Mother's Day

So I read the rest of what you broards had to say, and I have to agree with the spirit of it all.  It seems a holiday (holiday?  it's not, exactly, is it?) guaranteed to make everyone feel slightly bad about themselves--mothers and everyone in their families.  Whatever you do for your mother, you have this vague feeling that it wasn't quite right, or else it reminds you that your mother is no longer with you and that makes you sad, or if you are a mother, you feel sort of bad about things no matter how it works out.  I feel guilty that I even participate in a day that seems to have been established with the intention of making my family feel bad.

That said, my Mother's Day was a good day.  We didn't really pay much attention to it being Mother's Day because we had to go to a wedding out of town yesterday, and weren't home this morning.  The wedding was in the pretty winery town of Paso Robles, at a very pretty winery and inn.  Because we were only a half hour from San Simeon, we decided on a whim to try to see Hearst Castle while we were in the area, so this morning we got up kind of early and drove over to the coast.  We were uncertain if you could get in without reservations--it used to be rather difficult.  But they've changed the way they organize their tours, and we were able to hop right on a bus and go right up to the castle.  It was a dazzling place, and now I've resolved to re-visit Citizen Kane to get both sides of the William Randolph Hearst story.  (All the propaganda at the castle and its visitor center is very pro-Hearst, naturally.)

One touching moment, though--my sweet, absentminded professor, laid-back hippie son sent me flowers.  I was absolutely astounded.  He's never done anything remotely like that in his entire life.  Just...wow.