Today it was 80 degrees Fahrenheit - another gorgeous, sun-filled day. I am sitting in a popular bookshop and coffee house at The River, a shopping centre in Rancho Mirage, not far from where we live. It's probably because I was brought up in a family that relished the written word that I am always happy when surrounded by books. It’s a neat kind of place that attracts lots of tourists, as well as locals who enjoy the laid-back atmosphere and the quaint little shops and restaurants that curve around the water.

Although a little crowded when I came in, I was able to find a spot for my laptop and me. There are others here who are writing on their computers, too, but mostly people are looking at magazines and books. Only two are three are in conversation.

I can read some of the titles from where I sit: Rainforest, Healthy Aging, The Abs Diet, How to Cook Everything, Lawn Care, The Healthy Brain Kit. It depends on where you sit as to what you see. The gardening and nutrition sections aren't known for their racy titles.

A man asked if he could sit at my table, as he needed to sit down on account of his bad back. He told me his back has been bad since before I was born. That's a long time, I said. His wife joined him a couple of minutes later. She couldn’t read the titles of the Frank Sinatra songs on the CDs she had chosen, so she asked her husband, Bob, to read them aloud. Unfortunately her hearing wasn’t the best, so it was quite a loud litany. Then Bob had to re-read them, as she couldn’t remember the titles.

He looked at me, shook his head and said: "Growing old, isn’t what it’s cracked up to be!"

"What’d you say?" his wife asked.

"Growing old together is great," he said.

As they left, he apologized for disturbing me. I assured him that they hadn’t.