on the other side

after a slow departure from the deep south

due to rather a lot of

f    o   g

and then missing the connection in Auckland

due to a combination of that

f    o   g

and

the fact that the wheels had fallen off the airbridge

and so we couldn't get off the plane until a good thirty minutes after we landed

[i thought NZ was the land of number 8 wire and RP7???]

i arrived in Los Angeles shortly before 3 in the afternoon on Tuesday

which

turned out to be a jolly good thing

as

i have never in my life been so speedily processed

through border security

admittedly being the ninth one off the plane helped.

much chuffed by this splendid beginning to things

i hightailed it to Claudia's house

and zoomed off with her to the nearest thrift store

where i acquired a number of treasures

since when

i have been gathering leaves

sitting at a table on a deck high on a hill above the Hollywood Bowl

stitching and dyeing

 plotting tomorrow's class,

hoping a few people will turn up tomorrow evening

so that my luggage will be a good bit lighter

when i hop over to Haystack this weekend

and

thinking how nice it is that what i call work

is what i would do anyway

even if it didn't pay the bills

+