random thoughts – Day 1,200 – (Friday) – accommodations

 

Another beautiful day. After the many days of rain, I intend to appreciate every minute of the nice days.

Ferris wheel! June 30, 2010.

On this date in 2010, I was at York Beach, Maine with Mom, my sister, and my three nieces. That year, I was home for vacation from the Tennessee chapter of life, and we stayed at The Anchorage Inn. We did tourist things like ride the trolley and the Ferris wheel. Of course, we went to the beach, ate seafood, had lots of ice cream. I saw my friend who lives there. It was fun. I would do it again any time. 

York Beach is where my family vacationed for many years of my childhood. Once or twice when I was very young, my grandmother rented an apartment we all stayed in, but by the time I was 7 years old or so, we had a tent.

We would load the car with the essentials – clothes, sleeping gear, and sometimes an electric fry pan and portable TV. It was quite a spectacle when it was five people and all the gear in a little orange Datsun we called "The Orange Lemon" because it always seemed to need fixing.

We’d load the roof rack and leave our sturdy and dry house and drive to Maine (and when I was 7, we went international with a trip to Canada), to live in a cloth house for a week or so. 

Our cloth palace -- years of
vacation accommodations.

The tent was tall enough that we had bunk bed cots. Our stuff would be piled on the floor of the tent, but not touching the sides of the tent because it would leak in the rain. For some reason, stuff all over the floor was acceptable on vacation, but not at home. It seemed to rain a lot, or equally likely, it rained once or twice and the memory of Dad using his Army Reserve skills to dig a trench around the tent in the rain in the dark is what stuck in my head and attached itself to all family camping trips. 

My family loved camping, but I’m not sure I ever saw the appeal. As a kid, I didn’t have a choice, and as an adult, I tried it a couple times with X2. Both times, we camped at Land Between the Lakes National Recreational Area in Kentucky. The tent was tiny compared to the cloth palace of my youth. Both times it was during a stretch of oppressive humidity. It rained (poured, thundered!), and time was spent in the car. So yeah. At least I tried.

Given the choice between a hotel, cabin, B&B, rental house, tent, or just staying home, I can say with confidence and conviction that a tent would be my last choice. A hotel without room service is as rustic as I want to be.

random thoughts – Day 1,199 – (Thursday) – nice

Downtown flower box.

It didn’t rain today and the sun was out. It was a great day. Very nice.

The brick buildings on Middle Street were bathed in evening sunlight when I arrived downtown after work for Book Club. Small brown birds bathed in the fountain on Shattuck Street. Flowers bloomed in the window box at the law office on the corner of Middle and Shattuck Streets.

Being a beautiful evening, Book Club met at the Warp and Weft outdoor seating area where we enjoyed fresh air and sunshine with our beverages, appetizers, and book discussion. 

We all liked the book, Once Upon a Wardrobe, although to varying degrees. Two of us who had never read C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe thought the book club selection was “nice.” A couple who had read Lewis’s book loved the book club title.

It was a leisurely read. The story is unhurried, there is no urgency, and it was a nice respite from the craziness of the world today. And since reading Once Upon a Wardrobe, I want to read the Lewis book. It can go on the always growing list of stuff waiting to be read. 

I wish I could have the summers off to sit around and read all day, every day like when I was young. Or maybe just retire and read for pleasure all day. Sigh. Someday. It's going to be so nice.

random thoughts – Day 1,198 – (Wednesday) – water falls

My parking pass for work provides access to covered parking in a city garage a short walk from the office. Just like downtown Lowell, the garage has its share of curiosities. For example, for a covered garage, here sure is a lot of water in it on a regular basis. Even when it's not raining, water drips from the ceiling and puddles on the floor.

Today, at 5:00, as several of us prepared to leave the office, it began to rain, as if on cue. Again. I stayed behind in the office for a few more minutes while my system shut down, hoping it might ease up. When I left a few minutes after the others, it had stopped, but not for long. I was on Merrimack Street, probably one-third of the way to the garage and enjoying the walk, unopened umbrella in hand, cell phone in my pocket, when the sky faucet turned on full blast.

The umbrella was opened. The cell phone was transferred into the work bag. By the time I got to the garage, my pants were soaked from mid-thigh down, my feet were wet inside my shoes, my right sleeve and hand which held the umbrella were dry, but the left sleeve of my raincoat was wet.

Indoor waterfalls.

On the fourth floor of the garage, not far from my car, a large puddle had formed at the bottom of the ramp. In two spots, water flowed freely from the level above like waterfalls. They splashed into the puddle. It was impressive, except for the part that had me questioning the structural integrity of the garage.

The velocity of the rain eased up and the sun came out while it was still raining, but no rainbow could be seen at the intersection where I sat at a red light. At home, across the river from work, it didn’t seem that it had rained as hard as downtown. Inside the house, I slipped off the wet coat with the soaked left sleeve, which led to a wet sweater sleeve, and then a wet blouse sleeve and a wet arm. The wet shoes were untied and slipped off, the wet pants were peeled off. The wet clothes were arranged to dry. Dry sweat pants have never felt so comfy.

It rained with varying intensities throughout the evening and into the night. It thundered. It seemed calm, then it got wild, then calm, and so on. At least the street didn’t flood. Not yet, anyway. Maybe the pacing and alternation of heavy and lighter rain helped with the drainage.

random thoughts – Day 1,197 – (Tuesday) – 45 minutes

It was an office day so I could more easily attend an early afternoon non-profit meeting. The peace and quiet helped me to plow through some of the stuff on my list and cross things off, which is always a good feeling. Less good was dealing with our temperamental (psychotic) office copier that has me fantasizing about smashing it in a field like in the movie Office Space.

