heat, hugs, and heel protectors
Today was a belated Father’s Day celebration for Bill, even though he woke up earlier than me and made his own breakfast. But we all gave him cards and Chiswick t-shirt and a break from most chores, so he spent his morning watching another installment of Mission Impossible with James and sipping on an iced coffee from his favorite shop. Eventually, when all of us were ready, we headed out to the High Road to walk to Urban Pantry, our confirmed favorite breakfast spot in the neighborhood. After only a brief wait we got the bench that looks out onto the street, and enjoyed a delicious breakfast of egg dishes for all of us except for Ben who indulged in the gluten-free pancakes.
After that Bill and James headed straight home while Ben came along with me to the pharmacy in search of spray bottles to bring to the Kiwiana picnic later to keep us cool. I was on the hunt for heel protectors to save me from further pain from my new shoes, and just as Ben and I were searching for the spray bottles in the store, my favorite cashier from M&S, whose name I now feel pretty sure is Sofia, happened to be coming in with her baby. We had a happy reunion and Ben snapped a photo of her, even if she keeps insisting on covering her face not for privacy reasons but because she “doesn’t like” her face. Which is too bad because it’s an adorable face. Regardless it was great to run into her, and then Ben absurdly decided to run home in the heat (“for exercise”) while I took the easy way out with the bus.
Maybe it was the heat or the fact that I’ve been going hard for days, but I was so tired that I lay down in bed and fell asleep. There was an unexpected influx of rain clouds into London so the Kiwis quickly pivoted to having their picnic at their house, and I was incredibly relieved because my allergies didn’t need to be tested yet again. So just before 5pm we finally headed their way and arrived to find most of the usual suspects: the Kiwis, Argentinians, Dutch, and Italians. Dave was at the grill cooking up New Zealand lamb burgers and Gina had made a coleslaw fresh with mint to complement the lamb. They gave us a lesson in the type of welcome prayer that precedes many formal meetings in New Zealand, and then we dug into the food.
As people were finishing eating, I gave the presents I had been saving to the Italians, Dutch, and Argentinians. The Kiwis got theirs last weekend for Dave’s birthday, so it was fun to gift everyone their AI-created cartoons of themselves, as well as a rainbow spatula for each family to match the one we have that reminds us so much of SF. So far we’re all doing a great job of not dwelling on the impending goodbyes, and instead savoring our deep sense of comfort with one another and our ability to be playful and silly.
The adults worked our way through many bottles of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and, even though he doesn’t drink, Federico suddenly embraced his creative side and made a playlist of great songs and then taught us dance moves as they played. We were cracking up and very much enjoying his sudden enthusiasm, and soon all of us were dancing in a big circle around the kitchen island. The weather was still stiflingly hot but the spray bottle quickly became a favorite toy especially as we danced, with all of us enjoying cooling mist whenever I refilled it with ice water. The kids disappeared to play upstairs and eventually James headed home to watch the Giants game.
After lots of dancing and then some live jamming, I dragged Gina and Elena out with me to the Taylor Swift Dance Party that was happening at the George. I had bought two tickets a week or so back at a great deal, because for £5 each it included not just admission to the party but also a drink included, which would normally be worth more than the ticket cost alone. And since we were late, instead of getting the standard cocktails they had been giving out as part of the deal, we got to pick any cocktail we wanted made for us from the event menu. So I got a fantastic Tommy’s Margarita, Gina did too, and Elena got the Aperol Spritz which was perfect because that’s the theme I gave to AI to make her birthday card cover.
The party room at the George wasn’t very crowded, but the people who were there were making up for the small numbers with enthusiastic spirit. It was almost all young women who knew the words to every single Swift song, and we had had enough to drink that we felt fully comfortable joining in the dance area despite not knowing the words to most of the niche stuff the DJ was playing. The one disconcerting thing about the evening was a fellow attendee who honestly looked so much like Taylor Swift that it was weird. There was definitely a moment when I was wondering if it was her. But it wasn’t, so eventually she took a break and the three of us continued dancing and attempting to sing along until some actual popular songs came on and we could just enjoy the moment.
Eventually we moved into the main room of the George, which wasn’t an official party and required no tickets, as usual. A DJ was playing an excellent set so we had a lot of fun dancing along and singing loudly until it got close to 1am and we figured we should catch some sleep. Elena headed in the opposite direction while Gina and I limped westward with our pained feet. The three of us got a fantastic souvenir in the form of a free rotating video camera that encircled us to make a little video, with a highlight being Gina falling off of the platform, and then we did our best to enjoy the still-warm air that had the High Street hopping even at 1am. Now off to bed as fast as I can to maximize my alertness for Alene’s arrival to our place tomorrow!