Pulling Weeds

It started out not promisingly:  overcast sky, very dark to the West, sprinkles of rain as I crossed the Potomac on the Beltway and drove toward Carderock.  The C&O Canal Association VIPs were going to pull up an invasive plant called garlic mustard from the woods at Carderock.  The group leader was Mary from the Nature Conservancy.  She explained what our task was, showed us a couple of specimens of the plant, and the 9 of us walked over the the edge of the woods and started uprooting the plant. 

This was actually quite pleasant work:  sitting on the ground or stooping over, gently yanking up the shallow-rooted plant.  The humidity had gone, a breeze kept us cool, and the plants actually smelled a bit like garlic - I fantasized that the smell came from the kitchen at the Lebanese Taverna restaurant near my house.  

There was a little bit of chit-chat among us, but mostly we were quiet, listening to the wind in the trees around us and the river nearby.  Occasionally as we moved around someone would comment on seeing a rare plant, or small lacey ferns, or warn us about a patch of stinging nettles, or exclaim over the size of a daddy-long-legs spider. 

In just under 2.5 hours we nine stuffed weed into 32 sacks, and cleared just about an acre.  We were told that the day before there were 24 sixth-graders who filled 40 sacks in the same amount of time.  We think we were more focused than sixth-graders - wouldn't you agree? 
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Curiosity as a lifestyle: First days on Canal du Midi

Curiosity as a lifestyle: First days on Canal du Midi

A blog by a Swede, complete with lovely photos, made me nostalgic for my own adventure last September.

What's next?

        I'm feeling at loose ends today.  During the past two weeks, I've spent 10 days total, in two separate visits, away from home in Chicago.  Both visits, staying with daughter & family.   During much of the first visit, both D & SiL were away so I had the complete and awesome responsibility for 19-mo-old grandson.  During the second, as they prepared to move to a new home, my job involved packing, cooking, errand running, and child-minding.  SiL was meticulously repainting the new home, and D was sorting and packing.  They share an admirable and apparently enormous capacity for organizing their time and work.

          It was a bit infectious - - now that I'm back in my own home, do I want to fall back into my old routine or do I want to continue to be busy?  In the three days since I returned home I've put in one day at the old office, checked my nascent vegetable garden, sprayed a large group of shrubs for caterpillars that have devoured 2/3 of the leaves (which involved figuring out why the shrubs were denuded, going to the hardware store to discuss the problem and then purchasing the chemicals and sprayer), picked up from dry cleaner and stored a great number of winter suits, sweaters, etc (being semi-retired, will I ever wear those suits again?), done laundry, cooked meals, cleaned house and sorted clothing, shopped for groceries, and even scouted out a location for my birthday celebration in September.  Still have energy to expend so now I think I'll get dressed and go out for a long morning walk.

Sigh.

First my son got married.  Then my daughter got married.  Same year.  Then the son and his wife decided to buy a bigger coop apt in manhattan and renovate it.  Loaned them some $$ to help.  Got repaid when smaller apt. was sold.  Then daughter had a baby boy.  Then son's wife had a baby boy.  Two grandsons, within 30 days of each other.  Me, with grandsons, who thought I'd always just have grand-dogs.  Anyway, moving right along, daughter and son-in-law faced prospect of homelessness when landlord announced he needed their apt for his sister this summer.  So D and SIL started looking for new home.  And found it.  And placed an offer to purchase.  And was accepted.   But they need my/our help with down payment.  So have promised them as  much as they need.  But will do whatever it takes.  Because she's my only daughter and she's the mom of my wonderful grandson, and that what parents are supposed to do.  I love her to pieces.  And I want to protect them from mistakes and pain and sorrow and other unhappinesses.  But I'm just her mother, and I had to let that go a long time ago.  Sigh.

Barnum & Bailey Circus elephants

Today the elephants and the ponies and horses and some clowns paraded thru Southwest DC to 3rd Street on their way to the Verizon Centre for a week's run of the circus. And I went to see them as they walked along. Sat on the wall that surrounds the American Indian Museum waiting and waiting and waiting in the most welcome Spring sunshine. More people joined me, some with little pre-school size kids, some clearly taking an extended lunch break from the office. After a very long wait, I could see the tops of their heads and backs above the Botanic Gardens' wall - then they reached the corner and turned onto 3rd Street with their police escort (just like every president has had, but without the black SUVs), and everyone jumped off the wall and headed for the wide wide street.

Smart circus people - they had redshirted fellows carrying a rope walking alongside the elephants keeping us fans at a safe distance.

But best of all is this photograph with the great white dome of the Capitol above three of the great beasties.  It had been clear to me that the reason for taking them up 3rd Street was to pose them with the Capitol in the background.  Too bad I couldn't get close enough to get all 7 or 8 of these huge creatures in one photograph. 


It was a nice thing to do on a very welcome warm early Spring day.

Sometimes I take a great notion . . .

Every now and then a great weariness overtakes me. Usually when work has many interruptions that leave me feeling like the tennis ball in a doubles match. That's when I start doing things goofy. Like getting on the Metro going the wrong way. Like being so hungry and frazzled that I forgot my electronic key when I ran down to get some lunch. Like forgetting where I've put parts of a file or my notary seal or anything else important. Sometimes it seems that EVERYTHING is important, that there are no small, unimportant things when I'm dealing with other folks' home purchase transactions. Sometimes I just want to lie down in the dark under my desk.

Worried

I don't like to admit it, but I'm worried about my post-March-31st life. The office seems to function well enough - the staff know what to do. Even though I think that some of them could do better. SF should look at the contracts to make sure they're signed by everyone - She's pretty good at determining that she has the right sale price and names of parties and property address/description. JC thinks he's on the ball getting binders done well in advance, and prepping our docs prior to closing. But he seems to not want to get a case scheduled if it looks like a bit more work for him that day. PS just will not let go of a case until she's ready, even to the extent of keeping clients waiting in the reception room and me tapping my foot impatiently while she adds some last minute flourish.

And KS - who has never enjoyed very good health - has been out for an entire week with bronchitis and maybe flu on top of all that. Today is my day at home - once a week I stay at home - but today I worry about the office. I don't want KS to come to work if she's sick. It's not going to help her get well and it may infect the office staff. She does have to report the payroll information for Friday's payday. But she could do that from home.

Anyway, it's been harder for me the past week including yesterday while she was out - more work dealing with title binders and/or questions, phone requests, doing settlements and all the post-settlement details. So I'm glad to have today off.