Nap Corner

Literally a corner, complete with armchair, shawl, and KLM pillow.  It's actually close to the heating element.  I like to sit here for a short power snooze, and AW likes to pull this so that it is facing the heating element, so that he can position his feet on the element to warm them.  Directly above the heating element is the famous skylight which has framed many rainy and sunset shots.

Can you guess it's been wet outside?

Today, the very sad news of the death of one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, that tight band of friends who used to play 'trump' cards on Friday evening.  His name is Mario and I met him on the very first evening after my arrival here as an immigrant.  Two years older than AW but his health had been vulnerable since he was young.  Of the four, he was the most unpredictable and the most irascible, but I will forever associate him with the warmth and welcoming friendship he had always shown me.  I hadn't seen him -- we both hadn't seen him -- for quite a while, and as the horsemen had/have never been particularly fond of regular contact, no news was always good news.  Indeed, it was bad news today.  He'd died last night in his sleep.  His wife contacted another horseman, who phoned AW.  Final services to be conducted next week, we will be informed of the details.  We will both miss him.  I am thankful for having known him.

Today, also, it was the neighbour himself who parked right in front of us.  What did I do?  I did some supermarket errands.  When I got back, his car was gone (I presume he also left to do his errands?), so I could park on our driveway without a hitch.  Not to risk getting boxed in when he got back, right after I unloaded, I got back behind the wheel and maneuvered our car so that it was right next to our house, on our side of the street, ever so slightly blocking our own driveway.  If anyone wanted to park on the other side, they'd have to see how because they'd be obstructing traffic.  Undeterred by logic and decency, his son parked on the other side anyway, blocking their own driveway and leaving just a narrow passage for through traffic.  He got back late in the evening, though, so the question is what he'll do in the morning.

Steady MOOCking today, and after dinner AW left for Friday evening bridge at Sweed's and Benna's, leaving me some precious quiet hours to myself.