Today was a much-needed deviation from the normal wet and chilly weather. I was almostcomfortable in my t-shirt, but only if the air didn't move about too much. Olive and I biked over to our lovely (I not not use that word loosely; I really do find Highland Park one green, tree-filled, easy-on-the-eyes place) neighborhood park, but not before wheeling around and giving the oblivious driver of a Home Depot delivery truck a severe talking to for blowing through a stop sign without so much as glancing in our direction. He seemed to not realize that a sign was at the intersection, being too consumed by his delivery location on the opposite corner. I let him have it; I've been nudged before by a motor vehicle while on my bike when the the driver wasn't being as observant as one would hope, and I've let it go, but when Olive is riding with me I have very little patience for folks who aren't paying attention to others on the road. Hopefully next time he'll look.
Anyway, we met up with Kellie and the kids, who passed me on my final ascent to the park. The Highland Park Super Playground was a real treat for Olive, who was enthralled by the seemingly endless network of steps and passages. It will be fun when she's a little older and will be able to play with her cousins, but now she's most content exploring on her own - and by on her own I mean completely independent of anyone else. When I try to steer her to a better area or away from the street she pulls at my hand insistently, then wails if I pick her up. Such is our pattern with parks, I've noticed. Thank goodness for water fountains.
As soon as Olive rose from her morning nap we rode over to the bike shop to have her bike seat installed. It was a quick job and the two of us went out for a test ride as soon as we got back home. I'll have to get Rob to snap some shots when he's home so you can get the full effect of her in motion. And I'm going to have to get used to the change in weight; obviously the balance is a little askew from the 25 or so extra pounds in the rear, but it's nothing I can't handle. It's sort of like biking home, as I did yesterday, with a front basket full of food, work stuff, and a bouquet of flowers, except the consequences of me tipping over are far greater. The consensus: Like her ma, I think she's a fan.
The past fews days here have been of the fabulous variety - warm, breezy, sunny - perfect for bikerides. Not that I've been out on the ol' Trek in a few weeks (it was, until yesterday, locked away in the rear apartment after a temporary tenant moved in and the landlady mistakenly locked us out and away from our remaining stored belongings). Today I became the thrilled new owner of a baby bicycle seat and will take it over to the Trek store as soon as I can to have the boys down there professionally mount it. I've got the instruction manual, but where's the sense in jimmying with this sort of contraption that is meant to safely contain my sweet goon-child when someone whose done it many times over will do it for a nominal fee? I can't begin to say how excited I'm getting just thinking of strapping her in with the little helmet atop her melon; she will be a sight to behold!
We've been getting out on more runs lately, too, and Rob has been taking one for the team and pushing Olive in the jogging stroller alongside me, then bidding me farewell for the rest of my run after he's done a mile. I'm pretty proud of him. I think I just might be able to pull of this race I'm running in two and a half weeks, thanks in large part to the new pair of Saucony Grid Ignition I got two weeks ago. I blame my recent back pain to the shoes I was wearing - New Balance something or others that were also new. I've been running in NBs since the late '90s and they'd always done well by me until this last pair. When I started feeling tension in my achilles tendon I knew something was amiss and immediately commenced the running shoe research which led to my next purchase. They're easily the ugliest pair of running shoes I've had in a long time - sugary-purple and silver, but I can't be bothered now with cosmetic details. I'd wear Disney princess tennies at this point if they promised to get the job done.
One more subject of note: I have just met and fallen hopelessly in love with a house in the neighborhood that is newly on the market. It's a steal at $399K but still very much out of our price range. It has six bedrooms, a pool, was built in 1920, a beautiful lawn, is on my favorite street in Highland Park, and butts up against the Khorey's backyard. I may just have to run another marathon to raise funds to go towards the downpayment. All contributors will get to come and live rent-free for a year!
For the first time in four years I attended church on Easter Sunday. When I lived in Maryland it had become my tradition to take my great-grandmother to church then maybe go out to lunch afterwards. Then I moved to Maine which curtailed our Easter outings. This morning I went for the first time to East Liberty Presbyterian Church with Katrina. It was a beautiful service with songs that I knew (and made me a little weepy at times remembering singing them with Gi-Gi when I'd go to church with her), and a welcoming, diverse congregation, and I'd like to start attending regularly on Wednesday evenings since I normally work on Sunday mornings.
This evening we went to dinner at the new home of Katrina, Shauna, and her husband, Cornelius. Libby and Tucker, friends of theirs I met at church this morning, were also there and we shared a delicious meal of salad that we brought, fruit salad from Libby and Tucker, mashed potatoes and deviled eggs Katrina made, and breakfast sausage and mushrooms by Shauna. Their three-story rowhouse is a dream - light, airy kitchen, lots of fireplaces, a decorative staircase, and large windows. I love that I have friends to visit who live in such a neat place!
Shauna and her sausagey labor of love
Katrina told us all the fill our mouths with food and smile for the camera. Looks like I was the only one who followed directions. I love that foam wallpaper made to look like pressed tin that was used on ceilings in days gone by. My parents had the same kind of stuff in the sunroom in their old house. Nice touch, and nice color, too.