I needed to print six copies of a sign. Ideally, these would be on slightly heavier paper. The paper sizes the printer wants to use don’t match paper we use or even anything I’ve heard of. It ignores the choices set for which tray and any specialty paper. Consequently, today, in addition to the “Yellow cartridge low” message, it declared an imaginary paper jam from the manual feed tray.

The copier lives between a thick wooden column and a metal pole, with barely enough space to open the manual paper feed tray. To deal with a paper jam, it requires pulling the machine out to access the paper feed. It weights a ton and requires more than one person, or at least more than one of me. Once the machine was rolled out, the door fully opened, and the appropriate levers flipped so the machine could recognize there was not actually a paper jam, the copies were finally produced. It had taken about 45 minutes and several muttered swears.

Shattuck Street.

The meeting was a quick walk from the office, down Shattuck Street under a cloudy sky, past a building with iron work above the first floor, past some lamp posts with hanging flower baskets. In about as much time as it took to fight with the stupid printer and get six copies, we had made the decisions that needed making for an event, I picked up an item won in a fundraiser event last fall, and then I was back at the office. And I didn’t have to swear once. 

After work, the weather was favorable, the grass wasn’t soaked, and the mower was hauled from the shed. In another 45-minute triumph, the yards were mowed. It’s interesting the different ways that 45 minutes can pass. Fight with a printer, plan an event, mow a yard. All in a day.

random thoughts – Day 1,196 – (Monday) – waterlogged

The weather mood swings continue. Holy crap. Today there was rain, humidity, heavier rain, thunder, and more heavy rain, resulting in the second afternoon flash flood at my end of the street in the past couple weeks. Now I wonder how many have happened when I wasn't home to see it.

I was busy working in the remote office, aware that the thunder and rain were happening outside because I could hear them, but blissfully unaware of the extent of things because I hadn’t looked out the window.  When I heard voices in the shared driveway and finally looked outside, it was quite a sight. 

Water!

The rain continued to fall and the guy from next door was shirtless and barefoot, wading in water over his ankles in the shared driveway. Others from the same house had moved their cars from the driveway to less flooded spots further up the street.

Water filled my side of the driveway. It lapped at the bottom step of the little deck to the back door and pooled at the end of the street and along the street in front of my house. As I stood on the landing exclaiming "holy crap!", truck guy yelled out the window that in 2006 the water was as high was the landing where I stood. 

The full length of the other parking spot at the other side of the yard was covered with water.  The front flower bed along the street and mulched on Sunday, was several inches underwater.

A neighbor called to tell me she had called the city about the flooding and that we were “third on the list.” That’s when it finally dawned on me that I should probably check the basement. 

Water could be heard trickling. Several fountains sprung from gaps between the concrete blocks and at the seam where the wall meets the floor. The corner where the sump pump sits was as dry as the desert, but two other corners and the wall along the flooded driveway edge were taking in and pooling water. It looked a bit like the start  of a low-budget water park/splash pad. And not in a fun way. For a few minutes, water was pushed with a broom from the deep end of the park to the dry end and the pump sent it out.

Within a half hour and before the city truck arrived to check out the situation, the storm drain caught up to the volume and the water had receded from one driveway and the end of the street. A few minutes later, the street looked like nothing had ever happened. The basement still needs some more time spent on water relocation. Pushing water with a broom is turning out to be quite an upper body workout.

As for the lawn, which becomes more overgrown each day thanks to the rain. It has needed mowing for a solid week, and hasn't been done because either it was raining, was wet from earlier rain, I had plans, or all of the above. It's going to be a heck of a chore when I can finally tackle it. 

random thoughts – Day 1,195 – (Sunday) – weekend wrap-up

Three-day weekends really are the best kinds of weekends. This one was even better than many others. There was the auto-maintenance door speaker and sway bar links replacement Friday morning, where they even washed the car. It was followed by leisurely shopping and chilling at home before the Jason James show with friends.

Saturday had relaxation against the backdrop of the variable weather during the day and the beautiful garden party event at night with perfect weather.

The lupine can keep the coneflower
and dusty miller company.

Sunday morning had a relaxed start with sleeping a bit late, then the usual drinking of the coffee. The lupine plant from the event on Saturday was planted in what seems like the proper sunny location not far from the coneflower plant. As plants have been added over the years and weeds pulled, the edge of the flower bed closest to the street has shed its straight edge and taken on a graceful wavy line. 

Back inside, there was the checking of mulch prices on the Lowe’s website. I’ve been thinking about spreading mulch on the flower beds since April and kept postponing it. Perhaps the flower beds at the event and the lupine plant provided the proper inspiration to finally get it done. It was hot work schlepping the three bags of mulch from the display pile into the shopping cart, from the cart into the back of the car, and from the car into the yard. One bag was spread in the front bed, then the other two were schlepped into the front porch which now carries the fragrance of mulch.

Beautifully moody sky.

After sitting for 30 minutes, drinking ice water, and waiting for the sweating to stop, it was time to jump in the shower and then get dressed for the next and final fun event of the weekend. 

First there was a quick stop at Family Dollar for Winston’s dog biscuits and the toddler diapers that buy my freedom from the house for up to nine hours. Heavy clouds in charcoal gray tones gathered over Dracut as I prepared to leave for a 5:00 meetup. Mother Nature was being beautifully moody again. 

At the event on Saturday, a banker friend and I talked about the many restaurants I have not visited in the Lowell area. We decided to go to a restaurant in Chelmsford for my introduction to Cambodian food. It rained a little as I arrived at the restaurant, but nothing like the dark clouds seemed to indicate.

My friend, her husband, and another friend met me at Simply Khmer. She took the lead with ordering and four of us enjoyed rice and stuffed chicken leg with pickled vegetables, salmon with a mango sauce, and beef tips with a sauce. It was delicious. So, so delicious. Of course, I forgot to take photos, because we were having a great time talking about Cambodian ingredients and food preparation, and ghost stories. 

