Thanks again to Elisabeth for rallying us walkers together!
I’ve been choosing something to notice on my walks. Last week was Hallowe’en decorations. This week, I decided to look for flowers on my walk. Not an easy thing because we are definitely in the part of fall where things begin to go dormant, but there were still some fall flowers to be seen in the yards I passed on my neighborhood walks:
Monday 10/20: -Took the metro to work and then home. (24 minutes for the round trip, punctuated by a metro ride in the middle.) -30 minute walk around the neighborhood on my lunch break, looking for flowers.
Tuesday 10/21: -My step count notes a walk between 10am-11am. I’m not quite sure what this was… -30 minute walk on my lunch break, looking for flowers.
Wednesday 10/22: -Walked kids to school from the parking lot by the trail and then spent another thirty minutes walking the trail, taking the long way loop back to the car. Did not see any flowers. Makes sense since I was tromping through the woodsy part of the trail. -30 minute walk on my lunch break. Saw this flower:
Still counts as a flower sighting, right?
Thursday 10/23: My day off work. -apparently I took 2700 steps at Target in the morning. Does that count for CBWC??? I mean I spent a hour wandering around – it’s a lot of exercise looking for what you need and not finding it. -mowed the grass (20 minutes). I’m counting this because it does involve walking and being outdoors. -the evening we did family photos and essentially spent an hour and a half walking around downtown.
Dahlias in our garden that I saw while mowing.
Friday 10/24: -Walk kids to school from the parking lot by the trail today, and then spent another thirty minutes walking the trail, taking the long way loop back to the car in the parking lot. This time I did manage to see some flowers:
Saturday 10/25: -Walk with the 6 year old to pick up breakfast sandwiches while the 13 year old was in her voice lessons. -30 minute walk on my dinner break. I walked to the co-op to pick up some shampoo. But they were out of the shampoo I wanted, so I bought peanut butter, pita, and some olives instead.
Sunday 10/26: -I worked most of the day, but managed to squeeze in a walk to coffee, which turnes out to be twice as long as I intended because the first coffee place was closed so I walked to another one. (20 mins)
Where did the week go? I actually started drafting this post on Monday this past week, but I’m finding it hard to find time to write right now; I don’t think I’m adjusting well schedule-wise to being back at work. But anyhow here’s what’s going on around here – last week I started prepping for a new show. It’s actually a revival of a production we did nine years ago. Funny story, last time I did this show, I was five or six months pregnant with our second kid. I wasn’t telling anyone, just wearing lots of loose clothing. There was one singer, a dear dear mezzo I’ve worked with many times who had no boundaries in the best way (okay, that sounds terrible, but I actually adore her.). One night she was sitting backstage and she says to me, “Diane… is there anything you want to share with me…?”
I stammered and blushed and said something to the negative.
Months later, after the baby was born, I ran into her husband, who had also been working on that show with us, and he congratulated me on the baby. “Thank you, “ I said, “You can tell your wife she was right.”
He said, “Yes, she’s like that. I like to wait until the baby is out to mention it.”
Anyhow. Sometimes the only way I remember how long ago things happen is in relation to my kids’ births.
All that to say, I’m hoping this show is a pretty straightforward process. The singers are new (except for the mezzo I mentioned above- she’s back and as delightful and kind as ever.) but the sets, costumes, director…. They are all the same. So pretty much plug in new singers and repeat. I even took the sticky tabs I used to mark the scenes out of my score from 2016 and put them in my 2025 score:
Old score in the back. New one in front. Tabs are still sticky! What magic is in that Post It glue that it all still works nine years later???
As I was going through things in my office, though, I found the score for the opera I did last fall, and oh boy, I had to take a moment, because thinking on last fall unleashed so many thoughts and feelings. That show was one of the hardest rehearsal processes I’d ever been through in recent memories. There was a lot to figure out on that show and I never felt like I had time to do anything and I felt as if I was constantly behind and disappointing my colleagues. I accrued so much overtime on that show. Also my son was in the show and that made things really stressful for the family. When I think of last fall in my mind it is just endless weeks of get kids to school/ work/ work/ work/ drive home/sleep for a couple hours and then get up and do it again. I learned a lot last fall about what I (and our family unit) has the capacity for.
Looking at my score from last year, with all those Post Its and sticky notes… it made me realize that I’m really proud to have gotten that show open and that it was a very good show. I took a picture of my score to remind myself what a huge accomplishment that show was for me because when I think back on last fall and that show, I just remember how tired and overwhelmed I was the whole time. I do also need to remember how cool the show looked, how much, despite everything, I truly enjoyed working with the director, the designers, the singers, the crew, and my own staging team. I think it is important for me to remember the magic we made onstage, and not just how hard the show was. Each of those Post Its represent something that I worked with other people to make happen, and that was really cool.
That said, I never want to be as exhausted as I was last fall ever again. I’m too old for that. I do love my job, but it can be intense. I think fighting that exhaustion is a combination of steps I take for my personal self (making good choices in food, sleep, family, and connections) but also the career choices I make. Perhaps it means taking projects that I know will be less grueling, when I have a choice. And maybe stepping back like that will stagnate my career, but I think I’m here for the long game, so a little pause in moving up the ladder is fine as long as I’m not sliding back down. Where I am right now in life, if I spend the rest of my life doing revivals of small shows where I can just take the score out from last time and push play… well, is that so bad? This season, I’m doing two revivals and one new production, and to be honest, even though new productions are high profile resume builders, the new production is the show I’m least looking forward to. Look, if you’re reading this and you’re someone that hires stage managers, you’re probably thinking, “Well, I’m never going to hire Diane; she just wants easy work.” But you know what? I think there’s a difference between knowing your limits so you don’t burn out and looking to coast. Or maybe there isn’t. Coasting might be how you prevent your car from overheating. You know, like putting the car into neutral once in a while. (That may be a completely wrong metaphor… I’m not a mechanic.)
All to say, I’ve been feeling a little conflicted as I’m putting last season to bed – my desire to work on challenging projects battles with my desire to sleep and be home to make breakfast on occasion.
Soup Party Recap: Last week we had our annual soup party at work, and it was a huge success. We had five types of soup, home made sourdough bread, focaccia, cookies, chips and dip. There was so much food. The soups were: Zuppa Toscana (made by my work BFF – I love this soup), green chili chili, baked potato soup, lemony white bean soup, egg drop soup, and I brought vegan chickpea gnocchi soup. The egg drop soup was made by one of our interns and when I asked her for the recipe – because it was delicious, even better than restaurant egg drop soup – she said, “I low key stole it from TikTok.” Which seems about right. Things that I think made the party successful this year: -inviting more people (I also invited people from the costume shop and a few of them came – it was nice to have a mixing of departments) -bringing my extra crock pot so not all the soup had to be re-heated in the microwave. -Note cards so we could label each soup. -Specifically asking for people to bring ladles if they had them. A lot of the stage managers are from out of town and are at the mercy of their rental kitchen for utensils, so I made a point to tell people to bring ladles if they had them. Note for next time: Ask someone to bring butter. Also maybe someone could bring a drink or two. I know soup is a liquid, but we still get thirsty eating it. I wish I had taken pictures of all the soups lined up, but I forgot. You’ll have to take my word that seeing all the soups lined up in the break room was pretty warm and cozy. I was so delighted with our work soup party that I now want to have a non-work soup party. This is something I say I want to do every year, and I never do. I have a pretty light January and February work-wise in 2026, so it would be a good year to do it. The one thing, though, is I don’t have a microwave, so people would have to bring soup in crock pots or something that can keep them warm. But how many crock pots can I plug in at our house?
Grateful For: -Finding my office key and IDs. Not once, but twice. On Tuesday I went to the office and reached into my purse for my keys and the pocket where I keep them was empty. Cue panic. I need my ID to swipe into the building and my keys to get into my office. I couldn’t remember what I had done with them last night because I had left in a hurry at the end of the day. I got the spare office key, went to my desk, and OH THANK GOODNESS!!! my keys and ID were sitting on my desk. Such relief. When I left work that day, I mindfully clipped it to my purse. (It’s on one of those retractable badge holders.) On WEDNESDAY, I went to the office and reached into my purse for my keys and the pocket where I keep them was empty. Cue panic. And also, Oh FFS, not again! Once again, I got the spare key, let myself into the office, but this time, my keys were NOT ON MY DESK, which I kind of figured because after the debacle on Tuesday, I made sure to be more mindful about putting them in my purse. I always put them in the same pocket. I tried not to panic for the rest of the day, but I did a little bit. That evening, I went to the 13 year old’s school to look for them, thinking they might have fallen out of my purse when I dropped her off at school. Nope. I was beginning to despair and I thought, “I’m going to search the car one more time.” I even got in the back seat and reached under all the front seats. First the driver side. Then the passenger side. And … there, under the passenger side, were my keys and ID. They could very well have fallen out when someone tossed my purse in the back seat of the car when they got in the front seat this morning…. Anyhow, all found. I’m grateful that I didn’t have to go get a new ID because that requires going down town and is really inconvenient.
-the Metro employee who told me exactly how to tap my phone. I’ve been tapping my phone in lieu of using my metro card when riding the metro lately, but I almost every time it takes me three or four taps to work. The other day, the Metro employee at the gate said, “Do you have an iPhone? Tap the top of your phone.” And magically it worked on the first try.
-Not having to work any evenings last week. I started prep for a new show and usually there are one or two evening music rehearsals to cover during prep, but there weren’t any last week so I got to be home most evenings by the kids’ bedtime.
