For the first time in, oh, four or five years, my siblings and I are all in school. Or rather, we will be come Monday. In a sane, civilized way, our respective universities, colleges, and institutes wait until autumn has officially begun to start classes. I approve of this. The leaves on my street are just starting to turn yellow here and there, the pool is closed, and the air smells a teensy bit like a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils.
Today is my last official day of freedom. Tomorrow I work and drive to Seattle. The sky is a perfect September blue, not a cloud. I should have some marvelous plan that involves being outdoors and Taking Advantage of My Last (Sunny) Day. But here’s the thing: I think I’ve forgotten what to do with a Saturday. Sure, I can laze my way through it and take a walk and shop for wedding gifts and maybe go down the street for coffee later. But none of it feels like enough. I’m in that in between state, where I feel like I ought to do more than be lazy, but I lack anything specific to do to get that Taking Advantage feeling. I feel the day slipping past and it freaks me out.
Kind of like how the summer slipped past. I barely picked blueberries. I never went swimming. I only harassed my brother a little bit before he left for college. I did manage to eat a hell of a lot of raspberries early in the summer, so there is that. It wasn’t a total loss, berry-wise. And it was a busy summer. So I suppose I can cut myself some slack. But still! I only have one teensy tiny tupperware of blueberries in the freezer to last me through the long winter. I’d make a terrible hibernating animal.
*Sing Through the Seasons, baby. And if you go here you can read comments from people who had it sung to them as children. When we homeschool, we used to sing this and jump off the couch, pretending to be leaves falling.
Currently reading (in a mad frenzy before school starts):
Donuthead, Sue Stauffacher
Funny Little Monkey, Andrew Auseon
Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett
Just finished:
Digging to America, Anne Tyler (excellent comfort book)
Embroideries, Marjane Satrapi
Caddy Ever After, Hilary McKay (did I already mention this one? Probably. But it’s worth a second mention.)
On the shelf (too numerous to mention, really, but):
Busman’s Honeymoon, Feed (both audio for the car ride), The Position, The Secret River, Victory, Rules, Skellig, At the Sign of the Star, Eat Cake.
And? I’m now addicted to the Sopranos. Plus Kitri has the beginnings of the second seasons of Lost and Grey’s Anatomy. Which are all exerting a magnetic pull on me.
I think I’ll go make some chocolate pudding. But only because it’s possible to stir pudding and read simultaneously.
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September 23, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Lazy Cow
Just coming out of hibernation to say what a lovely post. And you made a gorgeous little girl (that’s you with the plaits isn’t it?) Read Eat Cake, then make one of the recipes. Perfect way to spend a day. And blueberries here are still $9AUD a punnet (which is 100g, about 30-40 blueberries, outrageous). I’ve got Digging to America waiting pickup at the library.
Good luck with work tomorrow. So you’ll be driving to another state, wierd 🙂
September 23, 2006 at 5:18 pm
jessmonster
Yup, I’m the one in red. I was lucky because my dad started off taking tons of gorgeous photographs when I was a kid, and gradually trickled off (I can’t think of the last time he picked up a camera). Blueberries in the stores here are spendy, too, but I never buy any (well, I do buy some frozen when I run out during the winter). I’m always amazed by what people will pay. Hope you like Digging to America.
Actually, it’s only about a half hour’s drive to the state line. And three hours to Seattle. But it IS a whole different world, what with sales tax and having to pump your own gas…we’re spoiled in Oregon.
October 19, 2006 at 9:30 am
he could feel the north wind coming « garish & tweed
[…] Last night I sang myself to sleep (in my head, not out loud – I don’t want Kitri to move out before our lease is up) with another delightful song from my childhood – “Hurry, Hurry.” Otherwise known as the “fat and furry song.” Except I kept wanting to change the lyrics to “hurry, hurry, scurry, scurry” instead of four hurry’s in a row. Um, yeah. Breaking news, here! Although I don’t particularly want to get fat & furry, especially since I’m not allowed to hibernate. Would you like a piece of bacon? […]