Thursday, July 24, 2025

the panamanian child

Claude left today, and I am going to have to scramble tomorrow to follow her toward the west coast. We had an excellent time together, though. Yesterday we got up early enough to (sort of) beat the heat and take a walk at Bob White, where they've done a v. nice job maintaining the various prairie trails on the south side. We also drove to see the two murals in the southernmost portion of the county before coming home to shower off the remnants of our sweaty walk. Then we went to the next town over to have lunch at Lucile's, since we knew that we would not feel like leaving the house again later in the day as the heat index went over 100.

So we spent the rest of the afternoon doing a variety of indoor tings, eating cheese and other snacks, and drinking aperol spritzes. And we hung out with [censored] when he got back, which was v. nice. And then Claudia packed up, and I accidentally stayed up way too late...

...but I was still able to wake up in time to take Claudia to the airport for her flight. After we said our farewells, I ran some errands, got my nails done, and got my hair cut in preparation for my trip. Then I drove home (with a quick stop to buy the first sweet corn of the season), chatted with [censored], made some pasta with mushrooms/chicken/jarred alfredo sauce, and generally messed around.

And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

there's a time for meditation in cathedrals of our own

Claudia and I have had an excellent couple of days in ye olde Iowa. On Sunday, we took a walk around town to see various things + my dad's shop, and the most impressive thing was probably seeing some kids play in a ditch that had become a pond. That afternoon, Claudia made an excellent mango cheesecake (with gf crust!) and I made tater tot casserole, which we shared with Mom and [censored] because we're not monsters. 

Yesterday, we chilled and I did some work in the morning, and then we saw a couple of murals and went to the museum (which I always love). I made eggplant tricolore and roasted chicken breasts for dinner, which was tasty, and we spent the rest of the evening hanging out on the balcony and watching the fireflies.

Today, I worked for an hour before Claude woke up, and then Claudia and I met my mom for a tour of the world famous Round Barn. It is still round, in case you're wondering. Then we drove to Pella, where we had an excellent late lunch and then walked around until the heat got us, which did not take long. 

And now I need to sleep because I've been falling asleep for an hour trying to write this - goodnight!

Saturday, July 19, 2025

what does the fox say

I'm v sleepy but I had an excellent day - I woke up, did some final cleaning tasks around the house, thought about watering my garden, and was glad I didn't because it suddenly dumped over an inch of rain in the last hour that I was home. So instead I took a shower of my own, then drove to Des Moines, where I stocked up on wine and groceries via a quick whole foods run.

Then I drove back to the airport, where I arrived just in time to pick up Claudia (aka Santy Claude), who came to town! She is visiting for the next few days, and I am showing her all the many and varied tings that I've told her about over the last few decades. We grabbed a quick lunch near the airport (v tasty Mediterranean), and then we drove south.

When we got to my house, we hung out with [censored] for a bit, and then we went outside for a v brief tour of our various holdings before deciding it was too hot and muggy to be outside. Eventually we picked up Mom and took her out for prime rib at our usual prime rib place, where we saw the usual suspects.

Then, [censored] abandoned us but Mom, Claudia and I grabbed ice cream at the soda fountain (where Claudia met Gloria and also another Claude whom we happen to know). And then we all unwound, which would have been relaxing except for all the thunder (which encouraged me and [censored] to get our vehicles under cover at 10:30pm) and the severe thunderstorm warning that just went off on my weather radio and woke me up. I needed to wake back up anyway since I had dozed off while trying to write this, but it was a v unwelcome alarm.

So now I'm going to sleep and hope I don't get woken up again - goodnight!

Friday, July 18, 2025

do I make you cringe

I have had to slog excessively the last couple of days, which does not make me happy (although perhaps it's better than having too much free the with which to dwell on things). Today was more of the same, and then when I was done I went on a mad dash to clean the house in anticipation of a special guest this weekend. And now I need to sleep so that I can continue this all in the morning - goodnight!

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

breaking your neck for no reason

I had a reasonably good day - I watered my gardens (which was perhaps unnecessary since it may rain tomorrow), killed some bugs, did some work, and then went into town for an economic development board meeting. They're in the process of reforming with a new mission, and I probably could have used this as an opportunity to get off it - but instead I ended up staying on as treasurer, lolol. But I think the new group has some good energy, so we'll see whether I regret this decision.

Then I came home and promptly had meetings the rest of the day. I should have done more work tonight, but I got unexpected calls from both Kelly and Terry (who calls people unexpectedly anymore these days? no one in my generation), which was nice. And I had some quality me-time on the balcony, ate some leftover chili, and did a tiny bit of work before deciding it's probably time to throw in the towel.

So now it's time for bed - goodnight!

Monday, July 14, 2025

sonny move out to the country

I had a long but fairly productive day - I woke up a little later than intended, checked on my plants, and then slogged all day. I should have slogged all night too, but instead I checked my plants again (so far so good on what I attached to [censored]'s trellis) and then wrote my own stuff for a couple of hours. Then I ate a late bowl of chili, talked to [censored] for awhile, and decided I should go to bed so that I can get up and work early tomorrow. Goodnight!

Sunday, July 13, 2025

the tiniest moves you make

I had a v low-key day - I should have done more than I did, but that's the way it goes. I did some laundry, cleaned out my pantry, and spent a couple of hours journaling, so at least there's that. And [censored] and I finished the trellising activity in my squash bed - the trellis won't save the zucchini from the dreaded squash vine borer, but it should make my cucumbers much happier. 

And now, I need to sleep so I can slog tomorrow - goodnight!