River Brown

I took a mini-vacation to Pleasanton, CA when I closed out my classroom and yes it is, a pleasant town.  In addition to some shopping therapy and wine and cheese tasting, (Vella with French champagne) my gal friend and I treated ourselves to the high end Mexican dinner in town at The Blue Agave.  They make a “Llorena” margarita that equals the “Taxi Drivers” my bartender daughter taught me to make.  So I had two.

After dinner (and dessert) we made our way along the main street enjoying the town sign lit upWe had rented an airbnb room in walking distance to downtown so that we could experience the night life of the town.  The air had cooled to a balmy temperature and folks were sitting in outdoor cafes or window shopping up and down the street.  Some music spilled out of bar doorways.

We saw a bookstore.  Inside, I asked the woman what I’d like to read if I finished All the Light We Cannot See and am stuck for what to read next, because I loved the gorgeous language. I have a hard time getting the next book going.  She looked me over and listened, then pulled out Annie Barrows’ new novel, The Truth According to Us.  I read the blurb and some samples in the book and bought it.

I read on the street corner bench while my friend checked out a gallery.  I loved the feel of this big volume.  It said “You have time this summer.”  I was hooked by the characters 40 pages in, intoxicated in several ways.

We headed to our airbnb room where I read.  Real night life.