It rained on the way home, which meant the mowing that would not happen again tonight. The frequent rain showers and downpours are causing the greenery to grow and adversely affecting the mowing timetable.

random thoughts – Day 1,194 – (Saturday) – event night

Lupine!

The weather today might best be described as variable. Moody. Petulant. There was light rain, sunshine, cool air, and humidity. At 4:00, as I was dressing for an outdoor event that began at 5:00, there was a very assertive, heavy rain. Right around 5:00, the skies cleared and the sun returned, just in time for the event.

The event was The Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust Summer Solstice Soiree. It was a casual and pleasant event held in the beautiful back yard of a private residence. Gardens were beautifully laid out with textural interest like mulch and stones.

The home is less than a mile from my house in one of the many neighborhoods I have never bothered to explore in my years in Lowell. I used to be curious about the cities where I lived and would spend lots of time driving around exploring. Except Lowell, for reasons I don’t understand, but my best guess is laziness. 

Tents protected the dining tables, bar, and musician.  There was a cheese and veggie board and cold salads, with passed hors d’oeuvres including shrimp with a creamy avocado dipping sauce, meatballs, chicken on pita, caprese skewers, beet slices on crostini, and cooked salmon on a crunchy chip thing I can’t think of but it was delicious.

Bankers!

Three colleagues and I had a fun time chatting about yard equipment, ethnic food restaurants I haven’t been to, busy schedules and summer plans, and other random topics. It’s always fun to spend time with work friends at local organization events. We visited the photo setup for Polaroid pictures, and posed for various group images on various cell phones. 

Guests were encouraged to take the potted table centerpieces and I left with a lupine and a new awareness of an organization I wasn’t previously familiar with. 

random thoughts – Day 1,193 – (Friday) – entertained

It was a vacation day which, in the world of this solo adult, often means life maintenance activities and not leisure. Today, it was 2.5 hours in the waiting room of the local Jeep dealership while the driver side door speaker was replaced along with the sway bar links, and an add-on state car inspection. Thank goodness I bought the extended warranty plan and it was all covered except for the routine inspection.

At the dealership, there was a woman knitting a beautiful cream colored blanket in a fine gauge yarn while her two young children played on their tablets. Out of what seemed like nowhere, the daughter asked if they could say the "Pledge of Allegiance" when they got home, and all I could think was that is something you don’t hear kids ask for every day. Now I want to know what life is like at their house.

After the dealership, it was a trip to Andover Thrift Shop to check out their sale before they close for a month. Rolling into downtown Andover and seeing signs for free two-hour parking felt like winning the lottery. Well, except for the fact there were no parking spots available and two lots had construction equipment and cones occupying one-third of the lots. I looped the lots twice and then headed back home. My patience was exhausted. No sale was worth this crap.

During the evening, there was scheduled entertainment at the Hudson (MA) Elks Club with a local stop by Jason James. Decades ago, I knew of Jason James and his band The Baystate Houserockers, but never managed to see them. Meanwhile, my friends were seeing them regularly, and had stories about birthdays recognized at shows and New Years Eve after parties.  The closest I got to a show was a Nashville appearance when I lived 40 minutes away in Clarksville, but an ice storm and the treacherous conditions killed the plan.

Tonight, I finally saw Jason James. It was pretty awesome. I had somehow managed to forget how much fun it is to hear live music with friends. The sound was kind of awful in our corner of the room, but it was great on the dance floor. There were fun conversations with other attendees, including a younger local who delighted in telling me that he was from Berlin and a neighbor of the headliner, liked my saddle shoes, complimented my gray hair, and insisted on buying my beer.  Thank you for the ego boost young man. 

random thoughts – Day 1,192 – (Thursday) – bizarro

It was another bizarro WTF day. It kicked off with technology fun and programs not loading automatically like they usually do. It took 1.5 hours for me to realize Teams Chat wasn’t open, and only when I went to message a colleague.

Mid-morning, there was suddenly major lag, screens froze, and everything bogged down. The mouse battery was checked. Internet connection was checked. A question was floated to a colleague to see if anyone else was having issues.

The next step was an hour-long call with our internal help desk where more than once the tech very politely said, “hmmmm…. That’s new.” We chatted while waiting for programs to troubleshoot and reload, and the tech agreed that, yes, friends in an old job who declared I had BTK (Bad Technology Karma) were probably correct in their assessment.

Things finally got sorted after rebooting the computer and the router, then resetting some things. When things were finally well again, 15 new emails had arrived during the problem-solving time.

Cool, in Cali!

During the afternoon, a delivery alert from Amazon arrived about the Nature’s Miracle order due today. Yesterday’s tracking check showed it in Manchester, NH, a mere 37.8 miles away. Today’s update said it would now arrive between the 23rd and 25th. The amusing part, if we can call it that, is in the tracking details. The package was in Manchester, NH at 5:41 pm on Wednesday. Did Manchester move away overnight? 

Today’s tracking details show it arriving in Chino, California, 2,987 miles away, and noted with “Possible delay in delivery.” Ummm… you think? Two other entries flag it as “Delayed in transit” at 3:00pm and 8:00 pm today. WTF, Amazon? Apparently “Free Prime Shipping” now means a nice cross-country tour for the items.

As if that wasn’t enough fun for one day, shortly after 4:30, as I was wrapping up things for a Friday vacation day, a backyard neighbor started blasting music. It 80s and 90s songs which wasn't bad in theory, but they were crappy covers in a mashup medley with only a few lines of the song. Just as the song became recognizable, it would change to a different song sung by the same crappy vocalists.

Closing the kitchen windows didn’t help. The racket was briefly and blessedly drowned out very loud power equipment, but it was brief and the music outlasted it. Then, at 5:00, it magically stopped, or the medley ran its course, but in any event it ended. It wouldn’t have been nearly as bad if the whole song had played instead of jumping from one song to another. The best part was when it ended.