-my sweet coworker who brought me Ketchup chips! I think there is only one place in the area to get Ketchup chips- it’s a Wawa that my coworker walks pst once in a while. And he always remembers that I like Ketchup chips.
-The PTSA. We went to our first PTSA meeting last week. Yes, our oldest is in 8th grade and we have never been to a PTSA meeting. We are massively neglecting our civic duty. We went to this one because the Superintendent of the School District was speaking/ slash taking questions. There is all sorts of agita going on with the schools recently. The school boundaries are being redrawn and magnet programs are being reconfigured and moved. The high school choice program that our 13 year old is participating in might be dismantled. A lot of people are upset, namely parents. The whole process has really made me think about the issues of equity and opportunity in schools when our county has such a wide range of socio-economic demographics. One thing the Superintendent brought up is that equity is not about making a school’s magnet program available to students all over the county, but rather to make magnet programs available in more schools. (There is an interesting statistic I saw recently about how most of the kids in one of our area’s STEM magnet programs actually are from a wealthier part of the county. I find that super fascinating…) Anyhow, it will be fine. Our younger kids might have a very different high school experience than the 13 year old, but all told, baseline we are in a pretty privileged part of the country. Everyone will be fine. (Though some will be finer than others…) Anyhow, that is all to say, I’m grateful for PTSA volunteers for stepping up and making these meetings happen and for giving us the opportunity to advocate for our kids’ education.
-sweet sibling moments. The 8 year old found the copy of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons and decided to try to teach his little sister how to read. Also they were wearing the (sort of) matching striped shirts that I got them, which makes me smile.
Looking Forward To: -mom’s group brunch. I always feel bad suggesting Friday lunch with my mom’s group since I know many of them have jobs and can’t get away at that time. At our last lunch, one of the moms offered to host a weekend gathering. I’m excited to see everyone. We all met in a mom’s group in the months before COVID and that was an especially bonding experience, but we don’t see each other as much as we’d like anymore.
-Hallowe’en. Gotta get a move on finishing the costumes. We have plans to trick or treat with friends – it’s basically an excuse to hang out by their firepit and eat lots of candy.
-The Act Two finale of the Marriage of Figaro. Sublime. Can’t wait to work on it.
-My parents are coming to visit at the end of November.
-My latest audiobook. This memoir is written by a man who was laid off from his marketing job during COVID and gets a job delivering mail in rural Virginia. It is by turns fascinating, hilarious, and heart wrenching. I’m learning I really like memoirs that take a deep dive into a profession (like this book and also What the Dead Know that I read earlier this year.)
What we ate: I have to admit, I haven’t been spending time in my journal lately so I have only a vague memory of what our dinners have been. Also I’ve been working til 6:30p or so every night so haven’t been making dinner. But here’s my memory of dinners the week before…. Monday: Gnocchi chickpea soup. I made a double batch of my soup party soup and the family ate it for dinner. Except I didn’t put in the
Tuesday: Soup Party at work – see above. The family had ground beef tacos at home.
Wednesday: Breakfast sandwiches.
Thursday: Mac and cheese and hot dogs. The 13 year old cooked.
Friday: Pizza and … I’m sure there was a movie, I’m just not sure what. Our friend was out of town so he gave us his CSA. There were three heads of lettuce and a radicchio. The 13 year old made a salad and threw in 1/2 the radicchio. I rather enjoyed the bitter crunchy of the radicchio, but the little kids did not care for it.
Saturday: Dinner out at Yu Noodles after the 8 year old’s soccer game.
Sunday: Pasta and red sauce and salad. Again, using the lettuce from our friend’s CSA.
Well that’s some of the news from here last week. Or last last week… Next week I have a “What I wore” post planned. Which, I’m realizing, is what I do when I’m feeling swamped at work but still want to blog.
Are there things you are proud of that you never want to do again? Who’s ready for Hallowe’en? Ever had an awkward conversation with someone at work? What kind of soup would you bring to my soup party? If you have a work ID, how to you carry it? Retractable clip? Lanyard? Clip?
Thanks again to Elisabeth for organizing Cool Blogger’s Walking Club.
We’re over half way through October! I started back working full time this week, so I did not have as much time for running or biking, but I did get walks in when I could. A lot of walks this week were trying to just incorporate walking into every day life.
I’ve decided that each week for the remainder of CBWC, I’m going to pick one element to look for on my walks. (H/t to Rob Walker’s book The Art of Noticing – this is one of the exercises he recommends to flex noticing muscles.)
This week, I decided to look for Hallowe’en decorations on my walks. We don’t decorate for Hallowe’en – our street is very quiet on Hallowe’en; we’re in a weird location that doesn’t get much traffic and we trick or treat with our friends in another neighborhood. Also – I’ve just never really been into seasonal decorating – the thought of putting something up just to have to take it down seems like a lot of work. We do put up lights at Christmas, and I do like the cozy look of that, but the rest of the holidays don’t really make me want to decorate. The children might change my mind some day, but for now, I prefer enjoying other people’s Hallowe’en displays.
Here are some of my favorites that I saw this week:
I saw so many delightful decorations that I made a picture collage.
I enjoy the irony of the Orkin truck in the background,
Now onto what I actually did:
Monday 10/13 15 minutes yoga. Walked to lunch and back (10 minutes each way.)
Tuesday 10/14: 15 minute yoga 30 minute walk on lunch break
Wednesday 10/15: 10 minute yoga Walk kids to school along trail from parking lot. I had to park in a farther than usual because there was construction along the parkway that parallels the path. (20 minutes)
Thursday 10/16: 15 minute yoga 20 minute walk at lunch break
Friday 10/17: 20 minutes yoga 2 mile run/bike/ scooter with the 8 year old and 6 year old. (This took an hour because twice we serendipitously met friends along the way and stopped to chat.) Walk to Metro/ to Work. And then walk to metro/ to home. (24 mins)
Saturday 10/18: 20 minute walk while waiting for the the 13 year old who was at her voice lesson. 45 minute tap dance lesson – parent child class with the 6 year old. 15 minute evening yoga.
Sunday 10/19: 15 minute yoga. 60 minutes ice skating 20 minute walk on trail next to the ice arena – I hadn’t dressed warmly enough to skate for the whole time the kids were in lessons, so I went on a beautiful fall walk. 20 minute walk with Husband mid afternoon.
And I’ll leave you with more Hallowe’en decorations:
This neighborhood really leaned into the skeleton scenes.
I don’t even know what these skeletons are up to…
This house always has the best skeleton scenes.
What are your feelings about decorating for Hallowe’en? Do you prefer Hallowe’en decorations to be festive or macabre? Or maybe it’s both when Hallowe’en is concerned???
Four random things that popped into my head/ into my life last week that I thought I’d share:
1) We have discovered that the first nine tracks of KPop Demon Hunters lasts just short of 30 minutes. The first nine tracks is where all the hit songs are. The tenth track is the Korean ballad Love, Maybe, which I like because it reminds me of the Taiwanese songs that my parents listen to, but which the kids declare is “boring”. But the real point of this is that 30 mins about the amount of time it takes to clean up the kitchen in the evening. So I make a deal with the kids: We only have to clean the kitchen for the duration of the songs on the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack. When we get to Love, Maybe we can stop cleaning. If they stop cleaning before we get to Love, Maybe, I turn the music off. It’s been working remarkably well, and I love the synchronicity of it all. You know that feeling of great satisfaction when something just fits perfectly? like when you get to the end of a song as you pull into the driveway? Or when the gap in your suitcase is just big enough to fit that one last thing that you wanted to pack? Or when you realize that you can drop one kid at activity A, and turn around and pick up another kid from Activity B and be back in time to get the first child? Or when your document fits exactly on one page? Well I get that same really satisfied feeling when I put the last dish towel in the wash bin as Love, Maybe starts.
2) We went to a new to us Indian place! Funny story – as I was driving to the thrift store a few weeks ago, I passed our favorite Indian restaurant. This was the place from which we ordered trays of saag paneer and chana masala for our rehearsal dinner. (There might still be a portion of that chana masala in our freezer. We got married 17 years and an whole other house ago.). But… the Indian place was no longer there. I texted the Husband – “Did you know Red Chilis is closed???” He texted back, “Yeah it closed two years ago.” Wait, what??? I guess it had been a while since we had been there. Anyhow, since then, I’ve had a hankering for Indian food, and so this past weekend, we tried a new to us Indian place that had lots of good reviews. It was a bit out of the way, but we decided to make an afternoon of visiting that part of the county – we ran errands in that direction, found a church near there with a 5pm Saturday Mass, and after Mass we went to Dosa and Chaat, which was located in an unassuming strip mall as any good restaurant would be. The food was amazing. We ordered Samosa Chaat – a samosa smothered in tamarind sauce – two kinds of dosa, two curries, and the goat biryani. Everything was so delicious and flavorful. We had intentionally ordered a lot of food so that we would have leftovers, but at the end there was just one little spoonful of butter chicken and one serving of the biryani to take home. I sort of regretted eating so much because next door was a vegan bakery that looked really good, but I was too full to get anything there. Ah well, next time. 10/10, would eat there again, even though the waiter did roll his eyes at us when we ordered the food mild. (for the kids’ sake. I like my food spicy. Even still, the biryani was pretty spicy.) I don’t always like going out to eat – it’s expensive and always such a production to go to restaurants with the kids – but getting good Indian food is always worth it to me.
Paneer Dosa. I didn’t get pictures of the rest of the food because we were too busy eating it.
