errands and gardens and stairs, oh my!

2006-04-21 - 9:31 a.m.

Ah, television has so many joys, but in preparation for "turn off your TV" week next week, I did not watch very much this week. Instead I was busy! Running errands! Drooling over the garden! Trekking from Foggy Bottom to Georgetown!

Yesterday we rode into work with our neighbor Y, and then faithfully rode back home with her. She works in Georgetown, so R and I got dinner over in Foggy Bottom and then walked over to Georgetown. It was a gorgeous night for a walk--spring in DC is divine, and we hoofed it along the waterfront. All Billie Holliday and Marlon Brando references aside, there are actually few things I love to do in DC more than walk along the waterfront between Foggy Bottom and Georgetown. We simply do not do so enough. Once we reached Georgetown, however, we got to climb the Exorcist stairs. So named because of their famous presence in that movie, they might well have earned their moniker from the fact that you feel as though you have undergone an exorcism once you have reached the top of them. Still, I made it up without succumbing to an asthma attack or embarrassing myself too much, so it's all good.

Once on campus, it was nice to be back in that bustle of university life. The flyers for various protests, the students hustling around. Then I realized the date. April 20. 4/20. Boys and girls, that campus was far more active than any California university would ever have been at 8 p.m. on 4/20. Just goes to show you the many subtle differences between East Coast and West Coast life.

Plans for this weekend include--putting in a goddamn patio! Woot! I raise my hands into the air, and wave them about in a highly careless fashion! I just do not care about my hands in the air, for I shall have a patio! A PA-TI-O!!! Albeit a very tiny one. We really need to get this done before the rain starts up, so we can stop tracking mud into the house. Also, I have dreams about getting a little patio set and having dinners al fresco. Al fresco, damnit! With my citronella torches and candles burning all about the garden, enjoying a nice thick steak fresh off the grill with some herbage straight from the garden. The only way it would be more satisfying would be if we'd raised and slaughtered the cow ourselves--and we simply don't have room for that. Plus I think it is a violation of health codes, although I am not certain. Also plus--we would so totally get attached to the cow and not be able to kill him/her.

My garden is looking pretty good, and I think the majority of my plants are in--for the first part of summer, at least. R's grass is thick and lush, and often we'll go out in back in the evening to do some watering and gloat. "This yard is gorgeous," I'll say.

"Yeah. Look at that lawn."

"Yeah, that's awesome. But look at my pansies. Look how huge they are!"

"Yeah, they're great. Look at how green the lawn is, how thick."

"Oh, totally. But look at the herbs. Look at how much the mint has grown and how thick the cilantro is getting."

"That's nice. But does that pot have to be right there on the lawn? Because I have a tough time getting the grass to grow there, and I want it to be completely uniform."

"But if we have that pot there, why do you need the grass to grow under the pot? Besides, there's no place else the pot can go to get enough sun." And so on and so forth. It's absurd, the way we fish for compliments. But I have to say, the yard is unrecognizable from when we moved in close to two years ago, and that's due to the both of us.

�

previous - next

powered by SignMyGuestbook.com