After that, the evening was peaceful. The sunlight was pretty, the temperature was comfortable, the groundhog was hanging around in the back yard. 

Long Sands Beach, York, ME, 2013.

This date was very different from the same date ten years ago, when my family stayed at a rental house at York Beach. 

On that date, as several of us sat on the living room sofa and various chairs which faced a set of windows where the blinds were stuck in the raised position, a woman in the house next door was in her living room, exercising in her underwear in front of her windows with open blinds and curtains. If she turned around, she would see us seeing her, and we ended up avoiding looking out the window and laughing like maniacs. One friend in Facebook comments said we should make score cards to hold up like competition judges if she turned around. We did not do that, but the idea was hilarious. 

random thoughts – Day 1,191 – (Wednesday) – reflecting

Facebook memories are informative today. On this date in 2009 I had a belly dance workshop on balancing and Persian technique. Sadly, I don’t even remember what Persian technique is, but I am comfortable saying I probably loved it and would want to do it again if I could find any such class. 

In 2010, I learned six ways to fall at roller derby practice, and liked the rockstar fall (kind of flashy sliding across the floor on the knees) and the small fall (basically crunch up into a tight, tiny ball) the best. In 2011, I went to my favorite Clarksville thrift store in search of a beach coverup/bathrobe and left with a full-length embroidered kimono for $2. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was an amazing find, and maybe someday I'll get around to doing something with it, like maybe hanging it on a wall.

In 2013, freshly relocated from Tennessee, I was en route to Maine for a week at the beach with family. In 2018, there was a reception at The Brush for “Reflections – Homage to a Friend,” a show by the studio artists.

Reflections on the canal water.

As for June 21, 2023, it was a day full of small things. At work, we had our big Sales and Marketing (S&M) team meeting and the guest speaker from the mortgage department was interesting. I got myself away from the desk and took a walk around downtown on a beautiful day. Skateboarders hung around in a park, and people sat on benches. The canal water was as still and glossy, reflecting the clouds and the trees like a mirror. 

At The BungaLoweel, the first day lily of the year opened in the front yard. The rugs smell of dog pee and should probably be burned. It was an evening like many others before it, with HBO on demand ("The Righteous Gemstones") and Netflix ("Easy").

First day lily.

If these various June 21 days were to be ranked and rated, it seems like 2009, 2010, and 2011 felt the most alive. Belly dance was exciting with growth and exploring various styles of dance and movement while balancing swords and candles on the head. Roller derby was brand new and exciting and our fledgling team had found a home rink for indoor practices and bouts. The thrill of discovery of a gem in a thrift store was intoxicating. 

The years since leaving Tennessee have felt more dull than exciting. Numb even. For the most part, it has not been what I dreamt of all those times in Tennessee when I was homesick and aching to come back home. What's that about grass being greener .... And maybe it's time to find a way to shake things up again. Rome in March was a good start.

random thoughts – Day 1,190 – (Tuesday) – learning

Today was an office day with Bank-provided coffee at the shop near the office, and I was signed up for a Lunch & Learn event about Burma (Myanmar) that included Burmese food.

The morning kicked off with another headache, and I couldn’t tell if it was too much coffee, not enough coffee, or not enough sleep from waking up too many times overnight. The past week has had quite a lot of headaches. The free coffee was skipped in the fear it would make it worse. The headache persisted.

The lunch event was informative and heartbreaking. Two speakers from UMass Lowell told us about the situation in Burma and the ongoing unrest and military rule. The food was amazing and I forgot to take pictures of it. There was rice, a noodle salad, tender beef chunks, and several other dishes that I remember being delicious but not what they are called. The group that made the food will be selling food at the Lowell Folk Festival at the end of July, so I can get more then.

A couple of the scarfs.

Fundraiser items for sale at the lunch event included a variety of purses, messenger bags, totes, water bottle carriers, and scarves. I bought a sheer purple scarf with embroidery and sequins. 

After the lunchtime break, it was back to the desk and the usual working. Doing things and crossing them off the list. Going over some things with a new team member. Chasing down loose threads on projects. 

Winston pulled off his mysterious magic trick where he keeps the pee band and diaper on and the diaper stays dry and unsullied, and there is a pee spot perfectly centered on the potty pad on the floor. There are probably more on the rugs that I just haven’t found yet. 

For three hours after I got home, the little punk scratched at the door to go out and then two minutes later, barked to come back inside. It was at least a dozen times and if it was more I don't really want to know. The nonsense stopped when I finally gave him a cookie when he came in. After that, he laid in his bed, probably thrilled I finally learned the lesson and exhausted that it took so long. 

random thoughts – Day 1,189 – (Monday) – dad's day breakfast

Because we like to invent our own timetables whenever possible, my sister, Dad and I went freestyle and celebrated Father’s Day today, one day after the day the card companies and marketing machines claim was the day designated for such. It was a leisurely morning ride to The ‘Burg in not-too-heavy traffic with reasonable drivers who used their turn signals and didn’t drive like idiots. Crazy, right? 

Halfway to my sister's, while enjoying the Faction Punk channel on the newly activated free trial of SiriusXM, and loudly singing along (if we can call it that) to the Social Distortion cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” I suddenly couldn’t recall if I gave Winston his Vetsulin or not. Ugh. Again.

Breakfast!

At my sister’s we enjoyed her breakfast specialty, sausage gravy and biscuits. For a Northern gal, she sure has conquered this Southern dish. There was plenty of coffee and a bowl of fresh grapes. 

There were also mini pie crust cinnamon pinwheel things I baked on Sunday for the occasion, which were great out of the oven but substantially harder today. Hard like rocks. When storing them for the night, I wondered if it was a loosely covered, plastic bag, or airtight container situation, but the recipe provided no clues. I went with an airtight storage container, but dang, they got hard. Maybe bringing an untested recipe wasn’t the best idea.

