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Rain?

August 22, 2022 at 9:21 am by Claudia

We’re supposed to get rain today. We had a spritz overnight, but hardly any of the pavement got wet. “Heavy and torrential downpours at times.” PLEASE! When Don starts talking about how dry it has been and how sick of it he is, you know it’s bad.

It’s Monday and Don has left the house to report for jury duty. He may get sent back home today. It’s a little different than the last time I was called. He goes in today. If he’s sent back home, he goes in again tomorrow morning. I think he’d like to serve, so I’m hoping he gets on a trial.

Imogen in her new back-to-school shoes. Well, not just hers. As you know, the girls share clothes and shoes. Sometimes that involves a scuffle, but, for the most part, they’re pretty good about it.

Aren’t they wonderful? Look at the detail! Another pair from Cora Huang, who lives ‘next door’ to me in Connecticut.

I have no idea how any of the Blythe cobblers do such small and detailed work. Shoes are one of my favorite Blythe things. They’re also one of my favorite human things.

No coaching on the schedule today. I’ll work at least one day with Jane Eyre before I drive to Rochester on Saturday. And another with Jim. I’m just not sure when those days will be.

I’m awaiting the next installment of the Slough House series by Mick Herron. I finished London Rules, and was going to hold off before I ordered the next book. But I’m so addicted, I have to keep going. The next is Joe Country.

More on the Great Lakes – I took a trip with my grandparents when I was about 9, part of which consisted of driving north through the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula to Sault Ste. Marie, where we crossed into Canada, and proceeded to drive all the way around Lake Superior. Years later, we camped on the shores of Lake Superior and I swam in that famously cold lake. I’ve been to Lake Michigan several times – in Michigan and in Illinois. I’ve sailed on Lake Erie with my father – he kept his sailboat docked at a marina there. When my dad and mom retired, they sold our home and moved north to Rogers City, which is on the shores of Lake Huron. (They loved it there. So did I.) and I’ve been to Lake Ontario several times. And Niagara Falls, of course!

I won’t have time to do much of anything other than work this weekend. But I will sneak in a little visit to Lake Ontario before I head back home on Sunday.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Potpourri on Sunday

August 21, 2022 at 8:44 am by Claudia

• This is a wildflower/weed that is growing on the edge of the funky patio. It’s easily 4-5 feet tall. There are a few more in the memorial garden. It’s just started blooming and the flowers are a subtle pale brown. Aster family? I’m not sure. This year, I left a lot of what-is-this plants alone because I was curious about them. I’m glad I did because the wildflowers are hardy and seem to be withstanding the heat.

I haven’t done any research as to its name, but I like it.

• I hear fewer birds singing at this point in the summer and it always makes me sad. The past several mornings, however, I’ve heard the call of a mourning dove. My favorite bird. My favorite call. That is a lovely way to start the day.

• This morning, while sitting in the den, I heard a bird call that was so loud I actually thought it might be in the room with me. In actuality, it was right outside the open window but danged if I could see the bird. A completely different call than I’ve ever heard before. A mystery.

• Also, this morning while sitting in the den – I heard this loud whirring sound. I wondered if it was some sort of vehicle coming down the road from a long way off. As I turned around to look, there was a hummingbird hovering and looking in the window. That sound was the hummingbird’s wings. I still can’t believe how loud it was. Fortunately, it’s a quiet Sunday morning, so I was able to hear that whirr without any competition from traffic. Amazing.

• And finally, we have a cricket living somewhere in the office. Upstairs. How did it get there? I’ve tried to rescue him a few times, but I can never find him. At first, he was over by the window. Now he’s in the corner near my desk – an area that’s so full of ‘stuff’ that I’ll never find him.

Okay, my friends. Time for more coffee.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Lakes

August 20, 2022 at 8:54 am by Claudia

From the days before the coneflowers started dying a month earlier than normal because of no rain and relentless heat.

I get depressed every time I go outside.

Anyway, I’m tired today after a week of coaching, so I’m going to take it easy. Except for the usual: watering plants outside, watering plants inside, cleaning, laundry.

And working on the puzzle.

Maybe dressing a doll or two.

And finishing my book which should have been finished long ago. My attention is a bit scattered lately and it shows in the slow pace of my reading.

Next Saturday, I have to drive to Rochester – clear across the state of New York – for a run-through of Jane Eyre. And the following week, I’ll do it again. I don’t know if I’ll have much, if any time to explore Rochester, but it looks lovely. At the very least, I’ll drive to Lake Ontario to take a walk by the lake. I’m a Great Lakes girl, having grown up in Michigan. I’ve spent a lot of time by and on all of the Great Lakes and I miss them.

I miss lakes in general, having also grown up going to the cottage owned by my dad’s family. Eventually, the siblings sold their portions of the cottage and my beautiful Aunt Lettie (and Uncle Charlie) became the sole owner. I’ve got photos somewhere of my grandfather and his sons building the cottage, which, at the time, was either the only cottage on the lake or one of only a few cottages on the lake. Now the lake is overrun by increasingly bigger houses. I think I was last there about 20 years ago? Maybe longer. Summers at the lake are part of my DNA, I guess. At this time of year, especially, I yearn to sit on the dock listening to the water lap against the shore. If I have one regret, it’s that we somehow never managed to have the money to buy a small little cottage on a lake.

My cousin Eileen and me at the lake.

Me and our dog Friskie at the lake.

Don is, of course, an ocean guy. He grew up in San Diego. And I love the ocean, too. The few times he has taken a dip in a lake, he has been amazed at the ‘smoothness’ of the water compared to the saltiness of the ocean.

I know a feeling of peace is ephemeral. But I always feel that I’d be a bit more at peace if I was at a lake on a daily basis. I miss it terribly, more so the older I get.

Ah well.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

Rain?

Potpourri on Sunday

Lakes

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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