random thoughts – Day 1,788 – (Friday) – baked and good

We had a photo shoot today with people scheduled every ten minutes over about 4.5 hours of active photography time. There was a 30-minute lunch break included in the schedule because I’m neither completely evil nor trying to kill the photographer. Some photo subjects showed up a little late, others arrived early, one was a no-call, no show, and somehow it still all went smoothly. Afterwards, the photographer told me that I “run a tight ship,” which feels like a skill that I should probably add to my LinkedIn profile.

After the photos were done, there was time to visit the newly opened PizzElle Bakery on Market Street. That makes three shops with baked goods downtown very close to the bank.

Little Delights has macarons, cupcakes, cake pops, cookies, gelato, breakfast sandwiches, and a variety of trendy drinks. Purple Carrot Bread Company has bread and pastries, plus café foods. The newcomer, PizzElle, has breakfast pastries, tarts, bread, pies, and cookies (including pizzelles). Add to the mix the coffee shops with muffins and bread products, and the downtown carbohydrate scene is rocking.

On Wednesday, a colleague had bought eclairs and slices of chocolate torte from PizzElle, which were both delicious. Today, another colleague went there and returned with gingersnaps, chocolate chip, oatmeal, and pizzelle cookies, and buttery baked squares. I wondered what else they had, and after the photos were done, there was a chance for my own visit to PizzElle.

Jars of cookies all in a row.

Cookies were displayed in a lineup of glass jars. A display case held small tarts and large tarts and treats. A hutch held chocolates and homemade marshmallows by Sweet Lydia’s. It was all very tempting, but I ended up captivated by a rye bread and a lemon square. The rye is not as dark as pumpernickel and not as light as light rye.

Cheese on rye.

The siren call of the not dark, not light, medium brown fresh baked rye bread meant that supper was assorted sliced cheeses from the most recent cheese ends acquisition on two slices of the bread with a schmear of mayonnaise and spicy brown mustard. Easy. Quick. Delicious. It was followed by the lemon square, because how could it not be?

Overall, it was quite an accomplished day. Many photos taken. Many treats enjoyed. And fresh rye bread to go with the soup I plan to make this weekend (assuming I don't eat it all tonight).

random thoughts – Day 1,787 – (Thursday) – snow season

Sleep has been a bit fretful lately, with several wake-ups during the night. Some of it is stress, but twice in the past several nights there has been a 2:30 a.m. awakening caused by a gawdawful noise outside. There is a sound like two dogs yelping, and at the same time, another sound like a long howl. The noise lasted just long enough to become unnerving, then suddenly stopped. 

Thursday night quiet.

In bed, now wide awake, I wondered what animals were causing the noise and why. Later, I wished I had tried to record it. Many more thoughts happened before I fell asleep again, and when it was time to get up, I was tired.

At 7:00 this morning it was cloudy and gray. At 8:20, lacy, delicate snowflakes fluttered in the air, and by 9:00, it was a steady and intentional flow of tiny flakes that meant business.

At 10:30, the front stairs were swept clear and the walk shoveled for the first time. Less than an hour later, they were covered again and looked untouched. There were sporadic breaks to look out various windows to monitor the state of the world outside.

At noon, at the suggestion of one of the local weather sites, I went back outside to clear off the car before the expected change to freezing rain. There were four brief snow clearing breaks throughout the day, which I thought of as “recess” just like in the elementary school days when we went outside for some air and activity. 

Veggie soup for a snowy day.

Being a snowy day, there was soup on the brain. Luckily, there was also a quart of cabbage, carrot, broccoli soup in the freezer. It was heated in a saucepan and embellished with mixed frozen vegetables, because I like my soup to be full of stuff, like the old Campbell's Chunky soup commercials that declare it is “a soup that eats like a meal.” One bowl turned into two and then there was none left. It’s okay, because I can and will make more, possibly as soon as Saturday.

By mid-afternoon, plows of various sizes had made several passes up and down the street, followed by a salt truck. A neighbor was clearing the driveway next door with a small but very loud snow blower. As predicted, the car was soon encased in a light coating of ice. that will be dealt with in the morning thanks to the magic of remote start and an ice scraper.