They softened up when dunked in coffee and after being left open and exposed to the humidity and we were lucky to escape with no dental emergencies. Note for the future – store in whatever manner is the one that keeps cookies soft, and add a note to the recipe on file.

Comical photo result.

Before Dad headed out, we took selfies, with varied and comical results. Chopped off heads, blurry schmears. Someday we'll all get the hang of the timer, but apparently not today. We will also not be gaining any photography or modeling gigs based on the unfocused,  abstract family portraits. 

When I  got home, Winston was pee-band and diaper-free. It was soaked and weighed a ton, and I can't blame him for liberating himself. The water bowl was emptied and there were random pee puddles and water vomit puddles in three rooms. That seemed to confirm he hadn’t received his morning insulin and that is 100% my fault. It’s not like he can open the fridge and get it himself. Thank goodness I was gone only a few hours and not all day.

Reclining in comfort.

After some biscuits and a half-dose of insulin, he rested on the couch like the little angel he is. By dinner, he was back to himself with his regular food and water consumption. Thank goodness. The only thing worse than having an unwell fur baby is knowing I contributed to the situation. 

random thoughts – Day 1,188 – (Sunday) – food

Deflowered violets.

There was more oven activity with pie crust pinwheels. So simple – pie crust, melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Spread it, roll it, slice it, bake it. The oven has been used more in the past couple days than it has since the usual Christmas baking spree.

Yard work also happened. The rhododendron that just keeps growing got a trim, along with some of the wildly explosive bleeding heart that took over half the front steps. 

Backyard buffet fine dining.

While messing around in the yard, I noticed the very many violet clusters that sprouted near the front stairs, between the bricks under the mailbox, and under the rhododendron are now flower free. It didn’t register as odd until I noticed the empty stems. Looks like the groundhog likes the violets. 

The groundhog was seen a couple times during the day, feasting in the back yard. Some weedy things in front of the little ramp to the shed were feasted upon. Later, there was rummaging under the day lily and iris greenery next to the ramp. I don’t know what was growing there, but it’s been eaten. 

Then the hungry critter moved to the bushy plant with the tiny yellow flowers that grows near the irises and day lilies at the side of the shed. Low growth was eaten, then the groundhog sat upright to dine upon higher growth that was grabbed with the little front paws. It was kind of fun standing at the newly repaired kitchen window to watch the backyard salad buffet. 

Supervised pizza consumption.

My own dining was vegetable pizza, plucked from the freezer, heated in the toaster oven, and eaten under the ever-attentive nose of Winston. He stood nearby, facing in my general direction, making his presence known, hopeful for a bit of crust. Of course, he got it. He’s old, and he can have whatever he wants. Well,  mostly, as long as it doesn’t have raisins, onions, grapes, or any of the other things that are dangerous for dogs. 

random thoughts – Day 1,187 – (Saturday) – on and off

The rain was light and steady when it fell, which was on and off most of the day. All the events I marked as “Interested” in Facebook were abandoned by me early in the day. With the 10:00 National Park Service walk (Lowell) and the 2:00 Strawberry Festival at Hollis Hills (Fitchburg) removed from my schedule, that left a lot more time for drinking coffee and preparing for the Epilepsy Foundation donation pickup scheduled for Tuesday.

The donation preparation involved trying on a lot of clothes I haven’t worn in ages and deciding whether to keep them or donate them. Some decisions were easy. Others were deferred until after the summer, knowing that I am weird with clothes, and something I ignore for years becomes the favorite item a few years later.

Korppuus!

The rain inspired kitchen activity. As a broccoli, cheese, mushroom quiche baked in the oven, I scrolled Facebook, where I saw a recipe for korppuus, a Finnish toasted bread thing that I love. I’ve bought it several times, but didn’t know how easy it is to make until today. It uses leftover bread, which I have a ton of, due to my hoarding of bread bits for a chocolate bread pudding recipe which I've thought I’d make, but never have the heavy cream to actually do. 

While the quiche baked at 350 degrees, I sliced some thin bagel slices and pulled out some bread ends from the freezer. These were buttered and topped with cinnamon sugar. Then they were baked at 300 degrees until the bottoms were browned. After that, the oven is turned off and they stay there for “several hours.” I chose three hours as the mark for “several.” It’s so good! I ate way too much korppuus.

After the donation gathering, quiche baking, and korppuus making, activity skidded to a halt. Like the day's rain, I have two speeds – On and Off – and the timer timed out for On around 1:30. After that, it was Netflix, Woodoku, Facebook, and the first sighting of the groundhog emerging from under the shed. 

The groundhog from under the shed.

The shed is disintegrating, and one of the things that dances through my head is wondering what the groundhog habitat looks like under the current shed, and if a shed replacement will disturb them. Then I wonder if I need a permit to replace a shed, and how many plantings will be destroyed in the process and how hard it is to relocate a lilac tree, and now we know why I’ve been thinking about this shed thing for a solid four years. So, yeah. It’s a miracle anything gets done at The BungaLowell.

random thoughts – Day 1,186 – (Friday) – nice one

Berries in a tree.

Much of the week went by slowly, but not in the punishing way when time feels like it drags, or worse, stands still. It was a pleasant slowness. The days were unhurried. There was time to think about the work being done, instead of just rushing from task to task, and deadline to deadline. A conversation in a team meeting led to an idea and there was time to research it and flesh it out. It was amazing. And for much of the week, I forgot it is the Juneteenth federal holiday on Monday and a long weekend. Bonus! If only all the weeks could feel like this.

