Hamlet (picture) (I'm back) (all is well?)

Good Afternoon, my Darling,

So how are things going? I hope everything is okay. I'm at home and will probably be here til about 2:30, maybe 3. Then I am gonna go get my oil changed and probably head over to Santa Susana from about 4 til maybe 5:30 or 6. This evening at 7 I am gonna meet Grimsley at a park called Los Encinos. It's at the south end of the Valley, in a town called Encino, about 6 or 7 miles from Northridge but in a different direction than Chatsworth and some of the places I usually go. Anyway, it's a historic park with a famous old adobe house, I think it's the second oldest house in the Valley. I have a picture of my Dad sitting in front of it, on my Flickr. Anyhow, all of this is to say that they are holding an outdoor staging of "Hamlet" tonight, on the grass, and because Grim suggested it as "something to do" and because I have never seen Hamlet in any form, play or movie, I thought it would be fun to go. I don't know if I will drive there straight from Santa Susana or stop at home first, but I will basically not be home too much from about 2:30 or so, until about 10pm tonight.

The play is supposed to run two hours, and then with a little traffic, getting out of the parking lot, etc., I should be home about 9:45 or so, give or take. But for now I'll be here a while.

I Love You and I'm thinking about you, and I hope you are having a good day, and that all is well.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

3:35pm : Hi, Elizabeth. I am back home for a few minutes before going to Santa Susana. I did get my oil changed.

I saw your picture of the mountains outside Quebec City, a peaceful looking place. I hope it is still okay if I "like" the pictures you post. I guess it can't hurt, right? I mean, everything is out in the open now, and I've been pressing "like" all this time anyway. Everybody knows me. Anyway, I like your picture!

And, I hope you get to go back to Quebec.  :)

I am sincerely hoping, also, that everything is okay at home. Please let me know, if you can.

Gonna head out to Santa Susana in just a few minutes, then to Los Encinos for "Hamlet" after that, and I'll be back home before 10pm. No worries because either everything is good now, or it's going to be.  :)

I Love You.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

(back later)

10pm : Hi, my Baby. I just wanted to say that I'm back. The play was incredible, by a company called Shakespeare By The Sea. I'm gonna go for my walk now, just to get it out of the way, then I'll come back and tell you some more about it. I hope all is well.

I Love You!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

11:40pm : Well, "Hamlet" was quite an experience. I'd never seen a Shakespeare play before, unless it was on a field trip in first grade or something, but of course I was aware of the prodigious dialogue. I have to admit, it took me about 20 minutes into the play until I could get the hang of understanding it, because (as I'm sure you know) it comes out of the actors' mouths in a rush. And, it's Shakespearean dialogue, very wordy, formal and in a style of English that we aren't used to hearing because it isn't spoken anymore.

The stage was small and simple, like an old wooden stage you might have seen in Shakespeare's time. There were no props to speak of, just some swords and the famous Skull of Yorick.

Absolutely fantastic acting. I hope this troupe comes back, because I will see them anytime. Grim and I wound up in the front row, as it seems we always do. There were some chairs up there that nobody claimed, so we sat in them. I could go see one of these plays every night, really excellent and a great event for a Summer night.

But the main thing is that I have been thinking of you all day, and I am sure hoping that everything is okay at your house, or as okay as it can be, under the circumstances. I guess the degree of "okay" would depend on if anyone besides you reads these blogs. If your Mom read(s) them, or read anything I wrote in the last few days, then she knows that I discovered what was going on. If so, I hope she was able to keep a level head about the whole thing and not get upset with you.

I am just gonna write the whole thing off, and I hope she does as well. It's really the best option. You see, I've just been going along, writing my blogs here for the past 14 months, and I was more or less blissfully unaware of any problem at your end. Another thing is that, on FB at least, I wasn't much of a presence on your profile. I haven't really posted much on your page since 2012. Other than "like"ing your photos and your occasional update, I don't say much on your FB. So Mom couldn't have seen me much there, and therefore, could not have had too much to be upset about. So maybe it has been these blogs, I don't know.

I wish I knew the severity of things; does your Mom hate me, think poorly of me, think I'm just a nuisance? The thing is, I have always tried to keep a low profile. I don't IM you, I don't post much on your FB, except "like". What I do is to communicate via this blog, and I don't forward it to anybody. The only way a person can read it is if they come to me, to my blog, i.e. my page. And I'm not twisting anyone's arm to come read what I write.

I don't get the feeling that your Mom could have been truly upset for such a long period of time, over two years now, because that would take a sustained effort, and I'd think it would have manifested itself much sooner than this. Like I said the other day, you have seemed generally happy all this time, with a few normal ups-and-downs, and I don't think you could have been so cheerful, and enthusiastic in your posts, had Mom been upset with you (because of me) all this time.

So maybe the whole thing was lower-key than I am imagining, and it only blew up because of your mention of the Lillian request, and my resulting discovery of what was going on. Maybe before that, things were just kind of going along, with Mom aware of me (by whatever means, as we have talked about), but not generally freaking out on a daily basis about our relationship.

Well, I don't know any of these answers, so I will leave it at that. I am an easygoing person by nature.

Before I went to the play, I went to Santa Susana for an hour. It was just a walkthrough today, not a lot of picture taking or high climbing. But you can always feel The Spirit out there, and that is always so refreshing.

Please let me know if all is well. I Love You, Elizabeth. I will see you in the morning!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxooxoxoxoxox  :):)