Dear Dale,
Today I went on an outing. I was treating Gina to a birthday lunch, even though her birthday was March 7. We ended up at Pacific Catch. It was pouring down rain and they have a parking lot! Also, it's near the de Young, and we were considering going to see the Georgia O'Keefe show.
We sat by the window. First she said, "We're going Dutch," because she always says that and then she tries to pay for everything. Every single time. Not that Gina could ever make you feel bad at all, but when people say something like that when you're taking them out, it's funny. She probably says it because she can't forget the time when biz was so bad for Tom and me that we were looking at trailer courts.
Anyway, once we got that issue cleared up, she ordered a mojito. I ordered a vodka with pomegranate juice. It was too sweet, but I gulped it right down. We each had a giant rice bowl: Thai curry with grilled salmon. Delicious and you suspect it's bursting with of all kinds of fatty stuff even though the description only lists salmon, eggplant, red bell peppers, green beans, cucumber, toasted coconut, shallots, and green curry sauce. And you can tell the brown rice is just full of sugar and saturated fat, too. But I found it delicious and vacuumed it down.
We talked for a long time. We skipped Georgia O'Keefe. We decided to come back to my house for coffee because Gina had baked some gluten-free brownies for Tom. We stopped at the windmill on the way because she wanted to see if the tulips were in bloom. (That's the kind of person she is.) Nobody was around. I repeat, it was pouring down rain!! But once Gina parked the car––yes, she drove all the way up here from San Mateo––it stopped raining for a little while, so we slogged out by the windmill and took photos.
Then we came to my house. She helped me with my work. (She always does. She's super smart.) She also brought me stacks of recent New Yorkers and a few Sunsets and Fast Companies. She also gave me this glass Evil Eye that she brought back from Turkey to ward off bad luck and evil spirits.
I know what you're thinking. It sounds like this was my birthday celebration and not hers. But that's how you always feel when you're with Gina.
Good night,
Linda D.