The weather was nice, somewhat cloudy, warm, but not too warm, and an afternoon walk was taken downtown. In the Victorian Garden, red and purple berries are growing in a tree. The vines that grow along the fence and wind through the rose bush at home, spiraled up the wrought iron fence rails at the park. People sat on benches enjoying the nice weather. A group of art students was drawing in the brick courtyard between some converted mill buildings. 

After work, people dined at the sidewalk seating at the Mexican restaurant. People were enjoying the weather, perhaps aware that the weekend weather forecast is not nearly as nice.

Supper on the deck.

Supper was enjoyed on the deck. Finally. The umbrella isn’t set up yet, and the cloud cover made for comfortable conditions. When the sun is unobstructed by cloud cover, it shines full blast on the deck in the late afternoon and into the evening and can be a bit intense. The neighborhood was quiet, free of the rumble of motorcycles and dramatic yelling. The BungaLowell was slightly less quiet, with Winston barking on the deck to go inside, then barking from inside because I was still outside. Silly doggy.

random thoughts – Day 1,185 – (Thursday) – neighborhood theater

During the repair.

The kitchen window is whole again. Neither the window repair guy nor I have a clue what caused the mysterious hole, but at least it’s fixed. 

He even took a couple minutes to check out the freshly broken handle on the deck slider. I have a part number and place to order it from, but I didn’t realize the handle had a key lock on the outside when we looked up the part. I clearly never paid much attention to the outside handle, and there was no key for it with the house. It took nearly seven years to notice this little factoid. 

The evening was nice and breezy and the porch windows and handle-free slider door were wrestled open. Those stupid slider clip things on the bottom of the porch windows are hard to slide and usually require the assistance of tools to operate and raise the window. Today’s tool helper was a prong from the three-pronged garden tool thingy.

As I fought to open the windows, a guy in jeans and a snug white tee shirt with Calvin Klein emblazoned across the chest sat on the front steps of the house across the street. He was reading or texting or playing a game or whatever phone activity is quiet and involves looking at the screen. The downstairs guy was vacuuming and cleaning a car and the upstairs guy was wandering around the driveway and yard. I noticed Calvin Klein guy earlier while letting Winston outside. From across the street, Calvin Klein guy looked kind of handsome and it occurred to me for a nanosecond that I should text upstairs guy for details. Big surprise, I didn’t. I’m not bold like that.

The calm of the porch.

While I read on the calm and breezy porch, suddenly, a lot of yelling erupted outside. Apparently, there was another community theater performance debuting across the street. There was, “Dude, you fu**ng bi*ch,” and “Dude, you’re just a fu**ing drug addict” and “Dude, I put a baby in you and now you f**k me like this.” There were multiple rounds of this limited dialogue, plus something about a car registration. 

Of course, I looked out the window. I enjoy live theater, and I didn’t even have to move from my seat where I was reading. Calvin Klein shirt was pacing and yelling into his phone. Apparently, he was the guest star in the latest Neighborhood Theater production, known for loud delivery of limited scripting. 

The homeowner adopted a voice that sounded amazingly calm, like a therapist would speak, and the total opposite of his yelling at his wife voice. He told his friend, “Man, it’s not worth it” and “don’t go over there, you know they’ll call the cops on you.” There was also something about trailer trash.

Calvin Klein yelling man calmed down. A few pages of my book later, he got into his car, executed a precise three point turn in front of my house, and drove away. I hope there is a sequel. I’m dying to know if Calvin Klein shirt went to see the trailer trash baby momma who did him wrong.

random thoughts – Day 1,184 – (Wednesday) – air walk

While at the MRT Gala on Friday, a colleague from finance and I had a conversation about books, summer reading, and how we haven’t exercised or even walked in ages. The walking has been another casualty of the pandemic.

This morning, on my way to my office on the fourth floor, I stopped on the third floor to drop off two books I told her about from book club. We decided to take a walk at lunchtime.

I arrived on the fourth floor, clad in an elbow length sleeve tee shirt, silk sweater, and cotton jacket, strategically selected with last week’s extra chilly air flow in mind. The elevator door opened and I entered a cocoon of warm air. Ugh.

The new sculpture.

Taking the walk felt nice. It was good to be moving, great to have company, and it was cooler with a light breeze outside. We saw the new bamboo sculpture of an owl that was recently installed on the riverwalk footbridge over the Concord River. 

A recent story about the sculpture said it is titled "The Night Watchwoman" and noted it “is  an ode to the mill girls of Lowell and the women who watched over them. The owl figure blends the watchwomen’s caretaker duties with the important role that barn owls played in the ecology of the old mills.” Cool.

An A/C repair person had been onsite Tuesday, and was due back today. The temperature hit 85 degrees in the office by early afternoon which was hot, even for me. That rarely happens. Being too warm, I mean. A couple people went downstairs to open desks on the third floor.

Sometime after 3:00, cool air could be felt and the temperature began to drop. It dropped ten degrees in an hour and was much more comfortable. When it hit 75, I had to put my sweater back on. It’s all good.

random thoughts – Day 1,183 – (Tuesday) – homefront

There hasn’t yet been a sighting of the groundhogs emerging from under the shed, and I wondered if they relocated. The grass at the usual access points, unreachable by the mower, is tall and undisturbed. That made it extra surprising today when I checked for the mail and a large groundhog was standing at the bottom of the front stairs sniffing. It looked large and bulky, but the critter squeezed under the space between the gate and the asphalt. It waddle bolted across the shared driveway, climbed up the wall curving around the neighbor’s front yard, and scampered through their garden. It’s amazing how fast they can run. 

This likely explains why Winston has been spending so much time sniffing the front steps the past couple weeks. And now there is a new critter to check for when letting him out. There already were the various cats, skunk, bunnies, and now groundhog.

After work, there was a trip downtown for the annual meeting of The Brush. There were two police vehicles and four police officers on the sidewalk on Merrimack Street outside the library. It seemed odd.

