Sunday, July 29, 1984

I didn't wake up until 1:30PM today. I finally felt great for the first time since I left home, four days ago. I unpacked and cleaned up while my ex-beau went grocery shopping. He had fixed me coffee and I relaxed while reading the local Sunday newspaper. There are plenty of jobs advertised here, gobs of jobs. It also showed fruit trees, roses, asparagus and grapes being grown in abundance.

There's one of the most beautiful pine trees I've ever seen in his front yard, and I'm from Michigan, where there are lots of pine trees. I wondered how it would look decorated for Christmas. I didn't see any 'for sale' signs in any yards either. I noticed right away there weren't many insects here, few flies, gnats or mosquitos. It's difficult to imagine not having to keep all the doors closed and windows screened. Maybe that's why my ex-beau calls this 'God's Country'.

His rented, furnished house is darling. It's adobe style and quite roomy with plenty of closets and a fold-out bed in the living room. It's a one bedroom. The only thing it doesn't seem to have is a place for a washer and dryer. It has plaster walls and ceilings, and is carpeted throughout. His rent is $210.00 a month, plus utilities. His gas bill was only $9.99 last month and he runs his 'swamp cooler' twenty-four hours a day for air conditioning. My gas bill in the Midwest is never less than $25.00, and that's in the spring or fall when the air-conditioner and furnace aren't being used.

We went to Max's private club and then we went to a nice Chinese restaurant. We had a great dinner in a private dining room, all by ourselves. The food was great and I had a wonderful time.