3) There is a preschool nearby that twice a year has a huge consignment sale. I like to go because it’s a good way to stock up on clothes for the kids, but I have to admit the selection for kids 6+ is kind of slim. I think we might age out of this sale in another year or two. But anyhow, last week, I went and I picked up some long sleeved clothes for the kids, including this assortment of tops:
Two things, looking at the picture – 1) I have a weakness for red shirts, and 2) I was really excited to find some sort of matching tops for the 8 year old and the 6 year old. The 8 year old always complains that he never gets to match with his 5 year old sister. The 5 year old and the 13 year old used to have lots of matching outfits, and he felt left out – because heaven forbid that his older sister gets to do something that he doesn’t get to do!- so when I saw red and navy striped shirts in both their sizes, I put them in my basket. Don’t say I never do anything for you, kid. Also – my other thought at the sale is I am baffled when people sell Cat and Jack (Target brand) clothes here for $4 or $5. I can get Cat and Jack leggings new at Target for $6 – why would I want to pay $4 for them at the consignment sale when there are other sturdier brands I could get for $4 or $5? Oh – and my last thought on the consignment sale – I could not look at an item that was size “6/7”, without hearing my kids’ voice in my head saying that addictive, pervasive sing-song-y six-seven thing that is so popular these days. It was ridiculous. I even might have found myself muttering it under my breath at times.
4) I’ve recently discovered a new breakfast toast. Well, English Muffin, but still… the idea’s the same. English Muffin topped with peanut butter, honey, and apple slices. On the heels of Rosh Hashanah, I’ve been eating apples and honey. I’m not Jewish, but I have many friends who are, and they introduced me to this combination. Anyhow, I was having my usual English muffin with peanut butter and honey, when I realized – apples go with peanut butter. apples go with honey. So apples must go with peanut butter and honey! I was so right. It was delicious and now in regular rotation for English muffin or toast toppers.
5) Okay and one frustration – why are there so many things to log into for my kids’ school? There’s the website you log into to see their grades. There’s the site you log into to put money in their school lunch account. There’s the site you log into to pay for field trip and what not, because heaven forbid it can’t be the same site as what you use to pay for lunches. There is the site you log into to see assignments – which might be the same as the website for grades, but they have different names. I can’t keep up. This all came to a head for me when the 13 year old’s PE teacher wrote us a very nice email about how well the 13 year old is doing in PE class. It was the sweetest email to get. I wanted to write him back to thank him for the email. So I hit “reply”. And rather than just opening up a new email, I was taken to the log in page for ParentVue. Which, I don’t remember the log in information for. I just gave up. So, I’m very sorry Mr. PE Teacher – I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you, but I can’t seem to just be able to hit reply. Well, I hope you know you are appreciated. Maybe I’ll just send a note via carrier pigeon. I know the answer is really just to install a password manager. Sigh.
Grateful For:
-Pollinators and pollinator friendly plants. And the Husband for growing said plants – they are beautiful and useful. I don’t know what this plant is called, but it is such a cheerful addition to our front walk. The butterflies and the bees love it too.
-The library being open until 8pm. One evening, the Husband and the 13 year old were at a high school open house, so I took the two younger kids to gelato and the library. I appreciate having a safe quiet place to hang out with the kids in the evening.
-A bonus week! My number didn’t come up for jury service, so I didn’t have to report. I had originally blocked out this week for jury service just in case I had to go in, so I suddenly had a week open up for me. I got to have lunch with friends (twice!), go to the final day of union negotiations, visit a farmstand for apples, and all sorts of things.
-Apples! It’s apple season. So excited for all the different kinds of apples!
-That my chorus is small. I just started on my next opera and the chorus is just 12 people. The other show that we are producing, but which I’m not directly working on, has 60 people in the chorus. I love each and every member of our chorus, but I will fully admit, my job is a lot easier when there are 12 people, not 60.
Looking Forward To: -Starting rehearsals. Can’t wait! One of my favorite operas.
-setting aside time to finally work on the kids’ Hallwe’en costumes.
-Family photos. We’re getting those taken next week. We haven’t had photos done in almost three years, but figured that the youngest going to kindergarten was a good reason to have fresh family photos taken. We’re trying to decide between taking them in an urban setting or at a park. The urban setting – downtown by my Husband’s work – has lots of interesting architecture; the park will probably be at peak fall foliage. Decision, decisions.
-Lenten Women’s group. We are reading, among other things, a passage from Esther. I’ve always loved Esther. Maybe because she is one of the few women who has her own book of the Bible.
-Mammogram and well woman appointment next week. Adulting. I’m not looking forward to the appointments, though I do really like my lady doctor. But I am looking forward to not having to think about it for another year.
What We Ate: Monday: Sausage and steamed broccoli. The Husband cooked.
Tuesday: Taco Tuesday – leftover pulled pork from the week below. Sliced cabbage, pickled onions, sour cream, cheese, and avocado for toppings.
Wednesday: Mac and cheese, hot dogs, and steamed green beans. The 13 year old cooked.
Thursday: Lemony white bean soup with turkey and greens. A Melissa Clark recipe from the NY Times Cooking. This soup was delicious and easy to put together. And it had lots of vegetables. I had enough leftover to freeze for future me.
Friday: Pizza (the Husband made it) and The Game Plan – movie featuring the Rock as someone who accidentally is saddled with a 9 year old daughter, he never knew about.
Saturday: Indian food at Dosa and Chaat.
Sunday: I had to work; The Husband made pasta with red sauce, and I ate the leftovers along with the leftover steamed broccoli from Monday.
Well, that’s another week, as we creep towards the end of the year! But first, Hallowe’en. Do you have a weakness for a certain colour when you are buying clothes? Anyone want to weigh in on our urban vs. park family photo location? Do you have a soundtrack for any of your chores? What are your favorite things to eat on toast? Do you use a password manager? Tell me all about how awesome they are.
September was a solid reading month. One very “meh” book, but lots of entertaining reading otherwise. I’m looking ahead to my reading for the rest of the year and I think I would like to focus on fun reads since it’s going to be busy. Maybe some holiday reading. And also maybe something really fun/engrossing/immersive to read for the plane trip to Taiwan.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, read by Ray Porter. This very popular novel is about a scientist/ middle school science teacher, Ryland Grace, who gets involved in a plan to save the world from destruction and is sent with a team to the far reaches of the galaxy to carry out said plan. Along the way, his fellow travellers do not survive so he has to carry out the mission on his own. Or maybe not on his own. I didn’t know what the book was about when I first picked it up, only that it was getting a lot of raves. Science fiction/space travel really isn’t my thing, but I really loved this book. The science really went over my head, but there is such a human element to the story telling. I’ve read a few books the past few years – this is one, Ministry of Time is another – that have made me realize that I really like books that try to explain what it’s like to be human to an outsider, in all it’s contradictory, messy, fragility. I though Ray Porter did a really good job reading the audio version. Funny story – the 13 year old noticed I was listening to the book and she got so excited because she had listened to it a few years ago and also loved the book and couldn’t wait for me to finish it so we could talk about it together. Also there’s a movie coming out next year… I’m so intrigued about how they make the story work!
Fat Ham by James Ijames, production by Audible Originals. I’ve recently discovered that Audible has a large selection of plays in their collection, many of which they produced themselves. I like listening to plays because they are shorter than books, but pack just as big of a wallop. Also – I don’t get to the theatre very often and this is like bringing the theatre to me. Fat Ham, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2022, is a modern day re-telling of Hamlet, set against the backdrop of a Black family’s BBQ empire. I really liked seeing where the story paralleled Hamlet and where it offered a twist on the Shakespeare. It was kind of irreverent and fun but also thoughtful and emotional. Listening to Fat Ham has prompted me to try to read/ listen to all the Pultizer Prize winning plays of the 2000s. Maybe this will be my reading project for next year.
Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage by Jonny Steinberg. I read this after reading Nelson Mandela’s biography and this books was fascinating. All the infidelities and violence and family drama that gets glossed over in Long Walk to Freedom are detailed here. Winne Mandela’s life in particular was really fraught. While Nelson was in jail, she had to raise her two daughters, was constantly unemployed. She was banned to a rural part of South Africa, she assembled a group of bodyguards under the guise of being a football club that carried out some truly violent acts, all the while trying to advocate for the end of Apartheid. Reading this book made the Mandelas more human, framing their fight against apartheid with very human struggles that we all face- looking for love and friendship, making ill advised choices, financial difficulties, temptations, protecting the people you love, work life balance…. Of course, there is something extraordinary about the context of their struggles – I don’t imagine I’m going to have a spouse in jail for thirty years, or that I’m going to be under house arrest – extraordinary situations make for extraordinary choices.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – This book is told in diary format, as Professor Emily Wilde records her experience researching fairies on a remote Scandinavian village. I have to be honest, this was not a book for me, even though I pushed on to the end. I thought the diary format was not really well executed, and the story stretched the limits of the diary device. At one point, another character starts writing in the journal, which just felt forced. The world building was really hard for me to follow and I still don’t really understand what all was happening. I did like the gruff village inhabitants and the dog, though.
Heartwood by Amity Gaige – This novel details the search for a lost hiker on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. It is told through three main perspectives – the lost hiker, the Maine Warden who is leading the search, and a 72 year woman living in a retirement home. This book has been billed as a “thriller”, so I wasn’t really sure if it would be for me because that’s not really my genre, but it’s been getting a lot of buzz and I kept reading about people loving this book, so I decided to pick it up when I saw it at the library. I will say, it didn’t come across as a thriller to me – rather I felt that the mystery of whether or not Valerie would be found, while gripping, took backseat to the characters’ personal stories. I was really sucked in by that character driven aspect of the novel, each character seemed to genuine and well drawn to me and I really liked that.
Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten read by the author- This cozy memoir is a perfect autumn read. Garten recounts her life from growing up in Brooklyn to working in DC government to buying The Barefoot Contessa in the attempt to escape her career in bureaucracy. Listening to Garten talk about food and friends and dinner parties made me want to invite a bunch of people over for an impromptu dinner party; the descriptions of food were mouth watering. Garten also talks about the challenges she faced personally, professionally, and financially as she builds her empire. I really liked hearing about how she made certain choices about Barefoot Contessa and projects she was willing or not willing to take on. I do always take memoirs of very successful people with a grain of salt, though, because I think even though it’s clear that Garten is super smart and driven and savvy, she clearly had a lot of support when crafting her career. Sometimes memoirs make it seem super easy to become wildly successful, like good things just happen, but it does seem to me that people who are successful entrepreneurs have a lot of personal and financial connections that they can leverage. I still really enjoyed this book, though.
On my proverbial night stand: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – Cool Blogger’s Book Club read.
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe- 2018 non-fiction book about the Troubles in Northern Ireland during the 1960s and 1970s. I guess reading about civil conflict has been a theme of my non-fiction reading this year.
Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar – Romance novel featuring the fake engagement of two people who are introduced through the matchmaking efforts of their Indian parents.
Do you like reading memoirs? What are you looking forward to reading to round out the year? Have you ever listened to a play in audio?
Not a lot of strictly walking this week, but there was movement….
Monday 10/6- -20 minutes yoga -Walk kids from parking lot on the trail to school, then ran six times around the middle school track and then to my car. I’m trying a new running plan on my Runkeeper app. Pretty sure it’s AI generated.
Tuesday 10/7: -20 minute Yoga -bike to meet a friend for lunch (15 minutes each way). I’d never biked to that part of town before. It was a lot more uphill than I had expected. But then the downhills were exhilarating. -Walked from home to pick up kids from bus stop. Let them play by the creek before walking home.
really, I let them play at the creek so I can read my book for twenty minutes uninterrupted.
Wednesday 10/8: -20 min yoga – Bike to run errands (15 mins either way). There are no pictures of me biking because it is hard to take pictures while riding a bike. -Walk to pick up the kids from the bus stop, 15 minutes at the park, then walk home.
Thursday10/9 – -20 min yoga -30 minute run after dropping the kids at the school bus. It was chilly, but got it done. The leaves are starting to change colour and I love it. It seems the world is supersaturated with colour this week.
Trees along the trail. The leaves are starting to turn here!
-Walk to metro to go to work, then the reverse. I debated as to whether to count this or not because it’s really a short walk on either end. Moreso since I discovered that if I cut through two parking lots to get to work, it takes me just five minutes to walk from the Metro to my office. Home to the metro is about 7 minutes (more, if the traffic light is being slow). So all told, the commute to work is 12 minutes of walking, broken up by a 5 minute metro ride. So I guess that’s 24 minutes of walking total when I commute via metro. So I’m counting it.
Friday 10/10 -10 minute yoga -30 minute run/bike/scooter with the two little kids in the morning before school. The kids pointed out the very visible moon to me on the way home:
-Walk with friend along trail- we walked from the bus stop to breakfast and then back. (15 minutes each way)
-Walk them metro to work and back home again after work. The sky and clouds were amazing as I was leaving my office:
Saturday 10/11: -45 minute tap dance class with the 6 year old.
Sunday 10/12: -15 minute yoga in the morning -45 minutes ice skating. Went to public skate with the kids. The rink was having an open house for various skating activities, and I tried to convince them to try speedskating, but they were uninterested. -20 minute yoga in the evening. I did two yoga sessions today because I missed yesterday.
That’s week two! Hope everyone is having good bouts of meaningful movement.
How is your commute? What colours are you seeing on your walks?
Last week was my last week of true flexibility, so I had a bunch of things scheduled – picked up my new glasses (hooray! I can read again), flu shots for the kids, oil change (and then discovered the car also needed a new battery), annual check up for the 6 year old. I also got my hair cut. I like to get my hair cut before I start rehearsals because a) I feel more confident going into rehearsals if my hair looks put together and not over grown, and 2) I just won’t want to spend the time to get my hair cut once rehearsals start. This was the fastest cut I’ve ever had – even with the shampoo, I think I was in and out in less than 2o minutes. At first, I thought the bob looked a little more boxy than I usually have it cut, but I decided to live with it for a while because I’ve found that what I like in the chair often doesn’t grow out well. Anyhow, a few hours later, I decided I actually really liked my new hair cut – it’s long enough to tuck behind my ears, but short enough to look sleek and efficient.
New hair!
The weekend, was also my last two day weekend until mid December, and we went on a little adventure to Shepherdstown, West Virginia. (As mentioned in my Cool Bloggers Walking Club post). I had said a few weeks ago to the Husband that I hadn’t been hiking in a while. Then the last time we were at a contra dance, there was a lady from Shepherdstown who said we should come to their dance. So the Husband planned a little half day trip for the family with hiking and dancing.. We left after lunch and drove to the Yankeur Nature Preserve, about twenty minutes outside of Shepherdstown. The Nature Preserve was farmland in the 1800s and then in the 1960s was given to the Nature Conservancy to be returned to it’s original forested state. The hike wasn’t a very ambitious, more of a nature walk through a forest via a trail. The loop peaked at a bench overlooking the Potomac where we sat and had snacks before getting back to the car.
After the hike we went to dinner at the Blue Moon Cafe, chosen because there had been a request for burgers. We sat in the outdoor garden, and ordered fried pickles for an appetizer. The two kids who had burgers said that the burgers were amazing. I had the crabcake dinner – the homemade crabcakes were really good too. From the restaurant we walked the couple blocks to the dance which was at the Community Club. The walk was really cute – Shepherdstown is a historic town – I think the oldest in West Virginia – and the downtown area is full of colonial architecture and little shops. Apparently it’s also the most haunted town in America and we passed by a group going on ghost tour.
The dance itself was very welcoming. The caller knew the Husband from back when he used to dance every week (sometimes twice) and go to contra dance weekends. When we walked in, she gave him a big hug and was so happy to see us all. The dance we pretty small and there were several people I recognized from the DC area there. Everyone was very forgiving of the kids being there, even when they kept going the wrong way during the dance. I was actually surprised that they danced as much as they did. Usually when we go dancing, they’ll do two or three dances and spend the rest of the time just running around chasing each other. Also this dance had snacks, which always helps. We danced til about 9:45pm and then piled back in the car and drove home. We got home around 11:30pm, but the nice thing about having a two day weekend is that you get to sleep in a little the next day. Or take a mid-Sunday nap. I have to be honest, Sunday was a little rough because everyone was very tired, but I do think it’s worth a day of being tired in order to have a nice adventure.
October Plans and Goals… or not. So I had originally titled this post “Fourth Quarter Goals and Plans” and I was going to write about my fall fun list/ goals for the rest of the year/ lofty plans of achievement. It seems early to be thinking about the holiday season already – I’m not trying to induce panic or anything in anyone, so sorry if you are having a bad reaction to my mention of the holidays. Though I’m sure many of you are on top of things and already planning holiday festivities. I don’t usually even think about the holidays until after Hallowe’en at the earliest. Sometimes after Thanksgiving when it’s too late and I do indeed panic. But I will say, I was a little taken aback when I got home and the kids were poring over a little something that arrived in the mail last week:
Thanks, Amazon.
I was thinking about goals for October, but then the way my work schedule is, October rolls right into November into December and it doesn’t let up. It’s a downhill slide to the end of the year from here. After kicking around October/fourth Quarter goals for a few days, I thought, “Who am I kidding?” I start rehearsals in two weeks for a show and do two operas back to back. I don’t think I will be aiming for anything loftier than get through to the new year with kindness, grace, and patience. Because here is what is already in the calendar for the rest of the year:
-Two operas back to back. (Meaning two times through the prep week/ rehearsal weeks/ tech weeks/ performance cycles). Between October 12th and December 15th, I just have one day off a week. I haven’t double checked the calendar, but that is just nine days off – one of which is Hallowe’en, and one of which is Thanksgiving.
-Start prepping for hiring next year, all while in rehearsals/ performance.
-Parent Teacher conferences.
-a Supertitle gig – I can’t work the actual recital because of opera rehearsal, but I’ll be creating the power point slides.
-the 13 year old’s school play
-family photos
-Well woman appointment and mammogram
-usual slate of activities for the kids – soccer, piano, agility class, skating, basketball.
-The holiday trifecta of Hallowe’en/ Thanksgiving/ Christmas and all the joys and expectations those involve. I think my parents might be coming for Thanksgiving.
-Lenten book club (Though I guess we are easing into advent.)
-a few random days off school and half days for the kids
-Trip to Taiwan for my Grandfather’s birthday celebration.
