random thoughts – Day 2,292 (Wednesday) – breakfast and ideas

My sister and I (Family 1.0) celebrated Father’s Day with Dad today, which was my sister’s day off. We always assume one or both of our half-sisters (Family 2.0) have plans with him on the actual day (along with his birthday and major holidays). This might currently be an incorrect assumption, but there was a stretch of time of it being true, so there is historical precedent. 

Anyway. It was a nice morning. My sister made her famous Southern biscuits and gravy and extra breakfast sausages, I brought over a fruit salad, and there was coffee. Three hours flew by in a blink and then Dad headed his way and I came home.

Better than it was, but basic.

The weather made it a nice day for getting things done. Once the sunshine relocated to behind the trees after blasting the front of the house, the new, cute mini chain saw came out to play. Several branches of the rhododendron that were too thick for the loppers were cut and stuffed into a bin to be transported to the neighborhood yard waste area another time. It was quick work out front and then it was out to the back of the house to the oil tank enclosure armed with a sanding block, a cloth, gloves, and two cans of silver spray paint.

One can of spray paint covered about 95% of the enclosure and I was glad to have bought two. It's not perfect, but it is definitely better than it was. It is just very, very basic. Boring, even. I think it can be better.

Recoating the big tin can in silver was a good reminder that I like playing with spray paint and I wondered about taking the project a step or two further. In Lowell, I used plastic ferns, various weeds, and a foil grill tray as stencils to spray paint a green deck umbrella that had some faded stripey marks from sun exposure while closed. By the time I was done with the navy blue, red, and tan paints, the faded parts were hidden and I had an improved deck umbrella with a pattern of leaves and dots.

Previous project, new inspiration.

I may replicate the concept on the oil tank enclosure. Nobody but two neighbors, the oil delivery guy, and I will see it, but it will be fun doing it, so there is value there. There are tons of ferns in the back yard, some of which are huge, so this could be fun. 

If the oil tank enclosure turns out to be as much fun as I imagine, there is a shed at the end of the driveway that also needs some love. It’s currently a very boring white barn style with black trim and the plan has been to paint it a color close to the new siding (still to be installed, thank goodness I’m not naïve enough to be sitting here holding my breath). The new main color may just be the start of something a bit grander on the shed. Or not. We’ll see. Sometimes, one little task launches an avalanche of creativity, and sometimes the onslaught of ideas is grander than the attention span.

random thoughts – Day 2,291 (Tuesday) – dancing memories

Prepping for barre work.

The new Tuesday dance plan was activated today when I met up with some long-ago dance friends (circa high school) during their weekly dance session. With a recording of the old dance studio music playing, eight of us did the Denishawn barre and center work, followed by many dances.

Musical memory and muscle memory ruled the day and got me through. At the barre, there were shaky one-legged balancing holds where some strength needs to be rebuilt. I nearly always remembered the music, and if I didn’t think about it too much, muscle memory kicked in and the movements took over. When the muscle memory was spotty or if it was something I hadn’t ever fully learned, I had seven dance pals to follow. One even called out the steps on a dance I wasn’t familiar with.

We ran through a lot of the repertoire. In many cases, I remembered the costumes we wore back in the day more than the dance itself, which is on brand for me. “Creation” featured metallic silver leotards under black capes. “Tales of Vienna Woods” had light green dresses with flower chains diagonally across the torso. “Chopin Preludes” (Opus 28 No. 20 followed immediately by No. 7) was a maroon leotard with a maroon wrap skirt.

We did dances with tour jetes and turns for which I didn’t fully trust my recently wonky left knee, the steadiness of my feet, or my ballet slippers on the slippery floor. We danced soft, quiet dances that required lots of control and still broke a sweat. There were dances with quick footwork and spins that made me dizzy. It was glorious. It felt like home. Several hours later I was a little sore, but in a good way. Tomorrow I may be sore in the barely can move way and that will also be good.

Baby chain saw!

In other exciting news, before going to dance, I visited Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and bought one of the tiny, adorable chain saws for pruning that StepDad told me about. It even comes in its own little hard case. Now I need a free and dry day so I can try it out. Yard work fun times are ahead and I can hardly wait.

random thoughts – Day 2,290 (Monday) – summer monday

Time has a different quality when recent schedule obligations are suddenly gone. Sundays are changed for the summer with no dance group until September. Monday rehearsals with my dance partner are on hold until we start working on new choreography for whatever showcase is next on our schedules. Tuesday nights are now free since the show with that night's group took place last week. The days (and nights) feel weird now. There are two enticing options available for Tuesday dancing, and it may take a coin toss to choose the winner.

The refrigeration adventure ended today with the collection of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Dining Room and Frigid Air (temporary). It was delivered last Thursday by two remarkably strong guys who aren't much bigger than I am, and collected today by three very strong gigantic guys who looked like they may have been on a day off from professional football camp.

Once the (unneeded) loaner fridge was gone, it was back to righting the dining room. The rug was rolled out again and the table shifted back to a newly modified version of its location. Previously, it was centered over the medallion in the middle of the rug. Now, the table is more centered under the pendant light that is tragically not centered in the room and has been a source of angst. When the table is centered in the room, the light hovers beyond the end of the table and presents a head injury hazard.

