This was… exactly the sort of week this project was meant to avoid. It passed in quite a blur, and now I’m relying on my memory to reconstruct my part in it, although between the fires and the ceasefire negotiations, it’s one for the history books.
On Sunday afternoon the minimal snow had thawed enough to walk down at the river. Our fellow walkers were wearing everything from hoodies without coats to full Arctic puffers.
My expected projects fell through at work, so Monday I had to scrounge billable work from colleagues. I also began reading The Comfort Crisis for the department book club. It seems like it embodies many of my pet personal philosophies, but I don’t know if I’ll try introducing my coworkers to Mr. Money Mustache. Yet.
The images and videos from California have been horrifying and heartbreaking. It was incredibly moving to see Dawes performing “Time Spent in Los Angeles” on Kimmel even as their own homes had burned:
On Wednesday, we made the trip to Arcadia for dinner. We saw Kyla, the very young waitress who thinks she invented shorthand (she calls it “short words”), but she wasn’t our server. We then stopped at the grocery store and attempted to assemble a DIY fro-yo experience, only to learn that they don’t sell frozen yogurt in rural NC. So Neapolitan Tillamook had to do.
My former student, now a college freshman, asked me for essay help on Thursday. It was amazing how she’s changed in just 6 months. But that’s as it should be, I suppose.
My husband discovered the BBC’s Fake or Fortune? on YouTube and we’ve been working through the episodes. I’m learning British artists I never knew, and realizing that it’s been too long since I’ve been to an art museum. I’d known the name of Monarch of the Glen (the TV series) but didn’t know it was also the name of this painting:
And if that looks familiar, this might be why:
Or this:
Friday I’d wanted to go to the fabric shop but didn’t get out the door in time to make the drive. I’m also overdue for a visit to Reconsidered Goods.
Then I met friends for coffee this morning and visited another friend in the hospital. We also drove around the old furniture factory, now apparently abandoned but not yet decaying. Perhaps I’ll return to explore on foot sometime.