Just a thought… Friendship is a wildly underestimated medication. [Anna Deveare Smith]
It’s eerily quiet in the condo today. Dottie and Livi are padding around looking for Miss Lisa, and wondering why their cuddles are just down to the regular number again. They may even ask why Mom and Dad’s alarm isn’t going off every morning and why their daily walks moved back to the usual 10-11:00 time when Mom finally got upright.
Yes, it’s because Lisa boarded her Porter flight and flew from Victoria to YYZ, to be met not by an empty curb where her shuttle should have been (which has happened) or any number of other “un-welcome home!” debacles; her husband Derek picked her up at arrivals late last night and they headed off for the homestead in Port Stanley.
What a week it was! We centred it around our Facebook Live event on Thursday (which you can see here – so far we’ve had over 4500 views, which is considered by most measures a huge success).
It started out as a bit of tech debacle when we realized we couldn’t use my laptop and the auxiliary camera we’d set up and also log on to Facebook…blah blah blah…long story short, we threw Lisa’s phone into action, which meant all of our framing with artwork went out the window and we hilariously ended up with one painting above another and it looked awful. Here’s a behind-the-scenes pic as we were up and running.
The room was lined with big grey slabs of acoustic foam, meant to cut the room echo. I mean, coming from radio, Lisa, Rob (who helped with set up) and I just expect good sound, and we figure you do, too. We had a separate microphone set up and of course it couldn’t be used either, thanks to the laptop being taken out of the equation. Ah, the best laid plans, my friend.
The live event began 10 minutes late (which you won’t see on video) but we had a blast for the hour we shared with viewers. We gave away some G&F necklaces, answered your questions and had some laughs. Dottie and Livi enjoyed a bit of the spotlight and all in all we’d say it went well.
What did we learn? To try something else next time. We are D-O-N-E trying to do live events on the Facebook platform with its stupid limitations, including having to have the phone placed vertically rather than in landscape mode. I mean…if we can put ripped abs on a hero picture of Trump, surely we can figure out how to go live with a phone sitting sideways, right?
The week was a joy. Within walking distance from the condo we shopped the myriad thrift and women’s wear stores in Sidney, ate out and enjoyed a street market. A short ferry ride away we experienced the joy and peace of Pender Island as Lisa and her friend (and now hopefully mine) singer/songwriter Sarah Smith walked a beach….
We experimented with the air fryer and jicama “fries” (jicama is a starchy member of the pea family that tastes like a cross between a potato and an apple; found it at Walmart).
We enjoyed keto scones, early nights (equally early mornings) and lots of laughs, convertible rides and dog walks.
As I say, it’s quiet today and my week is wide open. But as we reflect upon a perfect six days together, accompanied by sunny skies and temperatures just around 20C or so, we’ll count down to seeing each other again – next time in Toronto when I come east to host an event. Hotel sleepovers with my bestie? Now that is something to look forward to!
Don’t miss Episode 86 of Gracefully & Frankly this Thursday and thank you again for making our 85 Live such a success. Your patience with us is only surpassed by your kindness. You’re a lot like Lisa that way.