random thoughts – Day 1,322 – (Monday) – replay

Last Monday was spent in glorious greater Las Vegas, Nevada. The countdown to the end of vacation was in full force and the day was spent sitting poolside under sunny skies, eating wedding dinner leftovers, loafing about the house (known in some circles as “relaxing”), and later, a visit with the recently met extended family. It was another event where we neglected to take photos. There were good byes as the newlyweds headed back to their own home with the car rented for their honeymoon trip, set to begin the next morning.

My niece’s in-laws are really nice and now that we’ve all met, we have more people to care for and worry about. Since meeting the expanded family, I’ve been paying attention to news of the Las Vegas Culinary Union workers strike which will affect them. Dang.

It all already feels like a million years ago instead of just last week. It’s not even that so many things happened since then, it just feels like time is different now. For the past few years, it usually feels faster, rarely slower, and mostly just different.

Waterlogged.

Today’s Lowell weather was significantly different than the Nevada weather of a week ago or even the Massachusetts weather of this past Saturday. Sadly, it wasn’t that different from much of the weather of this past summer and now fall. It was gray. It was raining. Puddles formed at the foot of the driveway and filled the flowerpot that used to hold an impatiens on the front step. The flowerpot has been waterlogged far too many times this summer and it's a miracle the flower lasted as long as it did.

Fortunately, the basement was spared puddles today and was thanked for the good work. Yes, I talk to the house. It seems to be a side effect of plentiful solitude. Sometimes I need to speak aloud to confirm to myself  that I still exist. 

The grayness made the house bedtime dark at 5:00 and lights were flipped on as I made my way to the living room for some low-key weeknight "living." Despite wearing a fleece and cozy socks, I felt cold. The darkness and the chill led to the second night of hot cocoa season, which launched last night. It was served with oyster crackers and was quite tasty, even if it was only instant hot cocoa. It feels like a dress rehearsal for winter. Or maybe a historical reenactment of last winter or the one before that. It all kind of feels the same.