All to say, I don’t know that I have it in me to make a ambitious fun list because I think I will need to maintain some blank spaces for me and for family time. Here’s the thing, though – I think I (we) can have a low key fall/ winter and still lean into the season; I don’t need to have big adventures on my one day off in order to feel like I’m enjoying the season. It’s about paying attention to the every day things that make October, November, and December different from the rest of the year, to give the things that I do daily a special holiday sprinkle. Some ideas for low key seasonal things that can fold into the regular rhythms of the life while still allowing restorative space: -eat lots of apples -spend time outdoors and savor the trees in all their fall splendor. Take time to notice holiday decorations as I see them – I might not have the space in me to rally a trip to one of the huge light displays, but I can take time to marvel at the Christmas lights I see on my commute. -Tuba Christmas. The one tradition I’ll always make time for. -change the clocks and savor the shift in light (It was pitch dark at 6:30am this morning and I felt like I didn’t know what was happening.) -make and enjoy soups and baked goods. Or just buy and eat lots of baked goods. Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Joe Joes or Peppermint Stars? -drink lots of tea. -dress in seasonal colours and fabrics – warm oranges, yellows, reds, cozy sweaters and hats, and booties, and scarves. I love fall and cool weather dressing. -pull out/ borrow Christmas picture books to have casually around the house. Maybe find a Christmas themed read aloud to read with the kids. Any suggestions? The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is well loved in our house. -board games and hot chocolate (with candy cane stir sticks). -watch Hallmark Holiday movies, even if it’s while I do the dishes at night. (The Hallmark Holiday Movie schedule is out! I’m am VERY excited for #26 – checks so many of my Hallmark Holiday Movie catnip boxes. Also there’s a time travel one, which I always love; and there’s a new installment of the Three Wise Men series! So excited. Also the movies start this weekend!!) -read a big book. I’m thinking I might finally get to reading East of Eden. Though I’m also kicking around Anna Karenina ever since I listened to Nilo Cruz’s play Anna in the Tropics. -eat my kids’ Hallowe’en candy -write and send the holiday card. (If you want to exchange holiday cards – email me or leave a comment and I’ll email you!) And display the cards that come to us. -journal reflections on the year that was and the year ahead. -be grateful for the year that was and is, and ask the kids what they are grateful for. -seasonal music during church services. Singing Christmas carols loudly in the car.
Notably not on my list is NaBloWriMo – Look, last year I really relished the challenge of participating, and also I really loved reading all the content that people created. But I am not a fast writer and I don’t like the pressure of cranking out content without being able to ponder and edit and edit again. I like the sense of flow that I get from writing, but that flow sometimes means that I can sit at my computer to write and two hours will go by in a blink of an eye. November is just not the time for me to be cranking out a daily blog post in that immersive way. I look forward to reading and commenting on other people’s posts and I will hopefully continue to post at my usual once or twice a week rate.
I may be over-estimating how tapped I will be this last quarter of the year, but fall last year was miserable with how packed our lives were – we had two kids in operas, and I was working on a really challenging show that just sucked everything from me. That was for sure a “never again” experience. I’m glad my kids got to be in the opera and experience being on stage, but it just about killed us to make it work. This fall/winter, I want more space so I can savor and give attention to what is important.
Things to prioritize in a busy season: -Sleep. -Breathing. -yoga and other exercise -sunlight and fresh air -nutritious food and comfort food. -family -kindness and grace and gratitude -hugs and kisses.
I might need to write that out and put it on a Post It somewhere to remind myself, especially when I feel like I’m not keeping up with everyone around me who are holiday-ing to the fullest.
Grateful For:
-Our mechanic. I’m grateful that we have a mechanic we trust to bring out car to. Funny story – when I took the car in, he asked me which car I was bringing and I said the red Subaru Impreza. “Oh! The manual one?” he asked, his eyes lighting up. “Yes,” I said. “Fun!”
-Fast Internet. I went down a YouTube rabbit hole one night last week and at one point, I thought, “Man, isn’t it nice that I can watch this whole video on the making of Sense and Sensibility without waiting for it to buffer?”
-The Husband for driving when we go places. I don’t really like driving, so I’m always grateful that he gets behind the wheel.
-Time in the evening with the family. We’ve had a few nights without plans so after dinner we’ve been just hanging out. One night we did puzzles. One night we painted. One night we played Skyjo. By “we” I do mean me and the 6 and 8 year old. The 13 year old would rather watch YouTube shorts in her room. I’m trying to be okay with this, but I feel my self being all judgmental parent about it. The funny thing is she will email me links to funny videos, which is sweet, but I’m like, “DUDE! I’m sitting in the next room, just come show me!” She says it’s more fun just to email me. Sigh.
-A shady spot at the soccer game on an 80 degree day. What the heck, Fall???
-but on that note- the otherwise gorgeous fall weather. The cool breezes that help cut through the autumn heat.
-my bike.
-Thrift Stores. I’ve been on the hunt at thrift stores for things with which I can piece together the kids’ Hallowe’en costumes. The two little kids want to be K-Pop Demon Hunter characters. I found some clothes that I can use as a base, spending less than $10 per kid so far. And then I went and spent $50 on bling at Michael’s. I think most of that $50 of bling is going to get returned. Our thrift stores here are huge and not really curated, so it’s exhausting to go. But I did find some gems, including this puzzle which made me think of Elisabeth!:
Looking Forward To: -Starting work on my next show.
-Stage Management Soup Party! For the past few years the stage management department has had a soup party in the fall and it’s a lot of fun. We have quite a few vegetarians, so I’m thinking of either making the Chickpea noodle soup from America’s Test Kitchen’s Vegan for Everyone, or this Chickpea Gnocchi Soup. Or maybe a lentil soup? So many options!
-Walk with furloughed friend. The government shutdown pretty much sucks, but it does mean that some of my friends are available for mid day walks and lunches. Silver linings.
-Kabocha squash. It’s squash season! Kabocha squash was one of my grandmother’s favorite vegetables. I got one from the farm stand the other day and I can’t decide what to do with it – curry? fried rice (there is a recipe in Meera Sodha’s new cookbook that looks really good)? This squash, kimchi, and chickpea dish looks divine, but might be too spicy for the family.
-Just started this on audio – it’s cute, and fun and set in Baltimore – always a kick to read a book set somewhere close.
Also the author has a book coming out this week Grace and Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon, which lead to this text exchange with my friend who loves Hallmark movies as much as I do:
-And tearing through this book as well. (partly because it’s a three week loan. I’m still on the fence as to whether I like it or not. It’s very well written, but some of it just seems like too much every day life things.)
What we ate:
Monday: Tofu and Tomato Stir Fry with Sesame Rice from Meera Sodha’s new cookbook Dinner. You can also find the recipe here in Sodha’s column in the Guardian that features vegan recipes. This dish was basically a vegan take on eggs with tomatoes which is a very common dish in Taiwan. The rice was drizzled with sesame oil to give it a bit of a pop. I thought this was very tasty and it was quick – ready in less than 30 minutes. I made this because I had a bunch of tomatoes to use up. Sodha’s recipes are always full of flavor and pretty simple, but I have to say this cookbook isn’t speaking to me as much as her other cookbooks: East and Made in India and Fresh India – this book seems more fussy somehow. Even still, there are a few more dishes I want to try before I return this book to the library. Vegan.
Tuesday: Pulled pork tacos for Taco Tuesday. The Husband made the pork in the crockpot and we had our usual accompaniment of cabbage, pickled onions, sour cream, cheese, and hard and soft tortilla shells. The kids like the hard shells. I guess it’s a good vehicle for sour cream and cheese.
Wednesday: Breakfast sandwiches. The Husband cooked.
Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs with salad (bagged) and garlic bread. The 13 year old cooked. She also somehow made two whole boxes of spaghetti even though it was just four of us for dinner, so now we have a lot of plain pasta leftover. I froze it, but I’m not quite sure what to do with it.
Friday: Pizza (take out) and Freaky Friday, the 2003 Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan version. It was my turn to choose the movie, and I picked Freaky Friday because I wanted to watch the sequel that came out this summer, but of course the kids had to see the first one first. Curtis and Lohan are brilliant in this movie. I will say, the romantic aspects didn’t seem as funny to me on re-watching. Mark Harmon (whom I have a huge celebrity crush on) trying to kiss Jamie Lee Curtis who is inhabited by her teenager’s mind- it just seemed icky. Was it funny twenty years ago?
Saturday: Dinner out at Blue Moon Cafe in Shepherdstown before the dance.
Sunday: Pasta (store bought ravioli) with red sauce. The 13 year old had leftovers because she had to eat earlier since she had swim clinic.
That’s the news from last week. This weekend looks to be rainy and I have to work, so it’ll probably be a good weekend to hunker and catch up on things. The house is due for a good “put back together” session. Hope you’re week went well, and you have good plans ahead. Any suggestions for what to do with leftover (cooked) plain spaghetti noodles? Are you thinking/planning for the holidays yet? What’s your favorite soup?
Thanks to Elisabeth for organizing another round of the Cool Blogger’s Walking Club this October! I started walking club early because doesn’t everything start on Monday? Besides which, the weather here has been perfect for kicking off CBWC!
Monday 9/29: -2o minute yoga video – walked kids to school (I park on the trail next to the school and walk them up, which takes anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes depending on who I run into on the way. Some days many parents coincide on the trial at the same time and we stop to chat. Monday it became quite a lengthy stand and sigh session since so many folks work for the federal government and were affected by the shutdown.) -1.3 mile run after school drop off. I ran five laps around the middle school track next to the elementary school, and then back to my car.
On the way to school. Sometimes they are at each other’s throats. And sometimes they are like this.
Tuesday 9/30: -20 minute yoga video -walked to metro station/ then at the other end from the metro station to work (15 mins) -biked home from work (5 miles – 35 mins). Actually I biked to pick up the kids from the bus stop and then we walked home from there.
Waiting for the kids at the bus stop.
Wednesday 10/1: -20 minute yoga video -walked kids to school from the parking lot on the trail, then went with the youngest kid to the nearby park to kill some time before her doctor’s appointment.
Walking with the 6 year old. She found leaves, which she declared were perfect.
