Nature Tuesday

 

PA spring

Forgive my lapse

Following Spring Break, things got nuts. Let's play catch-up in my world since I haven't kept to my resolutions to "getting back to blogging!" 

• I attended a writer's conference on the opposite coast for three days. I traveled with and shared a room with a friend from my local writer's group. One thing I learned? That motels no longer clean your room unless you ask for that at registration. We learned this after tossing our used towels into a wet bathtub. Luckily for us, we were given new sets upon asking. Several new sets! Because apparently, the front desk workers don't communicate with the housekeeping staff. 

• Darcy is leaving the nest to spread her wings. Since living costs have more than doubled in our area, she is doing this with a roommate. After a year, they'll have paid out in rent roughly the same amount people save for a downpayment on a house! It's crazy! She has decided not to take her twin bed from home, so she is currently mattress shopping. Oleg and I tagged along for a late afternoon of furniture/mattress shopping, where I came up with a business model for one mattress store. I suggested he have "couples evenings" where people could spend the night trying out a mattress. He and I discussed the pros and cons (they'd bring their own bedding/he'd have to pay an employee overnight) while the other two focused on the task at hand. Alas, no purchase was made, and the owner decided my business proposal wasn't doable.

• My good friend lost her spouse after an 18-year-long battle with incurable cancer. I flew to Pennsylvania for the funeral. One where everyone but the governor of PA attended. I stayed with the family, and I hope I helped in some little way. The weather was finicky, going from 84 degrees into the low thirties with sleet and snow. We spent a lot of time enjoying cocktails on the back patio every evening, and I discovered a quality rum I am now searching for here at home. Meals were brought to her most evenings (and some mornings), and she had enough flower arrangements to plant a botanical garden. She is surrounded by many friends and family and has tons of support, but after 18 years of hanging tough, it's a damn shame.

• Returning home after a week away, I discovered no one had clean clothes, noticed the dirty kitchen floor and dust on the furniture, or bothered to repair things that somehow ended up broken.  

• After twenty-plus years of staring at the same bedroom light fixture, I announced it was time for a new one. A few days later, the switch broke, forcing Tom to concede. Somehow I talked him into a new fan/light combo he installed that afternoon. It comes with a remote that he attached above our light switch while I was in PA. I'm sure he hoped this would deter me from increasing the fan's rotation. But he forgets that he usually goes to bed before me, so thus far, it hasn't been an issue.

• Grammy has moved! She decided at Christmas it was time to move into an independent living facility, and she and her daughter found a nice one not far from where she lived. She is settled in her home with her baby grand piano, and if she leaves the door open, residents flock to hear her play. We're pretty sure she will be running the place before too long. 

• I lost a massive chunk of my writing when something happened to my account on a paid site. I did not panic. I'm proud of that. Instead, I had several email communications with a nice young man, and while I was off in PA, it was fixed!  

• Madison and I went to Orlando for two nights. She met up with a friend she met online during the pandemic. I went along to make sure she wouldn't disappear! We stayed at a Wyndham I've never been to, and it was very quiet. I don't think they have enough employees and aren't booking people, but I can't confirm that. Still, it was a pleasant couple of days. She left me at the unit. I wrote and had a breakthrough on my chapter that's been bothering me for months. 

Now, it's back to reality. I've spent the last few days making up for lost time--cleaning, laundry, and going through emails, etc. I'll photo dump in my next post!