Little by Little

 I hugged people over the weekend.  A friend is moving to New York and had a going away party at the Lake.  We were all vaccinated, but still.  Been a long time (there was the, "I'm fully vaccinated."  "I am, too.")  Talking to another of my friends from the Meisner days saying that we both had to drag ourselves out of our caves to socialize, neither of us particularly good at this.  I'm glad I went, and I knew I would be, but it's takes a lot of energy to show up.

And for some reason I've had it in my head that I finished my vaccination on June 4th, I think I even told them that in one of my emergency room visits (I had chest pain and an elevated D-Dimer so was told to go to the ER last month.  Nothing was found in a Cat Scan, so they sent me home.  I'm still kicking.)  I'll have to update that.  I was filling out a work verification form and realized I'd finished in May.  I have no idea where the June 4 date came from.  I looked at my card, and then check text messages and my leave requests to verify it, because that seemed wrong.  Memory is a funny thing.

I haven't been completely anti-social, I go into work, and there are people there; and I talk to people in the garden.  And I joined a building task force and was elected to the Church Council, as well as another committee I've been on, so I've had the Zoom contact, too.  I've rode the bus more recently, (partially due to the heat) and after a recent eye appointment, I went out for a drink and an appetizer, first time sitting in a restaurant in more than 16 months.  It had a roll-up wall that was open, and I was the only person in the area where I sat, and I didn't stay that long, but it feels like a slow crawl to participating in life.  During the heatwave, a suggestion for air-conditioning was going to a movie, but I'm not ready for that.

I'm still waiting for the air conditioning.  I have the unit now, but it doesn't match with my wall vent, so it needs an adapter. It's sitting against the wall like a little robot.  I still need to move things around to make space by the vent and an outlet.  Baby steps.

Lazy Summer Day

 I've been watching at lot of British food-related shows on YouTube, and in my head I have begun to think "courgette" for zucchini.  However you call it, I'm cooking the second one, and gave a couple to the Food Bank.  I tried to get to the garden early, but it was after 11 am before I left.  The cloud cover held for a bit, but as soon as it starts to get hot all my energy is zapped.  Did manage to cut back the cardoon (probable) and the chard that's all gone to seed to create a little breathing room for the other plants.  Next time I'll need to search and make space for the watermelon plants.

I watched three movies after I got home yesterday: "Jaws", the first Harry Potter, and "Children of Men." Taking a break from the last to go up on the roof to watch (very small and far away) the fireworks show from Bellevue, I think.  We are one of the lower buildings in the neighborhood, so blocked a little by new construction.

I thought about going back to meet with the Giving Garden folk, because I enjoy hanging out with them, but maybe I'll finish one of the overdue library books instead.  They meet at 5 pm, and it's already 3:30 pm.  (It's a work holiday.)  I've just gotten around to making lunch.  One of the shows I've been watching has to do with how much money people are spending on groceries and eating out, and it is inspiring me to pay more attention to how I'm spending money and what I'm wasting.  (And it reiterates for me how much more expensive groceries are here as opposed to what they pay.  Unless you live near a Trader Joe's or Grocery Outlet.)  Also, the heatwave helped with that, too.  My apartment was close to 100 F for three days and I'm not all that sure how safe any food not in the fridge still is, so I'm tossing it.  (I've tried looking it up, but can't really find a good answer.  And there were other random times that my food cupboard got quite warm.  I did move all my canned food out of the cupboards, put legumes and tea in there.)  And that's a bit of a wake-up call to use stuff quicker rather than keep it on hand.  I think I have it because it makes me feel safe, like I'll always have something to eat in an emergency, or if I run out of money.  It's from being poor in the past, and feeling unsafe and insecure, constantly in survival mode.  But it leans toward hoarding.  I'm going to try using what I buy for short amounts of time (a week?  two weeks?) and show myself that I can live in the present. (This is canned stuff, I guess in the event I don't have a stove or something.  I still have pasta, and dried legumes, and I use those on a regular basis.  I didn't toss the latter two.)

I need to rearrange, too.  I don't have space for the A/C unit as things stand.  (It connects to an awkward place on the wall, next to the broadband connection and to where I sleep.)  They are supposed to come by and set it up on Wednesday.  Just in time for smoke season, if not the heatwave.

Happy Fourth of July!

 It's not quite blackberry season, and the dahlias that remind me of fireworks have begun to bloom.  Left early-ish to water the garden before it got too hot out.  Haven't been there in over a week, I think someone has watered for me a couple of times, at any rate, surprisingly, nothing has suffered all that much for drought and heat.  Growing like weeds!  Had to wade through greenery to get to anything.  Worked for almost 3 hours, and while I did a lot, and if there were before and after pics it might be obvious, it's still quite the jungle.  Got more zucchini, and left some to donate to the food bank.  Think I might have potatoes soon, too.

Hardly anyone around.  I stopped by the donut shop for coffee and a donut before getting all the way to the garden, and there was a line there, but otherwise, very quiet out today.  In the park there was one family having a birthday party, and dog walkers passed through, but by the time I walked home, the playground and grounds were empty again, save the City worker putting up signs about not setting off fireworks in the park.

It's wildly pleasant out.  It smells nice, enough heat to send out fragrance of all the plants, but a pleasant breeze, and now the forecast has dropped the temp by about 10 degrees from what was earlier predicted.  The apartment is in the mid-70's which is the lowest it's been in over a week. The bees have returned to my plot en masse (so, there's that.) the honey and bumble bees seem to prefer the onion flowers, marjoram, and borage, while the others go for the feverfew, with a few wasps wandering around various plants for good measure.  Everyone seeming pleased with the current jungle situation.  On the other side of the garden a large flock of tiny birds (pine siskins?) mobbing the cedar tree (for bugs perhaps? or perhaps for fun.)  And the usual crow babies bumbling about, trying out things for edibility, and crashing into one another in attempts to land.

It's already 2:30 pm, I should eat something besides a donut today.  There are no fireworks here this year, though perhaps I can see the ones across the Lake if I go up on the roof?  Marking the time.