?)

BALLARD, WASHINGTON (IN SEATTLE).
TOO COLD. NO HAT.

BALLARD (AGAIN).
TOO SUNNY. NO SUNGLASSES.

NEW YORK TO MÁLAGA.
OK, EVERYONE WAS COLD.

PHASE 2. IT GOT A LITTLE BETTER LATER IN THE FLIGHT.

FED UP WITH ME AND MY CAMERA: "UH, JERRY, MAYBE YOU
WANT TO TRY AGAIN... WITH THE CORRECT NUMBER OF FINGERS."

"THAT'S MY BOY!"

Taking The Long Way Home

From bidding a loving farewell to the Dowager Duchess to having the chance to spend special time with family and friends, it's been a long, emotional, elevating, busy, exhausting and eclectic seven weeks.

Since the 7th of August, we've flown from Málaga to New York City to Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota; driven to Pierre and then Sioux Falls, South Dakota to spend time with family; driven back to Minneapolis/Saint Paul to spend time with friends; and flown to Seattle, Washington, for more time with friends and family.

SEATTLE. OUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME AWAY FROM HOME AWAY FROM HOME
AWAY FROM HOME AWAY FROM HOME AWAY FROM HOME... MORE OR LESS.

Tomorrow, Friday, we fly from Seattle back to Minneapolis for a quick sleep-over before flying back to New York for two nights, to include one day with The Kid Brother. 

We are fine. We are happy. We are grateful. And, finally, we are physically and mentally exhausted.

We head home to Spain Monday, arriving Tuesday. We will miss [just about] everyone here and we are grateful for [just about] everything. But we look forward to once more sleeping in our own bed, cuddling with Dudo and Musy, being with our 'home friends,' and sipping cafe con leche in the Mediterranean sun.

So, expect my reemergence next week with more reading, commenting, and stories (and, of course, photos).