KILLER HOBBIES

While the weather back east if frightful, the weather here is truly delightful...

It’s been very nice for weeks. Yes, we need rain, but in the mean time the mild temperature and plentiful sun is very welcome. All week, we’ve been going on walks. I enjoy going to the gym, but there is nothing like being outside.

One of the best thing about walking is that you see familiar terrain with new eyes. I noticed that when Goldy was still alive and I walked her everyday. Even though we took the same route, I never got bored. Well, part of that came from whatever action I noticed on the street or inside the houses we passed. It seems like nobody closed their drapes.

All week, we’ve basically been walking around our neighborhood. We discovered streets we didn’t know existed. We got interesting ideas for landscaping by admiring other people’s front yards. One day we walked up in the mountains at sunset. I never ever get tired of that view and I always am amazed that it is so close to home. I grew up in Chicago and didn’t see mountains until I was fourteen. Seeing the mountains that ring the Valley still seems magical. Am I really here, looking at this?

Today we walked on streets we’ve never walked on before. Part of the trip was up a pretty steep hill, but at the top, we caught a glimpse of the mountains and Valley below. The street wound into another street and then another with the lovely name of Starlight Drive. The houses were all different, many hanging onto the side of the steep slope. The air had just the right amount of cool to be refreshing, but not cold enough that I needed a jacket.

The very best part of the walks is how I feel afterward. It’s like I just got a shot of bliss.

I made my deadline with Silence of the Lamb’s Wool, hitting send late Monday night, so my editor found the manuscript waiting the next morning. Next it will be the copy edits. Now it is back to Knot Guilty. I have lost my place in the rewrite and figured the best way to catch up is to read it from the beginning.

Last Saturday was the panel in Santa Monica. The crowd was small, but attentive. Afterwards we went for a walk around Santa Monica and along the ocean.

This Saturday is an event at the Cerritos Library. It’s going to be a bigger crowd - 200. The Library puts on a luncheon and invites 15 mystery authors to do panels. I went a couple of years ago and it was a very nice affair.

The next Saturday, I’ll be leaving all this mild weather behind to go to Chicago to check on my place. I’m hoping by then it’s on the plus side of zero. It is always such a shock to have to bundle up to take the trash out. And Crocs are not the best footwear for snow or slush.

How is the weather where you are?