random thoughts – Day 1,515 – (Sunday) – moms and stuff

There was another effort made to see the Aurora on Saturday night. It involved driving to a neighboring town to a golf club on a sort of a hill. By “sort of a hill,” I mean it’s a hill, but not like the death-defying hilly streets of Fitchburg that formed my perception of hills and elevation. 

The sky was mostly clear and stars could be seen. It wasn’t as dark up there as I imagined it might be, but the main building was still open and aglow with lights, the parking lot lights were on, and I wasn’t the only one with the idea to be there to look at the sky, so there was periodic traffic and headlights. 

After 45 minutes, I had a couple photos with only a barely perceptive hint of muddy green and I was getting cold so it was time to head home. I ended up staying up too late, which meant I overslept in the morning.

Cleaning off the ick.

Mother's Day dawned and I finally opened a card that had come in Friday's mail with a return address from Kiki (by way of my thoughtful cousin). The return address tipped me off to the potential contents, which is why I waited.

The Mother’s Day plan was for lunch at my sister’s house, located between my house and Mom’s. On the way, I stopped at the car wash to remove the disgusting crusty coating of pollen and use the vacuum to liberate the floor mats of the winter sand and grit. 

My sister always puts out a great lunch, and today it was buffalo wings, barbecue wings, chicken nuggets, and pulled pork. I brought a big bowl of tossed salad with lettuce, red cabbage, broccoli, mushrooms, cucumber, and grape tomatoes. We had strawberry shortcake, Mom's favorite dessert. 

There was a video call with my niece in Vegas. It felt like a lot less time had passed, but four, or maybe four and a half hours later, I was driving back home with a hosta plant and some food from my sister.

Hoping the mulch lasts longer
 than last year's.

The hosta was put into the ground. Grass was pulled. Mulch was put out. Just as I was finishing the yard work, it began to rain a bit. The timing was perfect. Now, it needs to just be a light rain. Last summer, right after I spread mulch, the monsoons began and it was all washed away. It felt like flushing money down the storm drain. Hopefully, the weather this summer will be less wet. 

There is still work to be done, because yardwork never ends. The fencing set around the rosebush last year to keep Winston from wandering into it and being injured by the thorns can come out. It's surprising it lasted through the winter, but it was mostly rain like the summer and autumn before it.