-biked to work (25 mins) -biked to bus stop (30 mins), picked up the kids, then walked home (10 mins) -30 minute evening walk with Husband after dinner, while the kids cleaned the kitchen.
Thursday 10/2: -15 minute yoga -Walk to park with the kids to meet up with some friends for a playdate. The sun is blazing hot still, but there is a fall crisp in the air.
Friday 10/3: -15 minutes yoga -30 minute run/bike with kids. We’ve started going for a bike ride (the 8 year old)/scooter (the 6 year old)/run (me) on Friday mornings at 7/7:30am, before school starts. The kids get up at 6:30am and don’t go to school until 9:00am, and there is a lot of restless energy some days, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and get my run in early while letting the kids expend some energy. I like that I get my run out of the way; they like that they get to bike/scooter and have some outside time before school starts.
Morning run/ bike/ scooter.
-Biked to lunch with friends (15 mins) -Biked to bus stop (15 mins) then walked home with 13 year old (10 mins)
Saturday 10/4: – 10 mins yoga -walked to metro station from 13 year old’s voice lesson, (metro to shopping area), walked to Michael’s to buy some stuff for Hallowe’en, then walked back to metro station, (metro back one stop), walked to tap class (which is in the same building as the voice lesson) – about 30 mins walking total. -Hike at Yankeur Nature Preserve in Shepherdstown, WV. The loop is bout 1 mile, but we took an hour to do it with time to rest, snack, and look at the Potomac River
Potomac river.
-Contradance in Shepherdstown, WV. We didn’t stay for the whole dance, but danced for about 2.5 hours.
Sibling waltz, or something like it.
Sunday 10/5: -10 mins yoga – skating- 45 mins public skate while the kids were in lessons.
And that was week one! I guess only about half of that was strictly walking, but I feel like everything I did was all in the spirit of the exercise. (pun!)
Are you participating in Cool Blogger’s Walking Club too?
For sure the highlight of last week was the 6 year old’s actual birthday. By some quirk of the calendar, her birthday fell on Rosh Hashanah and our schools were closed. We sort of joked that the schools were closed because it was her birthday, but the other two kids didn’t this this was funny and the 8 year old was actually quite salty about it. So we stopped saying that.
The Husband and I both took the day off to spend with the kids,. Originally we were going to go to Longwood Gardens but it wasn’t open, so we decided to go downtown and visit some museums on the Mall instead. A little selfishly, I chose to go to the National Gallery of Art because there was an exhibit on nature illustration that I wanted to see. We also let the birthday girl choose a second museum and she choose Natural History so that she could see the dinosaurs. The Dinosaur exhibit had undergone a major renovation in 2019, but I hadn’t been to visit it yet, so I thought this was a great museum to visit. We packed a lunch for everyone and headed for the metro.
First stop – National Gallery of Art and the exhibit Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World. This exhibit was a collaboration with the Museum of Natural History, and featured illustrations of small insects, animals, and plant life alongside taxidermy of those creatures and plants. I thought it was fascinating to think about artists paying such close attention to such small details. There was also one display where they demonstrated how some artists would recreate butterfly patterns by gluing the wings to the paper, and then peeling the wings off, leaving some of the scales behind. The artist would then use paints to touch up and enhance what was left behind.
Rosemary and insects.Can you match the specimens to the drawing?
In a room near the Little Beasts exhibit was an exhibit called American Landscapes in Watercolor from the Corcoran Collection. The Corcoran was another art museum in DC that was dissolved in 2014, and much of it’s collection went to the National Gallery of Art. As the title suggests, this exhibit was all watercolor painting, and, since taking a watercolor class, I’m always interested in seeing what the medium can do. It was a small collection, but showed a wide range in style – from loose and florid to precise and brilliant. I’m always inspired when I see beautiful watercolor paintings, to try to figure out how an artist captures light and shapes so that I can recreate it myself.
Winslow Homer.
I love the light on this painting by Val Lewton.
After the watercolor exhibit, we decided to sit in the sculpture garden and have our lunch – sandwiches and fruit. The table next to us had an intrepid little visitor:
Afterwards we wandered to the Natural History Museum where we saw the Hall of Fossils. To be honest, the Natural History Museum isn’t my favorite – it’s always loud and over run with kids and school groups, and I quickly realized that my kids love this museum because the new Fossil Hall has LOTS of screens and interactive features. I guess just reading placards isn’t good enough for kids these days. Sigh.
Oh well. There was an interesting exhibit on cell phones. There was a lot of information about how cell phones take up a lot of natural resources and minerals, but also about all the good ways that people are using cell phone technology. There was also this sculpture made of cell phones. Boy was that a trip down memory lane….
it was fun to see if I could find all the phones that I’ve ever owned.
After the Natural History Museum, we headed home to rest for an hour before we set out again for a birthday dinner at our local Mexican restaurant. We had invited our friend and his three kids to come along at the last minute, which made it a very merry party. We were commenting on how we never see each other now that their weekends are very full, but an impromptu Tuesday night invite was perfect. I know Tuesday was a holiday for many people – with obligations and traditions – but for us it was a bonus day off, and it was kind of fun to have a weekend kind of day in the middle of the week.
Sombrero and birthday cake.
On my mind…I had mentioned in my last weekly post a feeling of interstitial ennui in my life. And that feeling kind of carried into this past week. I’m between shows, the kids are in school, and life is feeling a little routine. When I think about my week, it seems to be a string of morning rush/kids to school/work/kids home/dinner/bedtime/evening tv/sleep/ rinse repeat. I guess to some extent, if I zoom out far enough, every day is just going to be the same – wake up/ go to work (or do something with yourself)/ periodically eat a meal/ go to bed. We humans have (hopefully) many years of sleeping and then being awake.
A few months ago, Kae (at Grateful Kae) posted about a journal prompt: “What made today different?” The prompt has been kicking around in my brain ever since and these past few week, when I’ve been a little overwhelmed by the sameness of life (or is it underwhelmed?), thinking about what made the day unique or different has been a good reflective exercise; it’s these moments that make a day special and distinguishes one day from another. I’ve been writing two things in my journal: What made today unique? What made today frustrating? I added that second prompt because I feel like I can sometimes be either toxically positive or spiraling negativity, and I wanted to be able to look back on these days and see a balance.
So here are a couple unique and frustrating moments from last week:
Monday: Unique – a new team of stage managers started at work, and it’s always fun to see new teams come together; I started using my new computer; I made Ethiopian food for dinner. Frustrating – listening to the new coverage of the Charlie Kirk memorial and being very disappointed by the hateful and demeaning rhetoric. I fully support honoring someone’s life, but to use it as an opportunity to put other people down and spew hatred is… distasteful.
Tuesday: Unique – going to the museum and celebrating the 6 year old’s birthday, detailed above. Frustrating: The kids’ behavior at the restaurant was atrocious. They usually are really well behaved at restaurants, but I think we stayed a little too long and they were really excited to be with friends, so they were up and wandering about and just in general being a pain. (By kids, I mean the 8 year old and the 6 year old. The 13 year old was actually participating in conversation with her friend and the grown ups.)
Wednesday: Unique – the Husband and I started a new tv show (Paradise) which is unique because we don’t often start new shows together as it takes us so long to get to the end of a series since I work a lot of evenings. (Paradise is gripping, but the way, but maybe a little more suspense and tension than I want when I’m winding down late in the day.); Also my friend K called me and we chatted – she doesn’t often pick up the phone to call me, so this was nice. Frustrating – the 13 year old was home sick. It’s not really frustrating, but just kind of a bummer.
Thursday: Unique – My friend L was at the bus stop in the morning, which she never is since the federal government took away WFH. After dinner, the Husband took the 13 year old to a high school open house and I took the kids to the library. I feel like we should have more evening library trips; the library is always so quiet and soothing, making it a nice pre-bed adventure. Frustrating – I wasn’t very focused during the day and got distracted easily so I didn’t get as much work done on my super-title gig as I wanted. I need to figure out better methods for just buckling down and doing work. My current method is procrastinate and then work at a frenzied pace. That feels unnecessarily stressful.
Friday: Unique – I had first aid training at work. Good for another two years! We tried a new pizza place for Friday night pizza. It was fine. To be honest, most of the pizza around us is just fine. Or maybe it’s a me problem. Frustrating – I didn’t check my calendar before I left for work and didn’t realize that my 10:30am meeting had been cancelled. Said meeting was the only reason I was going to our downtown offices. I had driven all the way downtown in morning traffic only to turn around and come home.
Saturday: Unique – We went to a birthday party for a friend of the 6 year old and had fun catching up with families from pre-school. The two little kids came with me when I took the 13 year old to her voice lesson and we got to go to the park by the voice teacher’s house. I did yoga in the middle of the afternoon because I didn’t have time to do it in the morning. Frustrating: Our weekly family meeting did not go well. I don’t want to finger point or anything – just suffice to say we weren’t having a good communication day all around. Perhaps we need to rethink our expectations for them.
Sunday: Unique– I ran supertitles for a very lovely voice recital, and learned that Lakme is an opera with beautiful music and a cringe-y plot. I made fried green tomatoes for the first time. I got to go on a walk by myself after dinner while the rest of the family cleaned up. Frustrating: Realizing, an hour before I left for work, that my new computer doesn’t have an HDMI port, which I need because I run the supertitle slides from a PowerPoint presentation off my laptop. Luckily my friend who was stage managing has a convertor.
