Chillaxing on a Saturday

 

Yesterday I didn't blog because a) nothing too exciting happened (I worked from home and just frantically tried to get stuff done before the fiscal year-end deadlines), and b) Tiffy and I talked until pretty late. I needed a quiet day after running around every night this past week. Apparently we needed another quiet day today, because we were pretty slow getting going, and part of that is me. For example, I hadn't written to Mariah my diary in twelve days, so it took me about an hour to get caught up. (And yes, I do write in cursive in my diary. Millennials will never be able to decipher it!) And of course, DuoLingo. The Green Owl will not be denied.

Then I had to do some adulting. Travalon was not feeling well and was coughing a lot, and I had to go to the community pharmacy anyway for fish oil with Vitamin D, since that's the only place that carries it, so I said he should ask someone who works there for advice. She loaded him up with stuff, and also - this was the best part of the day - we bought little pieces of marzipan covered with dark chocolate. Oh my goodness, YUM!!! Then we went to Goodwill so I could get some new jeans, since the ones I got there some months ago are already getting holes in inopportune spots. I guess that is the danger of buying used. After all that adulting, we had lunch at Zippy Lube, sitting outside in the shade, and then we took gentle walks on Governor's Island and at Jackson's Landing. After that Travalon sat on our dock for a while, but that was too sunny for my Celtic complexion, so I sat on our porch.

I suggested that we go to 4 pm Mass so that we can get going right away tomorrow, and Travalon agreed that this was a good idea. As we drove to the church where we usually go, we passed a billboard I have seen a dozen times, and only this time did I notice anything amiss.

Did you see it? The word so nice they used it twice? Was that something missed in the proofing, or did they do it on purpose to get people's attention? It certainly got mine.

The one errand I didn't get done today was going to the musical instrument shop. I desperately need new strings for the mandolin, since I play the heck out of them. I also should get a new chin rest and shoulder pad for my good violin, because the old ones are somewhere, but I haven't located them yet. Plus it has some gut strings, but not all gut strings, and they are old, so I should just get metal strings for fiddling, and someone recommended a fine tuner for at least the E string. (I probably have that somewhere too, but I got rid of it back in the days of the Early Music Festival.) And then third, my neighbor who moved away gave me this tiny little bowed psaltry, and it's missing some strings, so I was hoping they could help me with that too. That's a lot, so I feel like I should make an appointment, if they even do that.

In the evening there were several things going on: a gypsy jazz band at Cafe Coda, a jazz band of some sort at the North Side Cabaret, a seven-string guitar showcase at Folklore Village, and a Forward soccer game. However, Travalon was really feeling under the weather, so we just stayed home, and he watched the Forward game on TV. I prayed the Rosary with my lava rosary, which is currently my favorite. Truly, all through Mass I was thinking about my lava rosary. It makes me feel connected with the ancient earth, and the tropics, although I know not all volcanoes are tropical. It's just so beautiful. So is the St. Michael Chaplet I got the same day, so I prayed that too. It may sound dorky, but I had a lovely Saturday evening praying on our porch. At my age, you don't need an exciting Saturday night on the town... especially when you spent Monday at a fiesta, Tuesday out (OK, that was praying too), Wednesday strumming the ukulele, and Thursday jamming on Quebecois music. Why not spend Saturday relaxing?

Famous Hat