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summer in DC
Jul. 5th, 2013 11:01 amTrip to the basement with one load of laundry and back up again = shirt entirely soaked with sweat.
Ugh. I hate summer in DC.
Ugh. I hate summer in DC.
(no subject)
Jun. 17th, 2013 09:43 pmSometimes I buy fruit and I get fruit.
Sometimes, unbeknownst to me, I have apparently invited the vegetable equivalent of The Walking Dead into my home.
The strawberries I bought Saturday...three of them were totally unrecoverable, four of them required some serious chucks to be cut out, and all the rest looked dodgy. And even those taste... dubious.
Also, the laundromat in town, it seems, closes at 9.30. :-( Bad news when you get home at 8.30 and get to the laundry at 9.
On the other hand, the air outside smells amazing tonight. Like honeysuckle and lavender and several kinds of incense. And, no, not the air outside the downstairs apartment that often has strange but familiar smells--the air out on the avenue.
Sometimes, unbeknownst to me, I have apparently invited the vegetable equivalent of The Walking Dead into my home.
The strawberries I bought Saturday...three of them were totally unrecoverable, four of them required some serious chucks to be cut out, and all the rest looked dodgy. And even those taste... dubious.
Also, the laundromat in town, it seems, closes at 9.30. :-( Bad news when you get home at 8.30 and get to the laundry at 9.
On the other hand, the air outside smells amazing tonight. Like honeysuckle and lavender and several kinds of incense. And, no, not the air outside the downstairs apartment that often has strange but familiar smells--the air out on the avenue.
(no subject)
Jun. 15th, 2013 06:23 pmThere are many markers of summer, but for me, one of the strongest in this area is the arrival of the catbirds. They've been here for several weeks now, filling out the ranks of the usual suspects, starlings and grackles, robins and sparrows, blue jays and cardinals, crows and morning doves.
I'm sitting outside enjoying the evening air, and there are a pair of red bellied woodpeckers sporting around in the tree on the corner. They seem to be having fun, and it's a pleasure to watch them.
ETA: Another marker of summer is the arrival of fireflies. I noticed ours a couple of nights ago, when I was out walking in the rain. There were several, high up in the trees. I was sitting out on the porch just now, watching the day fade (it's only just gone fully dark), and a few flew past. Lovely. :-)
When I got in my car to go home, it was registering over 100* (outside) and continued to be ~99-100* for most of the 1.5 drive home. I really didn't mind at all, and I've turned off the A/C and opened the windows. Because there's NO humidity. It's SO nice.
And I didn't even mind the length of the drive today because I had my fully recharged iPod Touch with me and listened to Le Vent Du Nord's "Maudite moisson!" and The Proclaimers' "Notes and Rhymes".
I had a chat with one of my neighbours when I got home. I'm having (at my friend the Brewmaster's suggestion) a glass of Saison Dupont Vielle Provision, and after I make a phone call I'm going to make dinner and have a relaxing evening.
Sweet.
And I didn't even mind the length of the drive today because I had my fully recharged iPod Touch with me and listened to Le Vent Du Nord's "Maudite moisson!" and The Proclaimers' "Notes and Rhymes".
I had a chat with one of my neighbours when I got home. I'm having (at my friend the Brewmaster's suggestion) a glass of Saison Dupont Vielle Provision, and after I make a phone call I'm going to make dinner and have a relaxing evening.
Sweet.
Item 1. I know the difference between male and female mallards, male and female cardinals, male and female peacocks. But since forever I've been trying to figure out what the type of sparrows are that gang around with the house sparrows here. After several years of searching fruitlessly, I finally realised that, duh, they're *female* house sparrows.
Item 2. Though I imagine it was very clear on the materials I got when I purchased it, I only just realised that my DVD player can quite easily play CDs. So I can easily listen to CDs in the living room without blasting them across the flat from the dining room. Which begs the question why the stereo is in the dining room, other than in here. Maybe things are a little too much organised here by what fits where easily rather than what's convenient.
Other observations that don't necessarily have anything to do with my being dim:
I love Noel Coward, though I vastly prefer his comedic songs (like "Imagine the Duchess's Feelings" or "Could You Oblige Us With a Bren Gun?" or "Mrs Worthington") to his crooning/love songs. His talent for wordplay is matchless and a thing of beauty to me.
The grrls were over yesterday for the football (Melissa has declined to be a sports widow and has clearly learned a good bit about the game, despite not being interested :-). They kindly helped me hang a number of pieces I got framed earlier in the year; it's nice to have them up where I can see them. They include a copy of Visscher's view of London that Dad had rolled up and stored for decades, an elevation of the the Royal Mile in Edinburgh that I got in a wonderful print and book shop there, and two prints by Avril Paton. I need to get my other of hers framed, along with the Napoleonic hussar print I got secondhand a while back. I have a couple of pieces of my mother's that I should frame too, if I can find some readymade frames for them (and a nice group portrait she did that which should get the full treatment).