Thoughts on the exercise: I’ve been recording unique and frustrating moments in my journal for a few weeks now and I really like it as a framework, especially for those days when I’m drawing a blank on what to write about how the day went. It helps me get very specific about the day. It feels like most of the things I note as being unique about the day are positive things, and I don’t know if that’s an entirely fair way of looking at my day. I do think that I need to uncouple the idea of unique/different with “positive”. On the other hand, you know how Anna Karenina starts, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”? Sometimes I think I feel the opposite is true for me; I can think of a million different unique things that bring me joy, but the things that make me unhappy and frustrated kind of boil down to one or two thing: people being unkind jerks is one of those things – whether that is Presidents or my own kids. Or even, a lot of the time, it’s me. I’m the jerk that’s making my own life frustrating.
Grateful For:
-The (now) six year old for being such a bright, energetic, happy, enthusiastic kid and for bringing such joy to our lives.
-The Husband packed the kids’ lunches one day last week so that I could go for a run with the 8 year old (he biked).
-Robert Munsch. There was a wonderful and touching article in the New York Times about the children’s book author Robert Munsch. When I was growing up, I LOVED Robert Munsch’s books. My favorite was Murmel Murmel Murmel, about a girl who finds a baby in a hole in her sandbox and tries to find someone to take care of him. I also loved The Paper Bag Princess, The Mud Puddle, Mortimer, and countless others. Munsh is now 76 and suffers from dementia and no longer can hold stories in his head anymore, which is so sad to me, but also makes me so grateful for the stories that he has already given the world. The profile talks about how Munsch was able to relate so well with children and be so creative in his story telling. I feel like there are many lessons to be learned from his unaffected trust of children’s intelligence.
-Flowers in our garden. Such a prefect dahlia.
–New York Times Cooking. Even though we meal plan on Sunday, there are days when what we planned just isn’t going to be what ends up on the table for one reason or another. For those days, I love my NYTimes Cooking subscription – I can type in what I’m looking to use up in my fridge, click the box for “Under 45 minutes” (or “under 30 minutes”) and click “dinner” and click “vegetarian” and I can reliably get one or two things to make for dinner. I know the internet can do this too, but NY Times cooking delivers just the right number of choices. And the comment section is golden.
– A rainy day, perfect for curling up with a book.
-But also that the rain let up for an hour so that I could go for a run.
-Free Museums. Your tax dollars at work. (Well maybe not next week, but…) Also grateful that no one has taken down the exhibits on Global Warming in the Natural History Museum yet.
Looking Forward To:
-Friday lunch plans with some moms from my mom’s group:
-Day off with my kids. We have a playdate planned. (In the most old fashioned of ways, the five year old came home with a note that said, “Hi’. Would like a playdate with us? K would love that. Here is my phone number. -K’s mom.” For some reason I found this delightful.) I kind of also want to check out a new craft cafe in the area. (Note – the play date did happen; the craft cafe didn’t. I’ll have to save that for another time…)
-Hallowe’en. The two little kids want to go as K-Pop Demon Hunter characters. The 6 year old wants to go as Zooey – I’ve picked up some things at the thrift store to make a costume for her. The 8 year old wanted to be Jinu. I was like, “Umm…. so you want to wear a white plaid shirt and jeans for Hallowe’en? Is that even a costume?” Really, I think we’re going to go with the black robe and hat look. (Okay – I just googled the hat – it’s a traditional Korean hat worn by noble men, called gat hat. It’s woven from bamboo threads and is truly an artisan craft. If you’re into super specific artisan videos, check out a video of the hat being made here. I was mesmerized.)
-Union negotiations finishing up. We are so close.
–Cool Blogger’s Walking Club. I always hesitate to say I’m joining Elisabeth’s Cool Blogger’s Walking Club because even though I do manage to get a good amount of movement in every day, I hate failing at things. Plus I struggle with the idea of being cool. But I feel like the point for me of joining a group effort is to be intentional about walking or movement – of making time so that I don’t fail. So I’m going to commit this October. I mean I do usually get some kind of movement in everyday, so I just have to write it down.
– Cool Blogger’s Book Club! Thank you, Engie for organizing! We are reading The Joy Luck Club, which I read years ago, when I was in college. (I think?). Bonus- I found a copy at the Library Book Store for $1! Joy and luck, indeed!
What We Ate:
Monday: Tikil Gomen (Meera Sodha’s recipe), shiro (Ground chickpea stew), Cucumber and tomato salad, and injera – an Ethiopian dinner. I was originally going to make misir wot (Ethiopian red lentils), but as I was standing in the co-op googling the ingredients, I came across a recipe for shiro, which I had never made before. The co-op had chickpea flour, so I thought I’d try something new and the shiro turned out to be really good. I ended up eating the leftovers as a sandwich spread throughout the week. Vegan.
I don’t usually take pictures of my food, but I was really proud of this meal.
Tuesday: Dinner out at the Mexican restaurant.
Wednesday: Zucchini Butter Pasta by Hetty Liu McKinnon for NY Times Cooking. I had a crisper full of zucchini and no plans for dinner. This was fast and easy and tasty. Maybe a little heavy on the butter, though.
Thursday: Thai-inspired Meatball Soup by Ali Slagle for NY Times Cooking. I used ground pork instead of ground chicken and basil instead of cilantro for this. This was very tasty and came together quickly.
Friday: pizza and “Light and Magic” a six part documentary about Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects company founded to create the effects for Star Wars. We only watched the first episode, but it was so fascinating to see just how groundbreaking the technology and thinking on that film was.
Saturday: Leftovers! Cleaning out the fridge.
Sunday: Kind of a hodge podge dinner – I had some green tomatoes to use up (so much so that they were no longer green), so I made fried green tomatoes. Then we had pasta (ravioli from the deli case at the store), steamed green beans, and a caprese salad. It was kind of eclectic, but tasty. I don’t often fry food because it is messy and involves a lot of steps, but boy is fried food tasty.
That’s some of the news from last week. I can’t believe we are already into October – the last quarter of the year!
Did you read Robert Munsch books growing up? Do you have a favorite? What made your week different/unique? Anything make it frustrating? Are all happy families happy in the same way? Any Hallowe’en plans yet?
I think when people think of going to South Africa, the first travel activity they think of is going on a safari. It was certainly my first thought when the chance to go to South Africa came up. Along with going to Robben Island, the safari was one of the things I was most looking forward to doing. I will say the safari was magical. But first we had to get there….
Day Three – Toboggan and Gruskorp Gorge and arrival at Safari Lodge. After a filling breakfast buffet at our hotel in Johannesburg (there was an omlette bar!), we loaded into our bus and left Sandton (a suburb of Johannesburg) and started our trip to Kruger National Park. We departed at 8am, in order to beat the traffic. This turned out to be a day with lots of driving, but the itinerary had some fun stops along the way.
First up after a few hours was a rest stop. This was exciting for me because we got to check out all the fun snacks that were available at a rest stop. The snack shop at the rest stop was where I first came across Biltong. Biltong is a South African cured meat – it is air dried, so it is not as tough a jerky. It is also marinated in vinegar, so it’s taste profile is not smoky like jerky. I’ve read a description of it as a cross between jerky and prosciutto. The biltong stand was in the back corner of the convenience store – there were several trays of biltong one could choose from, and the attendant would scoop whatever you wanted into a paper bag for you. (I read later to never buy pre-packaged biltong.) I didn’t have the courage to try the biltong this first time that I saw it, but I love jerky so the idea intrigued me and I kept it in the back of my mind. We instead got some candy, including Peppermint Crisp, which our tour guide told us was his favorite South African candy. Peppermint crisp is chocolate with mint candy inside, sort of like pop rocks. The 13 year old also got a slushie – I guess it’s fun to try favorite snacks in foreign countries. (Some of the kids on our tour got strawberry milkshakes with every single meal and one day, I asked them if the strawberry milkshakes were better in South Africa, but they said, no, they just really like strawberry milkshakes.) Also – there rest stop gave us our first peek at animals; the rear deck of the rest stop looked out over an animal reserve where we saw ostriches and impala.
Our snack haul – ketchup chips (which they call tomato sauce), slushie, peppermint crisp and a Wonka bar, which was just milk chocolate.
Impala seen from the rest stop.
We got back on the bus and continued driving. There was a lot of driving this day, but it was interesting to drive through some towns and see how they were different and also the same from America. A lot of the towns didn’t have paved roads beyond the highways and that felt so different to me. Some of the buildings were only half built, but clearly were still being lived in. And then every so often we would pass a sign for a library, and it was somehow really reassuring to me. I wrote this haiku:
Even in this small town without walls and pavement, sits a library.
I have to admit, there is something a little uncomfortable for me about being a tourist in a country that is still developing. Even this idea that South Africa is “developing” seems not quite right because there are parts of South Africa that are as sophisticated and modern as any other city in the world. Yet there are large income gaps for sure, and I’m not even really sure how to talk about those parts of my trip. As a visitor to this country, I wonder if I’m objectifying other people’s lives when I take in these small towns and notice the poverty and lack of resources? From the comfort of my air conditioned bus, I watch people go about their day walking to buildings without electricity, selling things from ad hoc stands made of salvaged materials…I don’t want to be patronizing, because people don’t deserve that from visitors to their country. But I do think about what I am bringing to a country as a tourist. Do I add value here? Should I? Because it seems off to just take from a place. I didn’t even want to take pictures of many of the towns we passed through, it seemed somehow disrespectful. I don’t know if I’m articulating my feelings well. It’s a question I thought a lot about while on this trip. and actually on our last day, I got some good insights on this from a tour guide.
Some of the beautifully stark landscape we drove through.
