Valentine weekend

If we are lucky, this is how we will remember Valentine's Day this year.

My thoughtful and kind Cholo surprised me with a new calligraphy pen and nibs.

My walk down this path in UP was lonely and despondent until the two elderly men walking behind me began conversing in French. How beautifully musical the French language is! How soothing its cadence and how elegant the sound!

The night was chilly when we finally sat down to dinner but we loved the cold and so we lingered.

This morning before Cholo picked me up for brunch, he brought me flowers, the ones I like. 

And then there was brunch with portobello mushrooms in tomato sauce and mozzarella and crab cake benedict and glasses of champagne.

And heavenly pizza and glasses of mimosa.

 There was the comforting quiet of a Sunday morning.

And french toast with peaches.

And more glasses of Bellini and mimosa.

But most of all, there was him-- and that, I learned this weekend, is all that matters.

Good things

Among other things and in no particular order, these make me happy: fresh flowers, elegant tea salons, pink fluffy cotton candy, old Hollywood movies, movie posters, good macarons, immaculate table manners, good manners in general, well written prose, the scent of lavender, Diptyque candles, Paris, of course, singularity, white bed sheets, white linen, white walls, white china, fragrant rooms, cats, Gershwin, Audrey Hepburn, Sofia Coppola, good cheese, champagne, beer, pretty restaurants, reading by the beach, cold weather, Tintin, Asterix, Peanuts, Jane Austen, The New Yorker, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, nougat, Woody Allen, watercolor, neon colors, gold, Wes Anderson, French television commercials, toiletries in pretty bottles all lined up, my students, spending hours at the bookstore, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, movies set in Paris, essays about food and travel, "A Moveable Feast," my "Manhattan" poster, freshly squeezed orange juice, dining al fresco, my siblings, my nephew, getting As in class, writing well, long country drives, Alfred Hitchcock movies, crystal candle holders, stacks of books, the smell of new books, street food, pretty breakfast places, TWG scones, insanely smart people, kindness, coconut cupcakes, white cakes in general, pale pink cakes, slender birthday candles, beautiful homes, "Moon River," ginger ale, sparkling juice in general, movies with beautiful set designs, underdressing, thank you notes, humility, femininity, elegance, subtlety, chivalry, wit, Owen Wilson, Edie Sedgwick, long massages, movie marathons, picnics, and outdoor cinema.

And while we are on the subject of lists and because I was just recently terribly piqued, here are the things that vex me, among others: bad table manners, bad manners in general, poor restaurant service, public smoking, inappropriate language, loud people, normalcy, dirty bathrooms, poorly cooked meals, mismatched utensils, crass and offensive humor, affectations and pretensions, turtlenecks, pursed lips in photos, self-righteousness, know-it-alls, disrespect, unsolicited opinions, gaudiness, photos of feet up close, didacticism, selfishness, vanity, rudeness, speaking without reservation for the sake of "truth," and- most of all- unabashed and unrelenting imitation.

To survive I must always remember that the happy list is far longer.

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