random thoughts – Day 1,279 – (Sunday) – dancing through

The weekend continued with more dance. First was the dress rehearsal Friday night, then the performance Saturday morning, and today was the beginning of the fall session of dance classes, which was able to start on time, thanks to Saturday's event not being pushed to the rain date of today. We began working on new choreography for a performance in October.

The flag of Finland at
 Saima Park.

Overall, dance felt good, with a few issues that needed to be danced through. There was a twinge in the lower back. A pain or two or ten in the lower leg. A balance issue here and there. Some numbness in an ankle and across the top of the foot, just like in the early days of the broken leg. Luckily, the new dance is for a Haunted Woods event and we are zombies (Dancing Ghouls!) so lurching around and twitching will only add to the spirit of the dance.

Immediately after dance it was off to Saima Park to meet Mom, StepDad, and my sister for a walk around the Nordic Market. I managed to resist the salmiakki (Finnish salted licorice) although sitting at home, I have no idea why. It’s not the sort of thing that is available everywhere and sure, I saved a few bucks, but now I also have no salmiakki. There were a lot of cool things I didn’t buy – some Finnish language books, holiday ornaments, linens, and coffee mugs I definitely don’t need but were cute. The usual.

The stream at Saima.

The Fitchburg State Orchestra played and sounded great. My sister and I recognized some songs from the Saturday morning cartoons of our youth. Cartoons may have done more to introduce classical music to kids than any school programs. My classmate from last fall’s Finnish language class was playing in the violin section and it was nice seeing her in action.

The sky was blue, the sun was blazing and it was a gorgeous day. The stream at Saima Park sparkled and gurgled under the footbridge. It was a picture perfect day at the Park. Yesterday’s winds from Hurricane Lee had died down, and there wasn’t enough breeze to unfurl the flag mounted on the building that houses the summer kitchen. 

On the way home, there was a stop at Kohl’s to return the two pairs of drapes. They didn’t quite look like their glamour shot profile photo posted on the popular matchmaking website that pairs items with shoppers. It was a rocky first date and now we’re officially done. It’s time to move on to different curtains. And maybe we’ll meet the old-fashioned way – in person. Though I doubt it. Just like the perfect love interest for people of a certain age, window dressings have become few and far between.

Having danced through the weekend, it was time to deal with the yard. Despite it being a dry day, the shaggy grass was damp closer to the ground like it has been all summer. It clumped underneath the mower and the rubber flap began to detach from the back of it. When clearing out the wet trimmings caked under the mower, the flap attachment was examined. It seems there is a little problem. It needs either a new way to be attached or it needs to come off. It's been filed under "deal with this later."