3rd House Journal

Wintry Mix

[Bowl of snow; 1/29/13]

January has been a mixed bag at best. Cold days interspersed with sunnier, warmer days made chilly by strong winds. Work has been slow, though I've made at least one promising new contact this month. Others have talked about upcoming work as well, but nothing moves forward but the days on the calendar. Meanwhile, I am keeping afloat on some smallish projects from my former employer and may wave a flag for more if they have it. 

[Unhappy lion; 1/29/13]

I know how this lion feels. The Leo bits of me (Ascendant and Moon) are cranky without sun and warmth. Not to mention more sound sleep than I've been getting. I broke down and ordered a small SAD light yesterday to combat the increasingly frequent rough patches that threaten to envelope me. Meanwhile, the days do grow a bit longer. Tomorrow is expected to be unseasonably warm, at least for a day, after today's "wintry mix" of snow and freezing rain.

[The dogs don't mind the cold, so long as they're playing]

I did manage to get out on Sunday morning to join a group walk in Boston. The wind chills were below zero, but I dressed warm and it was nice to get outside and to see people. The freelance life has its benefits, but feeling any sense of belonging is not one of them. The weather, of course, doesn't help - I missed another walk tonight because of the icy-wet roads and walkways. But, the sun will come out tomorrow... and the SAD light arrives on Thursday. With any luck, some checks owed me might arrive soon, too (sigh).

[Friends in the snow; 1/29/13]

Civic Duty

[November 6, 2012]

10:30am. Five-minute walk to the polling center. Sunny, but cold. Two waving campaign workers, two opposing signs. Elementary school gym. Old man in a wheelchair pushed by an aide. People who ducked out from jobs nearby. Two election workers at a folding table. My address, my name, my ballot. Black markers to fill in the circles. Short line to sign out. My address, my name, my ballot fed into the slot. A rush of joy.

Great Pumpkins

[Porch pumpkins with spider; 10/17/12]

Yesterday afternoon I took a walk in my old Belmont neighborhood, the neighborhood I lived in the first year I first moved here to the old apartment with its fabulous porch. I still miss that beautiful neighborhood (and the porch) although my current apartment is more serene and well-maintained by my landlords. It's only a mile and a half from the old neighborhood, alas all uphill so I don't make it over there on my walks very often. I had to run some errands, so I parked nearby and strolled the leafy streets for awhile, camera in hand, hunting more porch pumpkins.

[Contemporary porch pumpkin]

[Sweet scarecrow]

I remember when K and I looked at the apartment we ended up renting, our landlord told us about the "reservoir" park down the street from our apartment, and we expected a broad expanse of water only to find the park to be a huge mound with an underground water supply for the nearby city of Cambridge. It still turned out to be a nice place to walk, and I went there yesterday, finding a few people walking dogs or strolling with their ear-buds on around the track-like path that circles the reservoir. The oak trees (on Oak St) were just about at peak color.

[Oak St side of Payson Park, Belmont]

We've reportedly had a bumper crop of pumpkins in the state this year, with perfect growing weather. Besides pumpkins on nearly every porch (my upstairs neighbors put a whole seasonal display on our front porch, with large pumpkin, mums, reeds...), there is pumpkin-themed food on every menu around. Pumpkin raviolis. Pumpkin risotto. Pumpkin muffins, bread, cheesecake, etc. And of course pumkin ale. I find most pumpkin ales too overfilled with spices such that you can't taste the beer, so I was happy to find a local craft brew, Great Pumpkin Ale, from the Cambridge Bewing Co. that's just right. Subtle pumpkin flavor from local, organic sugar pumpkins and just a trace of spices. D and I enjoyed a large bottle of the ale recently and yesterday I bought a couple more at a specialty store in the old neighborhood. Looking forward to enjoying some this weekend.

Meanwhile, just drinking in the porch pumpkins...

[On Payson St, Belmont]

Summer Transition

[Fountain, Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston; 6/9/12]

While our spring was cooler than normal, the solstice ignited summer like a match to an open burner. My dashboard thermometer read 100°F on Wednesday afternoon and it wasn't much cooler at night. Although grateful for my air conditioning, I've found myself desperate to get out of the house and move, so I've taken a couple of brief slow walks in the neighborhood - late in the evening and early in the morning.

[Coneflowers, in the neighborhood; 6/22/12]

Most of the neighborhood flora is doing quite well in the heat, reveling in long day's sunshine and humid air. In fact, some vegetation seems to have taken over completely.

