Girls in the Heat

It was 95 in San Juan Capistrano today and three girlfriends and I met to dine outdoors at a wonderful restaurant called Ramos House Cafe, right next to the train tracks. This luncheon had been planned for a couple of weeks and we weren't about to let the heat stop us. Of course that's because we have been in denial about what extreme temperatures do to a menopausal body. Kathy J and I were "human saunas" by the time we left, pulling our shirts away from our skin so we didn't look as if we'd been on a fast treadmill for an hour. Dru and Barby seemed quite cool and collected. Maybe that's because they're blondes.

We had a lovely time in spite of the heat, laughing and talking incessantly throughout the Southern-style gourmet meal. My favorite dish was the bloody mary served in a jelly jar with a cute little crab claw and pickled beans sticking out of it. Every quarter hour or so a train would roar into the station and give us a start - kind of a "back to reality check" causing our conversation to move to a different subject.

I enjoyed every minute, even the sweaty ones. We had such fun talking about kids, husbands, grandkids, parents, sex, drugs, parties, friends, dreadful bosses, stresses and jewelry, that I forgot all about my mini-doomsday problems of the past few days (like a crippled water heater, medical bills, Mom's bleeding legs, yada-yada-yada). It was pure heaven to sit and laugh, sympathize, share and care with a bunch of girlfriends in the heat on a summer day in Southern California.