About eight years ago my family started a tradition of going to the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach every summer.  It’s very fun, although I will admit that the first time I went I wasn’t really sure what the point was.  People recreating art by dressing up in costumes and standing still sounds a little bizarre out of context.  The pageant is nearly impossible to describe because without seeing it you can’t truly understand what’s so marvelous about it.  The show presents living, breathing masterpieces and it’s completely beautiful.

We went about a week ago and it was many different kinds of fun.  That isn’t to say there were no hijinks.  The fact that Mom accidentally spent an hour watching rocks play in the ocean barely makes the short list.

I have to admit that I lied in the title of this post.  I did not, in fact, fall on my face.  What did happen, on one of the busiest streets in Laguna so plenty of people could see, was that my flip flop caught the edge of a high curb as I was stepping up and I went down like a flailing ton of bricks.  First I came straight down on my left knee then somehow my right leg must have twisted around and impacted slightly sideways because that’s where the bruise manifested.  Finally both hands hit the pavement and I saw The Hat eject himself from the situation.  He was lucky I didn’t leave him at the hotel after that little display of ‘loyalty’.

Then again, maybe he knew he was going to spend most of the pageant smothered in my lap and barely seeing any of the art.

I guess we’ll never know.

So the rest of the day included a side of stiff knees and occasional limping.  However, that was hardly going to bring me down (aside from literally) when after two years I’d managed to secure reservations at Nick’s.  It’s a smallish restaurant and always incredibly busy so getting in for dinner was a challenge.  But I eventually prevailed.

The aunts and Mom all had the blackened halibut sandwich while I ordered the salmon.  The sandwich was declared delicious by all and I was thrilled with my salmon.  Here’s a picture!

Oh no!  Someone ate all my food before I could take the picture.  How terrible.  Well, at least you can see the remains of my blood orange cosmo in the background.

Yum.  Now I want a drink.

Hm, what was that?  Oh.  Apparently The Hat wants to know how that’s different from any other time of day.  Hardy har har.

And he wonders why I keep buying other hats.

Well, that about wraps it up.  Delicious dinner, great show and beautiful Laguna Beach to stare at for a couple of days.

Oh, whoops, forgot about the werewolves.  On that note I shall end this post with a conversation between one of my aunts and my Mom.

Aunt: I don’t really watch the Newsroom.

Mom: Oh, it’s great!  It’s like the West Wing but with swearing.

Aunt: With what?!

Mom: Swearing?

Aunt: Oh!  I thought you said it’s like the West Wing but with werewolves.

Me: BEST. IDEA. EVER.

P.S. One of the tags WordPress is suggesting for this post is ‘drug rehabilitation’.  Thanks a lot.  The highlight of my day is being judged by a website.