May 21st, Menorca

Summer has arrived with all guns blazing, exactly a month early.  Over night, it seems, we are in full summer mode – hot, hot, hot… Any exercise has to be taken before 11am or after 7pm… Swimming in the sea is still prohibited, I think because it means crowded beaches – I would just go down to the sea, swim, and come home, and if this keeps up I will try that next week (really don’t want a fine – a 600 euro swim is not enticing). Meanwhile, I walk with my sis for a half hour every morning and again in the evening, then ride my bike down to the sea and put my feet in for a minute…

The real exercise of the past few weeks has been the Major Work around the place, all essential and overdue… First the cisterna (I have sent off a sample of the drinking water to be analyzed – all fingers and toes crossed) and then the coach house. The old coach is long gone – sounds terribly grand but wasn’t, just a lovely old horse-drawn carriage that is now in the local museum after having having been lovingly restored… It (the coach house) is where all the tools and wheelbarrow and summer furniture and butanos etc etc are kept, plus the washing machine (quelle luxe!) and it’s been about 30 years since the place was emptied and painted.  We replaced three of the beams this past winter (totally rotten), and last week we emptied and cleaned and repaired and painted the inside, and got rid of a lot of old junk in the process (still plenty there!). We also discovered woodworm in three of the “new” beams in the entrance hall of the house (again, not as grand as it sounds!), so that had to get emptied while the rot was scraped out and the beams were painted with gas-oil – the only effective remedy, it seems – the place stank for days.  But everything is now back where it should be and we have a semblance of normalcy – only to discover that the old tree trunks in the front garden left from the 4 pines that died (just after mum did) are the breeding ground of some truly horrible insects, so those stumps are going to have to come out as soon as I can get Sebastian back here to help – it never ends.  God only knows how I’m going to pay for all this, but we live in hope… Sis has dealt with the discombobulation quite well, really – she’s on a new med which seems to be working, for the moment at least – she is still in constant pain, but dealing with it better…

Meanwhile I am dealing with running out of my prescription meds and supplements, and the vagaries of Spanish customs.  A dear friend kindly sent a care package (via Fed Ex, at VAST expense) of health supplements and my mail (prescriptions not ready til next week), only for it to be held up in Barcelona – I have been told I have to either hire a customs broker (??), fill out a million forms and pay a bunch of money, or it will be sent back to NY.  Nothing is simple… Except the beuaty of this quiet island, and the vegetables growing in my huerta – thank you thank you thank you…

Tomorrow would have been the day I flew to CA to begin rehearsals on BIRD with Joan Schirle and the rest of the musicians, cast and crew – performances were to be in the last week of June, 2 at the Arcata Playhouse and 2 at the Morris Graves Museum.  I have decided that since I cannot go there, I will bring it here.  As of tomorrow my studio with become “California” and I will spend the next 6 weeks (or at least a few hours each day) trying to really finish the piece – I need to solve the conundrum of the Army scenes to my artistic satisfaction… Wish me luck!