[Someone's privacy-enhanced front porch; 6/22/12]

Meanwhile, I've had some work to do, but mainly have spent time reading to brush up on my professional skills, exploring some marketing options, and thinking about the shape of this return to freelancing. All of which feels like spinning my wheels because I always feel like I've not done anything unless I have something to show. Research and just thinking about things always feels like evaporated time to me, however necessary it is to writing and creating something with form and structure. And freelance life in general, I'm beginning to remember, has a lot of formlessness to it unless you make your own structures. It also requires getting out and seeing people, because working alone from home does lose that everyday contact with coworkers, even when they're mostly silently working away beside you all day. Anyway, I'm still transitioning, but overall happily.

Under Wraps

[Bathtub saints, under wrap in Belmont; 11/6/11]

It's a wrap! is traditionally pronounced at the end of filming, even when it's only an industrial video, as I used to produce back in the fun old days. Back then I worked with creative free spirits, albeit for "The Man" (ie, corporate entities), but paid well and frequently hired. Freelance professionals all, we showed up for our part, did our best, answered to the project manager who answered to the client, for the length of the project, then we disbanded. It was a joyful experience.

Contrast this with wage-slave life where we show up every day of the work week, 7.5 hours per day depending on the company's official (and unofficial) requirements, which is fine and provides regular income and quite often interesting work. But we are underclass in this situation, subject to the whims of management and the winds of office politics. We are reminded variously of our status as underlings. We are children.

Porch with guard cat and pumpkin

[Belmont, MA; 11/6/11]

Busy chasing a deadline. For now, a photo from this past weekend's walk in the neighborhood.

Staycation

[Close to home; 7/29/11]

We have had some lovely summer weather this year in the Northeast. Aside from one heat wave where temps reached over 100° in Boston (a heat wave officially here is 3 consecutive days over 90°F), overall it's been quite comfortable - unusually so after last summer's ungodly heat, and given the ungodly heat many other places in the country have been dealing with.

While D and I have been able to enjoy a lot of this lovely weather, we've had a tough summer healthwise. My back went into spasms in late June and it took 2-3 weeks to really be comfortable again (it's still healing, but much much better). And just as my back's recovering, D got sick - really sick, like liquid-diet and antibiotics sick - and we had to cancel this week's trip to Quebec City. I'm not sure we'll be able to reschedule this year, given other things on the docket, including the dental surgery D needs (not to mention minor gum surgery I need). Oy.

[Daisies, somewhere in my neighborhood]

So I canceled a couple of my days-off this week and worked instead, having lost some 6-7 vacation days to lying uselessly on my back a few weeks ago, but I took today off to catch up on various chores at home. I'll work on Monday, but on Tuesday I have a new sofa due to arrive to replace my ratty lumpy 24-year-old sofa-bed (I actually put a deposit on another sofa in March, which never came and the company is now in Chapter 11... my credit card company issued me a "temporary" chargeback, but hopefully they'll recover what they need to refund me entirely. sigh. This time the sofa I bought is "in stock" for delivery within a week!). It would have been nice to have the new sofa sooner, when I was laid up on my old one for several days, but it'll be so nice to have it when it does come. Staycations are so much nicer on good furniture.

[I think this is a lily of sorts; click above for larger or here for close-up]

Harbinger

The archaic root of the word harbinger means "one sent ahead to arrange lodgings." When I took this photo of one of the first crocuses in my front yard yesterday, I didn't see the little bee that found a home in this early blossom, supping at its provisions of nectar.

Since the switch to Daylight Savings Time last weekend, the day has afforded an extra hour of light at just the right time so that I can get home from work and take a walk before the sun sets. It makes all the difference in the world when you're on a 9-5:30 work schedule. To be able to slough off the workday's demands and explore the neighborhood again on foot in the waning daylight is a treat, a welcome transition time of carefree wandering before the evening's tasks.

This Sunday evening marks the official start of Spring here in the northern hemisphere. And for those of us who suffered through a tough winter here in New England, it's the start of a much more hospitable season.

And this morning...

[9am, from my porch; 1/12/11]

Sorta reminds me of melting marshmallows on a stick at a campfire. Um, except for the temperature.

It Ain't Always Pretty

[Snowman in my neighborhood; 12/30/10]

The blizzard on the east coast last weekend caused a lot of headaches for travelers. My flight back from Detroit to Boston on Sunday was canceled, luckily before I left for the airport. Delta automatically re-booked me for Tuesday morning, which was great until I realized they were sending me through Minneapolis and instead of an hour and 15-minute flight I'd be traveling all day. At least I wasn't stuck in some airport sleeping on the floor. I made it back -- and in style as they bumped me up to first class from Minneapolis. Meanwhile, I got to spend a couple more days with my father, which was nice. But I'm glad to be home.

Yesterday afternoon just before sunset I walked around the neighborhood as the snow slowly melted, my boots and my camera re-marking familiar territory.

[Towards Belmont from Watertown]

[Porch, Belmont]

 
[Penguins, Belmont]