Better Living Through Literature
Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
I was going to say that this was the first “back to normal” weekend in three weeks (first there was Doc’s birthday, then Christmas, then New Year’s/my birthday) but we did some non-routine things: a trip to the Food Bank to volunteer with my nephew, a concert at the symphony, and inventory for Doc (which meant an evening of sewing for me. Toby helped).
There was rain in the valley on Friday, which was snow in the mountains. But the clouds cleared for the weekend and we had brilliant blue skies and cold sun–and a transformed canyon to hike in.
I took today and tomorrow off to keep a friend company post-surgery, avoid Halloween madness at work, have some sewing time, and get some fall cleaning done. (As you can tell by Doc’s note, he is very excited to help with cleaning. Toby was very excited to impede the sewing time.) So far, so good–the weather has stayed near 60 degrees and sunny for most of October. No complaints here.
It rained all weekend with highs in the 40s–which meant the mountains got that rain as snow. We were not ready to break out the winter hiking gear, so we went to IKEA instead. (I’m reorganizing the “studio.” I have some help.)
The trees up at elevation were just starting to turn two weeks ago–this past weekend should have been peak color time but I guess we’ve just skipped straight to winter.
Toby doesn’t mind, though. I put the pet bed heater back in his bed over the weekend and he barely left it.
1. I’ve been trying to work remotely more and realize my goal of being a stay-at-home pet mom. Right now I’m only at home one day every other week (baby steps) and Toby just doesn’t remember what to do at those intervals. Yesterday he needed his blankie brought into the office before he could fall asleep…with his little head on the pillow:
2. Speaking of gatos, Oliver keeps acting like he wants to be a tame cat, but we still can’t touch him. Maybe it’s time to break out the tuna?
3. For your Friday reading, a charming essay about embracing the inevitability of change in relationships.
I’m still poorly over here but we have Doctor T. Gato on the case. I think he thinks that touching my head will make me stop blowing my nose.
Fresh berries vs. jam, tame cats vs. wild cats, overwhelming heat and dust vs. a stream of snowmelt so cold it makes your feet numb in two minutes. July is a time for extremes, I guess.
We washed window, read on the deck and visited families for Fathers Day, while the furrier among us stretched out under the ceiling fan and lounged under the deck chair just out of reach.
Pink kitty blankets, pink rhubarb jam, pink skies ahead…and some green herbs potted up.