m.a.

Last night the lovely M.A. had me over for dinner. I've been meaning to write more about M.A. for some time now because she is such a good friend and also such an interesting person. Here are 10 random facts about M.A.

1. She was born in Berkeley, went to boarding school in Toronto and university in Michigan. M.A. then bounced from Hollywood to Alaska and eventually Norway, where she lived for 40 years or so before settling in our little village in Spain.
2. She has had at least two husbands, although I've heard from others that M.A. has been married four times. I've never bothered to ask her directly because I know eventually she'll get around to telling me the whole story.
3. She shares my obsession with book buying.
4. M.A. has visited every country in Europe except for the Netherlands, but I think now that Big Jim and I will have an apartment there, she be checking this one off her "to do" list sooner rather than later.
5. As I mentioned in another entry, she has the only baby grand piano I know of in the village, and as far as she's concerned, there is only one type of music---classical.
6. I have never seen M.A. in pants; she even wore a skirt when we went hiking on Maroma (the 6000+ ft. mountain that overlooks our village) last fall.
7. She has been shipwrecked on a deserted island. Really.
8. M.A. almost caused a US customs official to faint when he asked her how long she had been out of the states, and she truthfully replied, "38 years."
9. She has two cats: Badger and Sonja.
10. When she was younger, she resembled Ingrid Bergman, as a portrait in her dining room attests to.

I had planned to head for home by midnight, but it turned out to be closer to 1am when I finally said my farewells. As I walked through the village, I saw not a single person. Well, there was the bouncing Seat, occupied by a lusty young couple, but other than that, the streets were completely still. I passed through the rows of empty tables at Bar Loro and into the square. Bully cat, who was surveying for food scraps left behind by the evening's diners at Perico's, and I had the entire plaza to ourselves. I then wound my way up Calle Salares, guided by the chirpy cricket who has made his home in the corner that adjoins our house with R.'s. I paused a moment to take in the near silence, knowing that as soon as I put the key to the door, I would have two groggy but joyous pups announce my arrival to the world. Another lovely night.

Hasta pronto,

mylifeinspain