So I hosted a cream tea on Friday.  George R.R. had urged me to do something to welcome Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer to Santa Fe and to give them a chance to meet some of the cool people who live here.  George also wanted to show off my house which is very beautiful with an 80 mile view out the glass wall of the living room.  It sounded like a fun idea so I invited a group of novelists and screenwriters.  Including Ed Khamara — he wrote Lady Hawk and Enemy Mine, Bruce McKenna — he wrote The Pacific, Ty Frank and Daniel Abraham who are James S.A. Corey of The Expanse, David Morrell who wrote First Blood (that became Rambo), George, of course, Sage Walker, Laura Mixon.

I made scones and Those Little Sandwiches — salmon with cream cheese and dill and cucumber with butter.  I sat out a cheese plate and grapes and to keep it New Mexico I had chile con queso from El Pinto (the best in the state).  Neil and Amanda’s new son, Ash attended his first formal tea dressed in a very elegant kimono.

Neil snapped this picture out in the casita.  This baby has his mother’s amazing eyes, they are a shade of blue I have never before seen.  And he’s so happy.  He literally sings back to you.

It was supposed to last from 3:00 until 6:00, but a number of us lingered chatting until past 7:00 about politics and art and movies.  All and all it was the kind of day that reminded why I so desperately wanted to be a writer and stop being a lawyer.  These are the most fascinating people in the world and I wanted to get to hang out with them.  And now I get too.  Sometimes I have to give myself a pinch so I can be sure this isn’t just a dream.