After parking the car and while walking the couple blocks to The Brush, three boys, probably around 12, were ranting to three grown men sitting on a park bench outside the Victorian Park on Shattuck Street. I heard “take my bicycle” in the garbled yelling. At the end of the block, at the park with the fountain, several police officers were on the sidewalk, and a van and patrol car were parked on the corner. A police officer yelled, “Who else wants their bike taken today?” and kids were scrambling and scattering.

Winnie on the couch.

The kids on bikes have been a dangerous hot mess. These kids tonight are younger than the ones that drive through traffic doing wheelies and terrorizing drivers and the even older riders of the dirt bikes that take over the streets. As I crossed Market Street, an officer loaded a bicycle into the back of the van.

After the meeting, all was quiet in the downtown streets, and it was the usual quiet, solitary night at home with the front door and the deck slider opened for the breezes. Winston napped and begged for cookies and is back to his usual behavior. He still seems like he’s forgotten where the furniture has been for the past almost seven years, but overall, it’s a big relief. 

With the house cooled down from the evening air, the slider was pushed closed. To close it tight requires a little pull. It was during the final pull when the door handle came loose. And I promise you, I am not strong enough to rip off a door handle. It’s a miracle I don’t pull a muscle brushing my teeth.  

What fun! The mysteriously broken kitchen window isn't repaired yet (but it's scheduled), and now there is a broken door latch to deal with. It feels like The BungaLowell is confidently marching back into Whiskey Tango Foxtrot territory.

random thoughts – Day 1,182 – (Monday) – karjalanpiirakat

The last night of Finnish language class had a super fun bonus lesson. We baked karjalanpiirakat (Karelian pasties). These are a traditional pastie from the region of Karelia that are eaten throughout Finland and the adjacent areas of Estonia and Russian Karelia. 

Karjalanpiirakat in process.

I have had the ingredients at home since the early remote days when I bought a Finnish cookbook and Amazon still had Pantry, their grocery dry goods division, and I found the rye flour there. For some reason, I imagined they were hard to make, and the cookbook doesn't have pictures, so I didn't even know what they are supposed to look like. 

We mixed the dry ingredients – rye flour, all purpose flour, and salt, mixed it with water, added oil, and mixed until it was the right consistency (like Play-doh). Then we made small balls which were rolled thin and stuffed with rice porridge. The edges were crimped, and they went into the oven. At 550 degrees, they take about 10 minutes. 

Once out of the oven, they were brushed with melted butter. This is done if they are going to be eaten soon, and skipped if they will be frozen. Our teacher told us they are often topped with egg butter (a mixture of hard boiled egg and melted butter), brie, or ham (or a combination). They can also be stuffed with mashed potato or turnip instead of rice.

Finished product!

It took less than an hour for the mixing, rolling, stuffing, crimping and getting them into the oven. Then we were at the table reviewing our homework. For the past two weeks, out of our class of seven, only two of us have been in class. The bright side is we had semi-private lessons for two weeks, and tonight, when we made the karjalanpiirakat, there were more for each of us to take home. 

And just like that, this class session was done, and we were walking out the door with containers full of delicious karjalanpiirakat. And the hands-on kitchen experience to make them. 

random thoughts – Day 1,181 – (Sunday) – high alert

Winston went to the pet sitter Saturday and overnight, and came back today a changed pup, but not necessarily in a good way. More like a haunted way. There was a lot of activity at the sitter’s house with several other dogs running about, and Win was in a crate when I arrived to pick him up. They knew from watching him for a week in March that he needs his own space to retreat and chill, especially if things are hectic.

He whimpered and yowled when he was taken from the safety of the crate and carried to me in the kitchen. The sitter said he had seemed to be in pain, then added that she thinks he might be approaching “his time.” This is the nice way people phrase it when they are telling you they think your dog is probably going to die soon.

He whimpered when I put him into his bed on the backseat floor of the car. At home, his legs trembled and he seemed unsteady. He began chugging water, draining his bowl and then vomiting the water on the kitchen floor I washed earlier in the morning.

Chilling under the table.

Usually Win likes to lay his bed in the living room or on the couch, but today, he sprawled out on the mat in front the of back door, the mat on the bathroom floor, and under the dining room table. Generally, a good communicator when he wants to go outside, instead of scratching the door, this afternoon he just paused and peed on the dining room rug. 

The most unusual behavior was not wanting his cookies, which he usually begs for all day, every day. There has been an ongoing boycott of the prescription food, but tonight, he even ignored the chopped chicken. He finally ate a small amount of the chicken later and I was able to give him his insulin.

The household will now be on high alert status until further notice. Actually, this won’t be much different than most days where Win is concerned. Maybe it's just doggy PTSD from a hectic stay at the sitter. Maybe this is just a big lie I am telling myself. 

random thoughts – Day 1,180 – (Saturday) – reunion

Winston went to the sitter at 10:00 this morning for an overnight visit. That left the day free for reunion set up and the reunion itself and eliminated worrying about him having his dinner and insulin late and rushing back to take care of him.

Setting up!

The day had a little of everything. During setup, it was breezy/windy as games were set out on the lawn, balloons were inflated and tables were set with centerpieces, bottled water was loaded into the refrigerators, and coolers were set up with bottled water and ice.

On my trek down the dirt driveway to the registration tent to bring a bottle of water to a classmate, raindrops began to splat down, and shortly after I arrived there, it began to pour. Three of us huddled under the small canopy where rain blew at us sideways until we got smart enough to get into the car we standing behind. Duh. It might take a minute, but we get there.

When the rain stopped, the sun came out and it was hot. The rain seemed to have chased the wind away. I stayed at registration to help but after dropping an envelope of name tags under a car and then dropping a handful of loose tags on the ground, it was feeling more like a comedy skit than actual help. It was fun at registration, getting to see everyone as they arrived. There have been some reunions there I never managed to see some people at all. 

