If this is Thursday, it must be . . .

Arrived back from Anchorage via SFO on the red eye with about 3 inches of leg room per person. Took a little nap on the living room sofa this afternoon, and when I woke up I hadn't a clue as to where I was. Not on the boat, the train, the hotels, the plane, then where? Home! My god. I'm staring at the living room fireplace and wondering how I got here.

Of course there were the various mountains to deal with: laundry, mail, and the trashman cometh today, so we had to quickly gather up the garbage and put it out. Another mountain. I have not been brave enough to step onto the scale and ponder the mountain of weight I gained. Clothes still fit, so how bad can it be? The problem is, there is a class reunion coming up soon, and we women still want to present our 112 lb. selves to the old gang. If I ate nothing for the next four weeks, I wouldn't weight 112. Besides, have you ever noticed that women who lose a lot of weight end up all wrinkly. Major bummer.

So how was the cruise and the land tour? Scenery, scenery, and yet more scenery. Enough mountains and glaciers and oceans and railroads to last a lifetime. Enough bar bills likewise. It's so nice to be pampered. We even had "towel animals" placed on the bed everynight. I came home with enough small toiletries to stock a homeless shelter, which is where I generally send them.

Fantastic flounder. Real salmon. The world's best fresh cod fish and chips. One night (just one) I ordered the "spa" menu and had fantastic scallops. Steak and eggs and potatoes for breakfast. Oink. Baked Alaska, natch.

I read Robert Parker, Sue Grafton and Harlan Coban after finishing my Alaska book. Now I'm reading the Donna Leon I found at the San Francisco airport. The quality of airport bookstores varies greatly. Some were great, others just carried the Usual Suspects. Some were so clueless they didn't know the diff. between fiction and non. Oh well.

I didn't find a "new book" or anything like that. Heard from an agent just before I left that he wasn't taking on World of Mirrors. He claims the market for "undiscovered" writers in crime fiction has pretty much dried up except for cozy-cozies and thrillers. So there. Lots more sucking it up to perform.

It was so cool to see glaciers "calve."

Our cats were delighted to see us. We ate the first patio tomatoes from the garden tonight. Good, but not spectacular. It will take a few days to catch up.

Grapeshot