Sarahbina made a delectable salmon with a creamy tarragon sauce for dinner last night. On the first bite I thought of how much Mr. Renaissance would like it, so I saved him half of my piece so he could have some when he arrived at 9. When he showed up, he told me how much he liked my hair, which I felt self-conscious about, since it was just haphazard, and still wet from the shower.

Frank Sinatra's Luck Be A Lady was blaring from my stereo, and he commented "Well this is nice, somber Good Friday music." I knew he would, and I found that I love my growing understanding of him. He ate the salmon appreciatively, and complimented 'Bina on another culinary success. I made coffee for him and me, and then we sat down together to talk about his new band, which he is very excited about. I told him later on that I really want to hear them play.

In the course of our coffee-on-the-couch conversation, he asked what else I was up to this weekend. He invited me to come to church with him tonight for the service in which he is sponsoring a good friend of his, Norman, from seminary days in his induction into the Catholic church. He will pick me up at 6:15 tonight for the 7 o'clock service.

After about an hour of chatting while 'Bina prepared homemade hummus and an artichoke dip, I found my copy of The Catcher In The Rye and lent it to him, since I always tell him that he is the less tragic Holden Caulfield, and I think it is a travesty that he has never read this book. Then we headed over to Mikhail's house to wait for him to return from a night of waiting tables at a high-end dining establishment in our neighborhood so we could begin our listening to Bach's Passion.

He and I sat together on a love seat, and shared a translation. My arm was around the back of the couch, and his shoulders rested against it. Occassionally he leaned his head all the way back, and his hair tickled my forearm. Before the music actually began, though, we all told anecdotes, fraternized with Mikhail's roommate and his lady love, who were also in attendance, and nursed our drinks. During one of these little pockets of conversation, 'Bina said something about the freckle on the tip of my nose, how cute it is, and my Mr. R. readily said to me "It is cute." Later, when I was smiling at him he told me that my teeth are very white, and that this is something of a feat for a chronic coffee drinker.

After the first cd of the recording, he left because it was 1 a.m., and he was tired. I walked him to the door (the rest of the group was breaking for dessert), and hugged him good-bye. He asked me to remember his copies of the translation and his cds, but asked me if I would go and get him the book ("Catcher") from my knapsack right then so he could start reading it soon. He told me he would call me before he showed up tonight, or that I could call him, or whatever. I told him to "Be safe." He chuckled, and walked down the stairs.