Throughout the day, the weather did the crazy thing it has been doing all week. In a six hour span we had wind, rain, sun, heat, clouds, another rain, another clearing, chilliness, a third rain where the sun was also shining, and a rainbow. Whew! We’re a resilient lot and all hung in under the shelter of the pavilion. The infamous blizzard of ’78 must have toughened us up. Unfortunately, the campfire that was built before the first rain shower suffered the effects of the three showers and there was no amount of Class of ’78 resilience that could fix that. So much for the toasted marshmallows plan.

It was a fun day, with around 55 of us gathered and reconnecting. Some of us hadn’t seen each other since graduation day, which was exactly 45 years ago. It makes us sound so old to say it. Vague words like “ages ago” and “forever ago” gloss over the hard reality and feel more palatable. All of us look great, so it’s easier to deny the digits. 

Reunited!

After the cleanup a few of us went to The Cellar in downtown Fitchburg. While there, I saw a colleague from my first banking job right after college. Her daughter’s band was performing there, and she and I had a nice chat about the old times at the bank and what some of our former coworkers are up to.

The day was full of connections and memories, hugs, laughter, and even a few tears. My heart is full.

random thoughts – Day 1,179 – (Friday) – clouds and fun

This day had a lot going on.

During the afternoon, there was more dumping of yard waste and dirt over the embankment to Beaver Brook. This time, the perpetrator was a woman and her helper from three or four houses up the street. They were doing some heavy gardening and digging, and a mini convoy of a wheelbarrow and a wagon loaded with dirt, roots, and wood chunks were rolled multiple times to the end of the street, pushed and pulled and heaved up the embankment, and dumped out. I probably wouldn’t have noticed if not for the noise of the wheels on the asphalt and the chatter. I’m not even sure why the dumping behavior bothers me so much, but it does. Maybe it’s building the embankment higher and serving as improved flood control and I should be thankful.

The clouds got dark. 

Around 4:00, the clouds gathered and it got darker and darker until they were a charcoal gray. The house was so dark I had to put the light on the office. The clouds moved overhead quickly and the sky brightened and I thought it was done, but that was false hope. Thunder began to rumble and the great power washer in the sky opened up full blast around 4:30.

Within about 15 minutes, the street in front of The BungaLowell and the driveways on each side were under a couple inches of water. It was alarming. A cluster of helicopter thingies from the trees swirled over the storm drain. By 5:30, the storm drain had caught up to the flow and much of the water had receded.

This was good news because I was headed out to the Merrimack Repertory Theater gala that began at 6:00. I was a last-minute seat replacement for the bank’s sponsorship table. I didn’t even know much about the event beyond the time, location, and seeing “Elton John” mentioned somewhere which seemed to call for a bit of glam. After trying on two pairs of dressy pants, at least five camis, and four jackets, the black sequin baseball jacket was chosen. The blue sequin tux, the pink and gold metallic tux, and the jade bolero were returned to the closet. I didn’t want to overdo it.

Ha! There was no “overdoing it.” Apparently there had been some magical memo or a dress guideline floating around that people near me in the check-in line were talking about and that I didn’t know about. Several people took the glitz suggestion to heart and arrived in feather epaulets, gigantic rhinestone glasses, and every manner of shine, glitz, lame, and sequins including loafers, hats, and head-to-toe suits. It was dazzling. I didn’t need to hold back after all. Imagine what I could have done had I known.

I fell in love with one woman’s silver sequin flare pants with a thigh-length wrap tunic. They were the toned down brushed sequins, not the super shiny ones, and the drape of the fabric was beautiful. It was quite stunning. Of course, now I want a sequin pantsuit. Maybe two. ‘Cuz you never know when you might need one in a hurry. Or maybe that’s just me.

The piano was ready for
the songs of Elton John.

There was dinner and a bar, a performance from the Elton John show, auctions led by a magician who was very funny, then an encore, and dessert. It was fun to spend time with bank colleagues and a room full of people in fancy clothes and hear some songs. Overall, a great night.

random thoughts – Day 1,178 – (Thursday) – mysteries

Animal fur on the driveway.

Nature's mysteries continue. The local flora is exploding with color and life but the fauna is the subject of some wonderment.

This morning’s puzzlement was the appearance of around a dozen tufts of fluffy reddish-brownish gray and white animal fur in the driveway. Just clusters of fur that almost blended in with the asphalt. 

Of course I squatted down for a closer look. Me dressed for work and studying pollen-covered puddles and things on the ground can't be any weirder than trash collectors peeing on the street. The fur bits are on par with the unexplained hole in the kitchen window. 

Is it the season for bunnies to shed the winter coats? Was there a scuffle? Has the front yard bunny been snatched from above? We’ll likely never know. Same for the cause of hole in the window, which even stumped the repair guy who came to take measurements. What isn't a mystery is the price tag. It's going to cost $304 to fix the window. 

The clouds are fun to watch.

The small brown birds that were so busy in the nest on the drainpipe a couple weeks ago have gone scarce. The daily activity and renovations to the nest seem to have ceased. No more feathers flutter atop the nest like a lady’s old timey hat. Another mystery.

The weather was moody again. Cloudy and sprinkly in the morning. Sunny and cloudy during the day. Dark clouds rolled in late afternoon, and around five o’clock, just in time to leave work, raindrops could be heard splattering on the office roof and skylights. The view from the office window is always interesting. 

A new puzzle was started this week.

Luckily, the small umbrella was back in the work bag where it belonged and was available when needed today. It ended up not being needed, because I played the “I’ll just stay a few minutes and work on the latest office puzzle and see if the rain stops” game. 

After 30 minutes and the handling (but not necessarily the placement) of countless puzzle pieces, the rain stopped. The walk to the garage was precipitation free. Sometimes things fit and work out just right.