my computer is going downhill. it hasn't let me get on email or on my blog lately and shuts down unexpectedly. today it's being unusually thoughtful to let me on.
what's been happening?
saturday i visited my friends elaine and cali in cotati. cali is 8 (almost 9). we spent the morning playing games such as clue, cadoo, mystery garden, and enchanted forest, while elaine was at work. after games, we plunked down on the couch and watched part of the witches. some of us will remember this film as an exceptionally thrilling and slightly scary story from our childhoods. i still like it. :-) we only watched part of it and then had lunch when elaine came home. cali got ready to go hang out with some friends, and after we dropped her off, elaine and i walked around downtown petaluma, explored the farmers market, and just chatted for a couple of hours. it's good to see people i love and don't get to enjoy often.
(speaking of love, i miss snark! damn that phone restriction that all my friends deal with when i'm using that phone too. we can only talk on the phone after 9pm! jeeze, by that time i'm too sleepy to talk. it sure gets in the way, doesn't it?!)
sunday morning, my parents and i went for a lovely walk at benicia state park. lots of people were out walking, jogging, and riding bikes. we saw brown pelicans, storks, and a great blue heron. later, we drove to san bruno (with my dad's parents in the back seat too) for my baby cousin's high school graduation. it's a strange feeling to greet a grown man at the door when i remember cuddling him as a two year old, but somehow skipped being a part of some of those other stages while he was growing up. on the trip back, we got rear ended by a motorcycle. everyone was okay, basically. the cyclist got skinned up a little on his arm. my neck and head hurt, but otherwise all fine. my mom's left tail light was busted though!
yesterday, my mom and i organized her guest bedroom closet (finally!). we actually found my retainers in the tangle of saved stuff. ewwww! and now i have somewhere to put my clothes, which i appreciate. i planted some flowers that we found thrown away behind a walgreen's store. in the evening i baked a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and blueberry muffins, all from scratch, for today.
my auntie annette is visiting my grandparents (mom's parents) today. annette is my grandpa's older sister, a typical jewish mom and auntie. she hasn't been up north to visit us (from her home in southern california), since i was a child, so this is a pretty big deal. but she'll only be here one day.
also, e's mom is supposed to get out of the hospital today, after enduring her second round of chemo (i think i've mentioned, it's her third time going through chemo in the last five years). i'm thinking of them with lots and lots of love, hoping all is going okay.
a few days ago in fort collins, there was a hail storm. the word from various friends is that their gardens were destroyed. mema said it looked like the garden went through a food processor. i guess the only comfort in this kind of event is knowing how connected they are to the land. most people don't have a relationship with the struggles and miracles of growing food; for whatever reasons, they are often estranged from the effects and only experience this relationship monetarily. for instance, if strawberries, asparagus, or peppers cost more in the grocery store than they normally do. the time and work it takes to grow baby plants--drop the seed in, repot the growing plants, put them in the ground, protect them from pests and the weather, water them consistently--is significant. and then, in less than half an hour, the weather can devastate all that work. i don't know if that connection is much comfort after all. in theory maybe, but in practice... doubtful.
so, that's the gist of what's been going on the last few days.
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