The search for new lighting has been underway for months. A flush mount ceiling fan would hide the lack of centering and provide air flow for the area, but I would still know it’s not centered. Centering the fixture will require an electrician and then ceiling repair work. Twin Scandinavian pendant lights over the table would provide centering (and look really cool), and require new wiring for the second light. This is the framework for the ongoing party of one dining room debate.

Because it was raining all day (at varying intensities), there was next to no interest in going out anywhere. StepDad told me on Sunday about his recently acquired, battery operated four-inch chain saw and I was tempted to go to the store where he got it to buy one for myself, but then it was raining. Maybe tomorrow (my new favorite day of the week).

Corn!

Now that calendar says it’s officially summer and corn on the cob consumption has begun. The modern grocery store packaging of shucked corn wrapped in plastic makes it so much easier. There is no guessing about what is in inside or how big the ears are, and no store patrons standing in the way and making a mess ripping back husks and tossing the ears back. At home, there is no messy husk and silk removal needed. It’s so civilized. And the corn was delicious, despite the near total lack of nutritional value. Hooray for early summer corn. 

random thoughts – Day 2,289 (Sunday) – a day in the life

It was a quiet day at the house. Kiki did her thing, I did mine. There was food. There was reading (another book finished!). I went to a store and endured yet another too-common retail interaction. 

This time, instead of non-helpful attempts at help, the issue was over an item on sale that didn’t ring up at the sale price. When I pointed it out, the cashier made some lame claim that the sale price would show up when he hit “total.” It did not. I noted the continued error, he repeated the incorrect total, and for a long moment he seemed to expect me to just pay the non-sale price. Finally, he fixed the error. I hate that customers have to watch every price ring up at every store to avoid being overcharged, but that seems to be the situation.

Too close to the house.

In the evening, I walked around the house to check the plants. There is a remaining need for hedge trimming out front. In addition to general shaping and pruning, there is a need to cut the backsides of everything because it’s all grown too close to the house and the siding crew needs to be able to access the house. Maybe tomorrow (procrastination rules!). 

There is no set date for the new siding project to begin, or even when the correct color will deliver, so there is no time pressure there. I'll need to set an arbitrary date to get myself to finish because I do love a deadline. 

Basically, it was mostly just another day in the life.

random thoughts – Day 2,288 (Saturday) – art and solstice

It was a lovely day for a drive, and the drive was already planned, which means it happened. I’m much better at executing firm plans than with a spontaneous seat-of-the-pants approach (shocker!).

Today’s plan was to attend the reception for the Lowellscapes exhibit at The Brush Art Gallery and Studios. The invitational show features photography of scenes in Lowell by nine artists (including me). It was the perfect kick in the butt to get me off the couch and engaged in something I love.

One photographer talking,
another one filming.

The show looks great and the reception was well attended. It was fun being back in the art world and seeing a former colleague, former fellow board members, and patrons in the arts community again after a strange and busy year away from it. There were refreshments and beverages, and three of the photographers took turns talking about their process and photos.

After the reception, I headed back home to change from indoor art reception clothes (black ankle pants, white tee shirt, pink floral patterned bomber jacket with black trim) to outside solstice fire ensemble (camo patterned pants, black shirt, white and black hoodie) and drove to my friends house in the woods of a nearby town.

Fire for the solstice.

We spent the night before the longest day of the year with a fire in their big yard. We roasted marshmallows and ate s’mores, told stories and laughed. I burned my mouth removing a toasted marshmallow from the metal skewer which is a very different experience from when the marshmallow is toasted on a stick. Trust me when I say it hurts (in four places!). Zero stars, I do not recommend.

A few fireflies twinkled in the woods. The neighbor’s cats passed through the yard a few times, and once, one of them had a chipmunk in its mouth. After dark, the clear sky shone full of stars. We wrote wishes for the coming season and tossed them into the fire. It was a perfect night after a great day.

random thoughts – Day 2,287 (Friday) – restless

Some days (like today), I wander around the house like a ghost. No real intent, just vaguely moving about. There was a feeling of restlessness, like maybe I wanted to be doing something, but I didn’t know what. Early in the day I considered hopping on the commuter train at Wachusett Station and riding it all the way to North Station. Or maybe jumping off one stop earlier at Porter Square in Cambridge. Anything was possible. The schedule was consulted and I learned the train runs about every two hours, providing me with several opportunities to launch the idea.

I did not do this.

Needs paint.

I read. I moved a painting from one living room wall to another and hung a photo in the newly vacant spot. I made a grocery list and went to Aldi. I went to Aubuchon Hardware for a few things, most importantly, paint for the housing for the oil tank because I want to paint it before the new siding goes on so that I don't need to worry about getting paint on the new siding. The trip was not as straightforward as I thought it would be.