Ouch! Poor Engerland. Time to trot out the old joke (Excited German: "Ha! Again ve haff beaten you at your national sport!" Tightlipped Englishman: "That's all right, old chap, we've beaten you at yours twice now.")
OK, time to finish the last writing assignments for my class, have some lunch, and watch Argentina v. Mexico. Come on, CONCACAF brothers!
ETA: I Meant to say, I really resent it when the day outside my window *looks* so nice (sunny, breezy) but when I actually open the door proves to be so beastly (humid, stifling, oven-like). If I wanted to be baked, I'd live in Greece. I want to be somewhere where summer is *enjoyable*.
Item 2. Though I imagine it was very clear on the materials I got when I purchased it, I only just realised that my DVD player can quite easily play CDs. So I can easily listen to CDs in the living room without blasting them across the flat from the dining room. Which begs the question why the stereo is in the dining room, other than in here. Maybe things are a little too much organised here by what fits where easily rather than what's convenient.
Other observations that don't necessarily have anything to do with my being dim:
I love Noel Coward, though I vastly prefer his comedic songs (like "Imagine the Duchess's Feelings" or "Could You Oblige Us With a Bren Gun?" or "Mrs Worthington") to his crooning/love songs. His talent for wordplay is matchless and a thing of beauty to me.
The grrls were over yesterday for the football (Melissa has declined to be a sports widow and has clearly learned a good bit about the game, despite not being interested :-). They kindly helped me hang a number of pieces I got framed earlier in the year; it's nice to have them up where I can see them. They include a copy of Visscher's view of London that Dad had rolled up and stored for decades, an elevation of the the Royal Mile in Edinburgh that I got in a wonderful print and book shop there, and two prints by Avril Paton. I need to get my other of hers framed, along with the Napoleonic hussar print I got secondhand a while back. I have a couple of pieces of my mother's that I should frame too, if I can find some readymade frames for them (and a nice group portrait she did that which should get the full treatment).
Ouch! Poor Engerland. Time to trot out the old joke (Excited German: "Ha! Again ve haff beaten you at your national sport!" Tightlipped Englishman: "That's all right, old chap, we've beaten you at yours twice now.")
OK, time to finish the last writing assignments for my class, have some lunch, and watch Argentina v. Mexico. Come on, CONCACAF brothers!
ETA: I Meant to say, I really resent it when the day outside my window *looks* so nice (sunny, breezy) but when I actually open the door proves to be so beastly (humid, stifling, oven-like). If I wanted to be baked, I'd live in Greece. I want to be somewhere where summer is *enjoyable*.
one compensation...
May. 6th, 2010 11:58 amSo, despite the fact that the massive humidity has gone away for now, it is definitely summer here. Temperatures in the high 80s during the day (think 30*C or higher, metric friends) and only cooling, not getting cold, at night. Two words, however, express the generous compensation allowed by nature for this excessive heat:
Summer dresses.
:-)
Summer dresses.
:-)
Good lord! It's really been two and a half week since I went riding? That's AWFUL!
But I couldn't resist. I stayed late at work, got home around 8, and simply HAD to go for a cycle, just around the neighborhood.
Saw a few places where the storms have knocked things down (or where the next one may--with the droughts the last couple of years and now this stormy weather, one starts looking a lot more carefully at one's trees). Heard some summer evening family entertainments going on, cookouts and yard games and the sound of people having fun. :-)
And I was reminded in several places that, if summer is beastly and hot and humind and nasty. when it's not being *too* hot or very humid, there's a charm in summer days (especially evenings) filled with light and birdsong and warm, dusty flowers on hedges. Summer isn't all bad.
But, it's still rather hot here, and it's nearly nine!
But I couldn't resist. I stayed late at work, got home around 8, and simply HAD to go for a cycle, just around the neighborhood.
Saw a few places where the storms have knocked things down (or where the next one may--with the droughts the last couple of years and now this stormy weather, one starts looking a lot more carefully at one's trees). Heard some summer evening family entertainments going on, cookouts and yard games and the sound of people having fun. :-)
And I was reminded in several places that, if summer is beastly and hot and humind and nasty. when it's not being *too* hot or very humid, there's a charm in summer days (especially evenings) filled with light and birdsong and warm, dusty flowers on hedges. Summer isn't all bad.
But, it's still rather hot here, and it's nearly nine!