For lunch we stopped at Misty Mountain Lodge where, in addition to a restaurant, there is a 1.7 km Toboggan track. The toboggan ride was fast and exhilarating and only slightly rickety as it curved down the side of the hill, thorough open grass land. I couldn’t decide whether to take in the scenery or close my eyes and savor the wind in my hair.
That orange line is the toboggan track. Way in the back, at the top is where we started.
Me coming to the end – push the handle to brake!
After our toboggan ride, we had lunch on the patio of the restaurant where we got to enjoy the beautiful views of the mountains.
After lunch we got back in the bus and continued on to the next stop: Graskop Gorge, and an elevator that would take us down 51 meters (about 15 stories) into the gorge for a walk through a rainforest like ecosystem. One thing that I didn’t realize until this trip was what a diverse range of environments in South Africa. When I thought of South Africa, I often thought of savannah and grasslands. On this trip, however, I saw such a wide variety of habitats. Graskop Gorge is full of lush green trees and waterfalls. The trail had informational placards all along the way that detailed the biodiversity in the area. We took about an hour to walk the trail through the forest.
There was so much green during our walk in the gorge. So different from much of the landscape during our drive.
Sketch of the gorge while waiting for our group.
After the trail walk, the elevator took us back to the top of the Gorge where we could see the gorgeous views of the Mpumalanga province. We then had the option of adding a zipline experience to our Graskop Gorge visit. Despite having a fear of heights, I’ve always wanted to go ziplining, so I jumped at the chance to go and the 13 year old came too. Funny story, as I was getting into the helmet and gloves and harness for ziplining, I asked the person working the zipline what the helmet was for. “It’s so that you don’t hit your head on the cables.” “Oh,” I said, “I thought it was to protect your head if you fell.” He laughed at me. “Nothing is going to protect you if you fall.”
Well that was reassuring… In the end, though, the zipline turned out to be very relaxing. So long as I didn’t look down and think of falling to my death, I mean. It was a little like being in a swing, slower than I expected, and as I looked off in the distance to the mountains and trees, I tried to savor the near weightless feeling of flying across the gorge.
me going across the ziplinethe 13 year old going across.
After the leaving the Gorge it was just another hour and a half to the Safari Lodge where we would spend the next two nights. We arrived around 5pm and had about an hour to get settled into our cabins (yes… cabins!) before dinner. The cabins were quite spare – stone floors, one outlet, and real keys. I mean when was the last time you use an actual key at a hotel. Well this wasn’t a hotel for sure. The 13 year old had a bit of a crisis when she realized that there was no wifi in her cabin.
I had a little bit of time to spare, so I walked around the grounds, and sat by the pool, did some yoga. It was certainly too cold to go into the pool, but I took my shoes and socks off and dipped my feet, which felt quite refreshing. Oh and there were zebras just wandering around, no big deal.
Zebras grazing by our cabins.
We were literally summoned to dinner by the banging of drums. Dinner was buffet style – soup, eggplant, chicken stew, roasted sweet potato, salad and dessert was a variety of fruit along with mousse and Malva cake. We had to be up early the next morning, and it had been a long day of travel, so after dinner, I went back to my room, took a shower then read and journaled and went to bed. I have to admit that I had a rough night of sleeping. There was loud music that played all. night. long. It was as if someone was having an all night dance party. I found out later that it was indeed an all night dance party – turns out we had arrived on pay day and the town two miles away had a dance club and people always partied all night on pay day. Or pay weekend, as it turned out to be.
Day 4 – Kruger National Park Safari. The next morning, we got up at 4:30am to meet up for a Safari at Kruger National Park. We had a morning snack of rusks and tea (or coffee, depending on preferences.) Rusks are very dry cookies (biscuits), almost like biscotti, which you dip in your tea (or coffee) to soften. The Lodge also packed us each a breakfast pack in a brown paper bag to take along with us. It was very early and quite chilly – the sun still hadn’t come up yet. We were all a little bleary eyed and shivering as we were introduced to our safari guides (our guide was named Derrick) and we loaded into the jeeps. We were given cozy fleece lined windbreaker ponchos to wear to keep us warm as we drove to the park, which was about fifteen minutes away. As we drove, we could see the sun start to rise.
The safari was absolutely magical and amazing. We saw so many animals just walking around and doing their thing. Derrick said that the animals are used to the vehicles, so it’s generally pretty safe if you stay in the jeep. It’s when people get out of the vehicles that animals starts to get defensive. Derrick was a great guide – he is from a tribal area near Kruger National Park so he grew up in the area. He said that it’s sad because there aren’t as many animals at Kruger as there used to be. A combination of factors has made it more difficult for the animals to find food so many of the herds are migrating to other parts of Africa. Even still, we saw an amazing array of animals, I thought. I’m just going to photo dump a bunch of the animals we saw in the first hour or so of our safari:
Zebras. We saw so many zebras. Did you know a group of zebras is called a dazzle? Impala. We saw a lot of impala. Derrick told us that impala don’t live very long because they get eaten a lot, which is probably why they reproduce so prolifically. Also this was the day that I learned that an impala was not just a car.
I loved the giraffes. They are so elegant with their slightly awkward gait and seem to float when they walk.
What’s that hiding in the grass?
… a lioness and her cub. I didn’t get a picture of the cub, though. This was pretty magical.
Hyena and baby hyena. Not gonna lie, I thought about Lion King a lot while on Safari.
Two young male elephants play fighting. This was pretty thrilling to see.
One thing I thought was really neat was that as we were driving around, the tour guides all would stop and tell each other what they had seen and where. Which is how we managed to see a lion. As we were driving down a road, another jeep pulled up and told our guide that they had seen lions down by the dam, and so our tour guide headed that way, and sure enough….
The lion sighting was brief, but very exciting.
Around 9am, we stopped to eat our breakfast packs and I also found more ketchup snacks and bought some post cards. We bought some tea and hot chocolate at the snack shop since it was still quite chilly.
Continuing on our way. More animal (and non-animal) things we saw…
Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl. The largest owl species in South Africa. I hadn’t thought of owls as something I would see in South Africa!
Animal skull. This area of the park was part of the controlled burn area, hence everything is so black.Hippo. Apparently hippos kill the most number of humans of any other animal. This is primarily because they live near water and humans often come to the river for water and hippos get defensive. Crocodiles, lazing along the river.
More Zebras. There is something so mesmerizing about their stripes.
Baobab tree. Have you ever read The Little Prince and said to yourself, “Hmmm… I wonder what a baobab tree looks like?” Well, I have, and I finally got my answer. These are the trees that the Little Prince is trying to keep from taking over his planet.
For lunch we stopped at a picnic area and had sandwiches, fruit, and cake that the guides had brought along. Across the river from our picnic area we could see a herd of elephants and I did some sketching. I was really leaning into the sketching on this trip, as a way to remind myself to slow down and really look at things:
After lunch, we drove around for another few hours. Here are more photos of the post lunch part of our safari:
Elephant and baby crossing! Elephants walk at such a sedate pace. There is no rushing them. Nor would I want to… I couldn’t believe how close we were to these elephants. Giraffes drinking water. A group of giraffes is called a “tower”. I love how they spread their front legs so wide apart and then bend their necks low to get to the water. Can you see the zebra in their midst?
I think this might be the same hyena we saw at the beginning of the safari. She hasn’t moved very far from where we saw her that morning.
more elephant crossings.
Around 5:00pm we started heading back to our Lodge. While we waited to re-fuel at the gas station, I asked Derrick if the land that made up Kruger National Park was taken from tribal lands. He said that it was and that it’s a long, angry, complicated story, but that many of the tribes are still getting payments for their land and that the park has created a lot of jobs, so it isn’t all bad. I’m not sure if Derrick was trying to put a positive spin on things or what, but it is for sure a complicated issue.
My practical takeaways from the safari: 1) Dress in layers. We start in the early morning for best chances of seeing animals and it is quite cold. But then in the afternoon it got very hot. Also those fleece lined windbreaker ponchos were amazing. If they had sold them in the gift store, I would have gotten one or four. 2) It is very windy driving around in an open jeep. One of the kids in our tour group lose his earphones when they flew off his head as we were driving along. Evidence of how windy it was:
Just driving around…
We got back to the lodge and had and hour or so to rest before dinner. The 13 year old wanted to spend some time on her tablet, so I got out my watercolor paints and decided to make a painting of the little cabin where I was staying. Even though my painting supplies take up lots of space and I use them maybe only once or twice on a trip, I always try to make room to bring them because there is always some point on the trip where I just need a soothing quiet activity. I spent maybe an hour painting it felt so restorative to be doing something creative after the past few days of so many new experiences inputting into my brain.
The finished painting.
Dinner that evening was a feast of grilled meat. We ate in the boma, which we were told was short for British Officer Meeting Area, a term from colonial days. It turns out that a boma actually dates from pre-colonial days and originated as a word for an outdoor enclosure that was used for anything from containing animals to community gatherings. For sure the current day use was more the communal gathering type. The food was delicious and we lingered over dinner, talking and swapping tales.
Around 9pm, I retired to my room to shower and pack since the next day we would be leaving the lodge and be on on our way to the airport then to Cape Town. It had been such a beautiful day and I was sad that we had just one full day at the Safari Lodge. Our tour guide later told us that they also have safari trips where you camp, and some of them are very kid friendly. Bucket list items for sure.
Favorite road trip snack? (I liked sour gummy worms.) Do you have a particular food you always order when you are away from home? Have you ever been ziplining? What is your favorite collective noun for animals? Any bucket list vacation ideas/hopes/dreams?