The weekend forecast includes more snow for late Saturday into Sunday afternoon. After a slow start, this is turning into a proper snowy season.

random thoughts – Day 1,786 – (Wednesday) – twisted and thrashing

There was some wind this morning and earlier this week and for many of the weeks previous. Cleansing winds of change? Dark winds of destruction? Depends on who you ask.

Twisted and thrashing.

The flag at the old Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank building across the street from the garage was suffering the effects of the wind. Instead of being anchored at the top and bottom corners and displaying its stars and stripes against the blue sky, Old Glory was twisted and thrashing in the wind, fighting with itself, and desperately hanging on. 

The symbol of American democracy seemed to be performing a one-flag enactment of recent national sentiments.

Back at the garage after work, the flagpole stood empty. Either someone rescued the damaged flag from the wind and cold atop the former flagship location of the bank (doubtful, but possible), or it was gone with the wind (more likely).

random thoughts – Day 1,785 – (Tuesday) – cycles

The cycle of snow, light melting, and refreezing continues. Sometimes the asphalt is cleared and it dries and it’s fine, and other times it stays wet and refreezes into a barely visible, slick, neck-breaking situation. Today, while checking to see if the trash pickup missed yesterday had occurred yet (nope) and checking the mailbox (empty), I saw that the side driveway was mostly dry and the front walk and stairs that were cleared and salted on Monday had refrozen. Sort of.

Skim coat of ice over mucky water.

It turned out to be a skim coat of ice on top of an inch of mucky water that had collected in front of the steps. Shoveling water was added to the outdoor workout plan. The thin ice started crackling as soon as I tossed ice melt pellets on it, which was an interesting sound. Then I stepped on it to break it up because I like to stomp ice. I wish there had been more time to study (play in)  and photograph the lightly icy puddle, but I needed to get back to my desk.

Time played tricks today. I looked at the kitchen wall clock and thought it said 3:00, which was surprising and wonderful. After I blinked and looked again, and saw it was only 12:15, which was depressing. It took forever before it was really 3:00.

Somehow suddenly, it was 5:00 and I was dashing around the house to change clothes and get out the door to dance group. While driving, I noticed that the trash barrels were all still present and waiting for pickup on most of the street. It looks like the trash on one side of half the street was picked up. I’m sure there is a mechanism to report it, and maybe I’ll look it up. It would be nice if it got picked up on Wednesday, because there is snow in the forecast for Thursday, and the snowfall, plowing, shoveling cycle will begin again.

random thoughts – Day 1,784 – (Monday) – snow and annoyances

Fresh snow.

Winter is happening this year, in small measurable doses of plowable snow, which is probably better than the avalanche we’ve received some years. There was another snow shoveling workout to relocate the light fluffy stuff atop some ice chunk remnants from recent days. It was pretty easy and probably burned zero calories. I didn't even break a sweat, but it felt nice to be outside for a few minutes.

While shoveling, there were thoughts of the gym membership I used to have which expired in July and wasn’t renewed. I even imagined sitting in the massage chair for ten glorious minutes after walking on the treadmill or doing the 30-minute circuit, which is how I usually tricked myself to go. It’s about the 1,000th time the gym membership been thought about, and the 1,000th time I didn’t go and get a new membership. Maybe later this week (thought for the 1,000th time). (Over)thinking about it is probably the first step.

The tax return, begun last week because I like to get it done and over with early, is log jammed thanks to a delay in a dividend statement due from the organization that the account platform was moved to in the fall. The form that is usually sent out on January 31 will now be issued in March. What in the actual h-e-double-hockey-sticks? I am 100% not impressed with this new platform and 100% annoyed at the delay. Among other things.

There is also a corrected form needed from another institution that took dormant account fees out of an old Health Savings Account from when I lived in Tennessee. The account has been nothing but a headache. This year’s issue is a form showing a distribution amount from the account, but it was really dormant account charges that were reversed.  I’ve called the bank three times to try and get a corrected form and still haven’t reached anyone who has a clue. It’s less urgent now that the whole filing is delayed due to another form. Apparently, ‘tis the season for annoyances. 

Swordfish, pasta, and veggies.

