3rd House Journal

Rose-colored

[Hydrangeas; 6pm, 9/3/09]

As August turned to September, with nights noticeably earlier and cooler, the hydrangeas have suddenly begun to color. From their summer white pompoms they've turned cherub-cheek pink but will soon deepen into a sultrier rose before drying and browning like old love letters in a box. I'm tempted, not having hydrangeas in my own yard, to sneak out some night with shears and steal some home to dry. But it's still early. Maybe I'll scope out a fat shrub somewhere off the beaten track to harvest from when they're a bit more ripe.

Anyway, it's nice to see something rosy like the patch of pinkening hydrangeas I saw this afternoon when I escaped from the ennui of the office to take a stroll in the neighborhood. I am fighting growing disinterest in my job, heavy on drudgery. Today we scoped out the price of extracting the life out the program we won an award for last year but someone has decided must be stripped of human feeling (ie, the quality of life content, as in "this medical condition causes me great distress" kind of information that brought it to life and put some pink into the dry content). Sigh. But it's a good job in a bad economy, so I must buck up. With walks out in the sunshine as needed.

Peach thief

I was admiring my next-door neighbors' peach tree this morning, bursting with ripe heavy fruit. The tree is just outside my bedroom window, one of the first things I noticed when I moved in last summer - a treat to have a yard with trees next door rather than another house in this relatively densely packed suburb. It almost guarantees a bit of quiet for my sleeping quarters, save for the birds.

After a couple of hot and humid days, this morning is cool and fresh, so I could open the blinds and windows. And thus, admire my neighbors' tree, now lush with peaches. Then I saw another admirer running off with a ripe peach. Well, I suppose the neighbors couldn't possibly eat them all themselves.

[Thief surveillance photos taken through my window screen; 8am, 8/6/09]

Doggie in the window

[At the Pampered Pooch, Belmont MA; 6pm, 7/14/09]

The pooches at the Pampered Pooch like to sit in the front windows watching the goings-on. It's an amusing distraction when I'm sitting at the light in the morning on my way to work. I never have my camera then, but on Tuesday evening I got stuck at the light on my way out to meet friends for dinner - perfect opportunity to snap a pic of a cooperative pooch (and the ever-cooperative stuffed companion), no doubt waiting for his/her ride home.

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I can hear my mother's voice singing, "How much is that doggie in the window?..." I was a very shy child, but there was my voice on tape singing bits of it with her.

Cloud break

[Sky above Watertown/Belmont; 7:45pm 6/29/09]

I had dinner on my porch tonight so as not to miss one ounce of rare sunshine. Then I went inside to strap on my walking sandals and heard it - pouring rain, thunder. But it passed. This June's seamless drizzle is finally breaking apart into bits of sun and bits of rain , which must be a good sign. Right?

Walk after rain

The department store cologne-spraying ladies
got nothin' on my neighborhood's spring blossoms.

Sweet and sour, light and dark

[Tulip rows, Watertown; 6:45pm, 4/29/09]

The tulips are springing up like lollipops in the neighborhoods where I walk now in the evenings after dinner. Yes, I have time now to come home from work, have dinner, and still head out for a walk before sunset. On Monday night, from the top of a high residential hill, I saw the sun blazing scarlet like a torched blood orange falling into the western suburbs, melding house and tree in the darkening landscape. As Tuesday's unseasonably feverish temperatures slowly broke in a scattering of fat raindrops, we cooled off with ice cream from the local parlor and came home to watch playoff basketball alternating with early baseball (one winning, the other not). It's all in flux - grace, disquiet, promise.

Outside my window (2)

[6:15 pm, 4/27/09]

April morning

[Front yard, basement window; 7:45am, 4/8/09]

It's still in the mid 30's(F) this morning, but warming up as the sun breaks through the clouds. Tomorrow, it may reach 60 degrees, then down to the 40s, showers and windy by the weekend. It's April.

Revival

[Grape hyacinth, front yard; 3pm, 3/29/09]

Through the long winter months it's hard sometimes to remember that the cold and darkness will pass. And when spring comes, no matter how many times we've been through it, we're still surprised by the extraordinary life sprouting up all around us. Every day we spot something new that wasn't there yesterday. Look! Yellow buds on the forsythia! Or, Finally! Crocuses on the lawns in my town! Is that hyacinth? I had no idea it grew in front of my apartment! Granted, I only moved into this place last July, after the sunflowers had taken over the tiny front yard. There may be more surprises in store.

[Gardening supplies at the Ben Franklin five-and-dime; 12:30pm, 3/28/09]

When we're ailing, it's also hard to remember that it, too, will pass, in most cases. We forget that when the body's weak, the emotions tend to be also, confusing the mind. And when illness ends, it's like spring.  Each old pleasure newly found is a joy.

[Crocuses in Cushing Square, Belmont; 12:30pm, 3/28/09]

My tendonitis and muscle strains aren't completely healed yet, but I'm done with my 2 weeks on naproxen. It made me feel like I was walking around wearing a lead suit - that on top of the exhaustion I'd already been feeling from stress and overwork. Yesterday I also started on herbs to strengthen my chi that my acupuncturist had compounded for me. It's beginning to work. Grocery shopping was actually kinda fun today - I want to cook again! I'd also like to clean up the clutter that's accumulated around the house when I was too fatigued to do any more than the minimum. But that's going to take some time. Yesterday, I went to the library and I also compiled a list of books to borrow in the coming months. Perhaps optimistic, but that in itself is a good sign.

Last night I saw the new movie, Duplicity, with a friend. David Denby had given it a good review in The New Yorker, and I have to say it was quite enjoyable. Not hard to watch Clive Owens at any time, but the story was also good fun.

Well, getting offline - need to minimize typing and enjoy the rest of my free Sunday.

[Sprouting in front of the apartment, basement window, this afternoon]

Lines drawn in the snow

[Around Belmont MA; 11-noon, 1/18/09; click any for larger]

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I'll be traveling again for a couple of days. Back on the weekend...

Can't add much about yesterday - watched the inauguration on a tiny TV someone brought in to work and we all huddled around it, rapt. Then last night, gussied up for an inaugural celebration at the Sons of Italy hall. I didn't bring my camera, but someone has a photo of me with President Obama (cardboard cutout though he was). If it turns up I'll let you know. A bit tired today :-) and now have to pack.