September 12, 2021
September 11, 2021
Honestly, I’m feeling pretty unenthused about the weekend. (My computer says that’s not a word and suggests changing it to enthused. I’m working on it computer, I’m working on it.)
There’s a used book sale at the library over by Eastern Market, so maybe I’ll wander across town. It’s supposed to be a nice weekend weatherwise, so hopping on the bike would probably be a good thing. Plus, then I could bike by Fiesta D.C., the Latinx festival and see how crowded it is.
There’s a new book sale at one of our local indies, so Rudi and I may head up there tomorrow evening after he returns from his bike ride.
If nothing else, I can immerse myself in some books, and that never is a bad plan for a weekend. And my shawl is back to mosaic sections, so maybe I can move it along. I’d love to get it off the needles some day.
Sunday, there’s the farmers market, which last week felt super packed, so I should probably start getting up earlier to avoid the crowds. And it’s Adams Morgan Day, which is D.C.’s oldest neighborhood festival. Again, not loving the idea of crowds, but I think they’re working on taking better advantage of the parks.
This weekend is Subway Series part 2, so maybe I’ll stream some baseball. The Mets won the first game, which makes me happy.
And I should spend some time at the garden. My beans have not been the success I’d been hoping for, with the yardlong beans and my burgundy filets not really materializing. I have some pods on the lima beans, but they were awfully flat still last weekend. Fingers crossed they’ve filled out this week. It’s a good time to plant late fall crops, like lettuces, so I’ll dig into the bags and find my seed packets. After all, nothing’s more hopeful than a garden.
September 10, 2021
Three beautiful things from my past week:
1. We’ve been able to return to indoor volleyball finally. I have missed my volleyball sneakers, which got less than six months of games before the world shut down. (I could wear them for grass court volleyball, but opt not to in order to keep them nice for as long as possible.) Also, the new permutation of the team seems nice, and I’m not saying that just because they opted to keep me as captain.
2. I got to spend the last hours the outdoor pools were open to the public for the year floating in the deep end. In contrast to the penultimate day, a cool afternoon that threatened to drip, Monday was sunny and warm, and the pool was packed with everyone who hadn’t left town for the long weekend.
3. D.C. is full of triangle parks, caused by intersections between our streets on a grid and state-named streets, which are at a diagonal. They’re clever reclamations of “wasted” space, sometimes holding statues, like the ones near my house, dog parks, or tables and chairs, like the one by the pizzeria, where I took my to-go supper after the staff told me they’d already closed the patio.
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
September 9, 2021
About to return to the mosaic knitting, just as we’re about to head back to school with Jerry Craft’s Class Act, a second look into the microaggressions a Black kid has to go through at a prep school in New York City.
September 8, 2021
Grey Kitten and I were talking tonight and I said this song ruined the community pool for me this summer. Not once did anyone break into a song and dance number while I was there, let alone one written by Lin-Manuel Miranda for his hit musical, In the Heights.
September 7, 2021
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share ten books guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I am a sucker for a happy ending, so here goes:
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Epic post-war love story. The movie isn’t as good as the book. Does one even need to say that?)
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (Are you a hard-hearted jerk? No? Then this will make you smile.)
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (I bought, but haven’t yet read, her sophomore novel because I so loved her debut.)
- Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks (Combine a love of fall foods, farm life, and friends falling in love in this adorable graphic novel.)
- Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz (I mean, it’s in the name.)
- Bandette by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover (Who doesn’t love a Hepburnesque Parisian cat burglar/righter of wrongs who loves chocolate bars?)
- A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle (If you can read this without laughing, you may need to get your funny bone looked at.)
- The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (The movie is almost as good as the book, but not quite.)
- The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart (You’re going to bawl before you get to the smiles, though.)
- Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White (I’ve said it before: anything that has me cackling on an airplane is a winner in my opinion.)
How about you? Are there books you’ve read that you’d prescribe for someone feeling down?