Upon entering the store, a clerk near the door asked if they could help. I responded in the affirmative, explained my paint mission, and showed a photo of the item in need of paint. The clerk began to rattle off every type of paint available. I did not want a full menu of options from which I had to choose. I wanted to know, from someone who ideally knows more than I do, the single best option for the project at hand. It turned into a fresh new level of hell.

After some discussion (too much), it was decided spray paint was probably best. They then showed me four or five versions of silver spray paint in stock in the store (all by the same company), but couldn’t really tell me anything about what made any can  different from the others beyond the price. What in the actual hell. I could have gone through the exercise alone and not had to politely deal with nonsensical interaction. 

I ended up buying two cans with a metal mailbox depicted on the label, which I interpreted as meaning it was good on metal. By then I couldn’t wait to get out of the place. There was no way I was going to endure going through the rest of my list (new house numbers, potting soil, sanding block, privacy film for windows, ceiling fans).

Maybe the next time I’ll say I’m just looking. I bet there are dozens of cool things I would buy if I knew they existed, but as part of the Ace network, the sales people pounce to offer service and get you back out the door. I get the impression that browsing is frowned upon. Maybe I’ll go to Lowe’s where you can browse in peace and good luck to you if need help.

Kiki watching the birds.

Back at home, I settled in to watch World Cup matches. For this, I blame Tartan Army and the Boston fan hijinks that led to them dominating my Facebook feed for the past week. First, USA played Australia (we won), then Scotland was beaten by Morocco (and I felt badly for Scotland). Games after that were on for background noise while I drained the battery in my cell (twice) playing a dumb arrow game. 

When it was still light out, Kiki sat on the window sill making funny little noises. The subject of her attention was two crows (or maybe they are ravens) that were walking on the lawn and driveway. 

Kiki was fixated on them. I was fixated on her and wondered if she was offended by the yard intruders, was taunting them, or maybe is hoping for friends. I wish she could tell me.

random thoughts – Day 2,286 (Thursday) – house guest

Credit to the Frigidaire folks for jumping on my refrigeration issue. This morning at 8:20, a call came in from the service department of the appliance store in town to set an appointment for 11:00 to 12:00 for the technician to be here to check out the freezer issue. They are the local service partner to the store in Worcester where I bought my refrigerator. The instructions were to leave everything in the fridge and freezer and keep it running so the tech could check it all out in use. The ice cubes had all melted so I took the trays of water out and I ate a big bowl of semi-frozen blueberries with Greek yogurt, but that was it.

Dining room overlord.

A delivery crew with a loaner fridge was scheduled to arrive between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. today (arranged yesterday). At 10:10, two guys arrived and by 10:25 they were gone and I was completing an online survey about their delivery. Meanwhile, Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of Frigid Air was lodged in the dining room. For the arrival I had rolled the rug back, moved the buffet down the wall a couple feet, moved Kiki’s personal cabinet a foot or so in the other direction, packed up the sewing machine and moved the dining table closer to the windows, and the couch was moved a few feet for clearance at the entry way. Basically, the dining room is now unusable, but I got a nice workout.

At 11:00, the tech arrived. Pleasantries were exchanged. I learned that the ice cubes, ice cream, and bread are the first casualties in a freezer failure. Once the freezer has lost all coldness, the contents of the refrigerator below are then affected. My collection of Nordic packs from my Misfit Market days (permanent residents of the freezer) likely helped maintain the temperature.

He looked in the fridge and freezer and then we emptied the freezer for further inspection. Almost everything was still in a state of frozenness and I set it into the now quite chilled Darth Vader. The tech checked all the components of my refrigerator, made a phone call, and then told me all the major stuff was fine, using lots of technical terminology from which I heard “compressor blah blah,” “heater blah blah,” and “fan blah blah”. The issue was determined to be the timer gadget thingy (not his words) for the defroster, which had recently become an issue systemwide. The units were getting stuck and not cycling properly. He told me it began about six months ago, and they were replacing as many as 20 of them a week (or day, I was spacing out, whichever, it was a lot of them). He had one of the replacement units in his van and took care of it on the spot. Now, everything is running normally again in my freezer.

As for Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Frigid Air – well, it is my house guest and dining room overlord for the weekend. The service rep from the appliance store checked to see if the truck could come back today to collect it, but they had “a long route” and there wouldn’t be time. Friday is the Juneteenth holiday and the service rep couldn’t promise Saturday morning for pickup and I have an event in the afternoon, so Monday morning it is. I can live with that. Having two functional refrigerators in the house is definitely better than none. Maybe I’ll plug Darth Vader back in and have a massive ice cream feast for the next three days.

If the delivery guys hadn’t been so efficient, or if I had been a later stop than number four for the day, they probably could have been intercepted and wouldn’t have had to unpack and set up the thing at all. If I had called on Monday or Tuesday instead of first not wanting to be an alarmist, and then waiting to get through the stress of prepping for the show Tuesday night, this might have been resolved days ago. 

But, like X2’s dad (Ducky) used to love to say, “If ‘if’ was an ass, we could all go for a ride.” (Stay tuned for more Ducky-isms.) Anyway, everything worked out. Even when my life goes sideways there is often a soft landing, and I'm glad for that.