At least supper wasn’t annoying. Chopping, cooking, and eating took my mind off the tax filing delay annoyances, at least temporarily. Sword fish chunks were sautéed in butter with lemon pepper seasoning. There was pasta with onions, broccoli, and carrots on the side, and it hit the spot. Mom used to broil swordfish steaks topped with butter when I was a kid and I loved it. I don't even know if my stove has a broiler, so I stick with a skillet and my favorite stovetop burner (right front).

random thoughts – Day 1,783 – (Sunday) – sunday shakeup

There was no dance group scheduled today, and initially, the plan was to do nothing. A luxurious day of lounging about, like a Saturday v.2 was the loose plan, until an invitation arrived for a coffee meetup at Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to shake things up.

Overhead at the MFA.

The driveway, cleared of snow on Saturday, was slick with ice this morning, but the roads were clear and dry. The traffic was semi-annoying, especially when I let a Ride Share bus into the lane ahead of me, and it stopped in the middle of the street a block later. After a few seconds, a smartly dressed older lady with a cane emerged from a building, slowly walked down the stairs and across the sidewalk, and stood near the bus waiting for the door to open. It didn’t. 

After a while that felt like forever, the driver climbed out of the bus, walked around the back and opened the door from the outside to let the lady in. By this time, cars were piled up behind us, snaking around the corner, and drivers were tooting their horns. I cursed my random act of kindness a block earlier, because I would have been ahead of the bus and wouldn’t be sitting behind it grumbling.

Hanging out at the MFA.

When finally extricated from the time-consuming traffic cluster, I parked the car in the pricey garage across the street from the museum, and speed-walked to the museum entrance. My friend was sitting on a wall waiting. We had a nice chat over coffee, then my friend needed to dash out at noon for another commitment. 

I wandered the museum alone for a bit and looked at some photography, then speed walked through a room of Egyptian stuff before throwing myself back into the traffic and heading home. I would have stayed longer, but I wasn’t prepared to take out a second mortgage on the house to liberate the car from the garage.

Driving in Boston delivered a reminder, not that I needed it. I like being in Boston, but I’m less keen on the part where I’m driving there. Future visits may include an advance study of nearby MBTA commuter stations and public transportation. In any event, it was a great shakeup to the original non-plan for the day and the usual routine.

On the way back to Lowell, Waze navigated me through Tewksbury and I pulled in to Stadium Plaza to visit Market Basket, another stop on my MB World Tour. I was flying with a gift card and without a list or even an inkling of what the pantry is lacking. But now there is more pasta, rice, and cheese in the house. I can survive for another few weeks and will not starve.

random thoughts – Day 1,782 – (Saturday) – halfway

Depending on which source is consulted, February first (or second, or third) is the halfway point to spring. Kind of the hump day of the winter. In my mind, it is like the tallest peak on a roller coaster and now it’s just a thrill ride to the finish, in this case, spring.

Emails from seed and plant catalogues arrive all year long, and I look at them all year long, even though I don’t buy anything. In winter, I look at the growth along the fence line that wasn’t trimmed and is thought of of as my “winter garden” which makes it feel more deliberate. It’s really just the fallout from reading about leaving seeds for birds and ground cover for critters.

Winter garden.

The catalogues are an opportunity to wonder what might complement the tricky rose bush, the irises, and the day lilies, Wildflower gardens and walkways are imagined to replace the lawn, established as a status symbol in the 1700s and still in play today, for reasons I don’t understand.  But researching plants, ordering, getting them into the ground and keeping them alive feels like work, so it stops with the fantasy.

Snow arrived Friday night to mark the midpoint of winter and more flitted in the air today. Lines of small bird tracks crossed the backdoor landing and the driveway. A quick shoveling session cleared the heavy, wet snow from the driveway and stairs, which revealed the slick asphalt. The downspouts were frozen solid, and the heating system was plugged in to attempt to deal with it.

Bird tracks at the back door.

Beyond the shoveling and a load of laundry, not a lot else was done. Events including the monthly open studios at Western Ave Studios were considered and overruled. There was the potential for artistic inspiration, but there was also the potential temptation of spending money on art pieces that there is no space to display. There are already several drawers and shelves heaped with art in need of wall space. 

Even if every room in the house was hung salon style, it wouldn’t accommodate everything and would probably feel too busy and drive me nuts. Collecting (hoarding!) books, artworks, and art and craft supplies is real. It is also different than reading books, ordering from plant supply catalogues, and using said art and craft supplies.