Thursday night was not only a big deal because we went on our first outing together without the Olive since her arrival, but the occasion was to see the Decemberists and Justin Townes Earle at the Benedum Center. Wow, wow, and wow. Katrina was a dear and came to babysit the goon, who had already been put to bed (but because being on the road all day for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday her sleep was thrown off course a little bit and she woke up not long after we left). With it being my fourth time seeing the Decemberists live I knew what to expect, and though I enjoy the music of J.T.E. I was not prepared to be as awestruck as I was. The guy was phenomenal. Channeling Hank Williams circa 1949 like nobody's business, all gangly legs, pointed-toe boots and Tennessee shuffle. It was just him and a fiddler/backup vocalist and they put on a flawless show. After witnessing Earle's booming-yet-melodic twang and mind-blowing guitar work I could've gone home happy but I knew more good stuff was to come. The Decemberists did what they do best by pulling out some of their longer, more epic works (frontman Colin Meloy quipped that, "Whoever wrote the set list must've thought we were a "prog" band. We're a folk band," referring to the group's recent departure from their prog(ressive) rock reputation in favor a simpler, more folksy sound. I hadn't heard much off of their latest album, The King is Dead, released early this year, but it's obvious that my favorite, R.E.M., was a big influence; they even pulled in Peter Buck, the band's guitarist, to sit in on a few tracks on the album. During their performance on one of these numbers, "Down By the Water", just when I was thinking of the particular R.E.M. album that would feature that song, Rob leaned over and said, "I can just imagine them singing FIRE! right now." And he was exactly right. Take a listen to the video clip I've included and tell me that this isn't a total "The One I Love" knockoff. Tell me. I would've taped more of the show but I was being a renegade and disobeying the Benedum's "No Recording Devices or Cameras" policy. I didn't want to push my luck. They played quite a few of the new songs, which I knew they'd do, and in my preoccupation with being a mother I neglected my normal pre-concert homework of getting to know the album front and back. They did do one of my favorites: "The Bagman's Gambit", a really, really cool song about star-crossed lovers - one working for the U.S. government and the other a Soviet spy. Meloy has a real gift for intelligent songwriting that veers refreshingly from the trite, and his language is so creative, if not over-the-top at times. It was little wonder that their set was only fourteen songs long; their first encore was the just-under-twenty-minutesThick as a Brick-esque five-part suite, The Tain. I'm still not sure what it's about (the theft of a cow, or so I'm led to believe) but I am sure that it's amazing. They capped off the night with a tender "June Hymn", an ode to early summer, and it brought a tear to my eye. It was oh, so very nice to attend a concert again. I've come a long way from the days when I'd catch at the very least a show a week, but it's good to dip my feet into the waters from time to time.
Feeling like a tourist in the theater district
Get a load of this chandelier! Twenty feet tall. I love it.
This post is going to be rife with visual aids, so it will hopefully make up for the recent ones where I skimped on photos.
Since I was off work for four whole days this week Olive and I zipped down to Maryland on Tuesday morning after dropping off Rob at the aviary. I was doubtful that the trip would happen since the goon was feeling less than perky the evening before with a low-grade fever, but when 5:30 am rolled around she had most certainly come 'round. We only had two days to pack in all the visits that we wanted to have (and still missed a few, regrettably), so there was a lot of time spent in the car. Expertly gauging and avoiding the DC beltway traffic, we went to visit Sam, my college roommate and 7 month-old son, Grant, who is still wonderfully bald as day is long. Sam's mother, brother, and stepfather were visiting from Massachusetts, so it was really good to get to see all of them, too. Her husband, Howard, got home from work right as we were getting ready to leave. Always a treat. Olive was delighted with Grant, gently touching his velvety head and giving him sweet kisses. I'm glad to have had the cats because I think they've taught her to handle other living things with care.
Wednesday was gorgeous and 80 degrees. Ben graced us with his presence, and when Olive and I went to greet him in the driveway it was clear from her immediate grin that he was no stranger to her. I'm looking forward to seeing the many photographs he snapped of her out on the deck. When she rose from her afternoon nap Ben left and she and I left for Baltimore, first to visit Amaryllis, the jewelry store where I used to work, then see Christina and Teresa, two of my old coworkers from there. Allie, my beloved old boss, was working and it was delightful to see her as always. Olive wasn't at all interested in the jewelry in the cases but in the fax machine on the floor - very telling. It was so great to be back in my old city and see my friends, some of whom I've known for nearly ten years. I'm always a little sad that I don't live there any longer and probably won't again. It's just not a place I see raising my family and I've already spent a good part of my life there, so I can be satisfied to leave it at that, though when driving through the northern sections of the city en route to Teresa's house in Towson I was tempted to think about signing up for the marathon in the fall. We'll see how the one here goes in three weeks before I commit to anything I can't handle.
Getting comfortable at the in-laws' That's him, the boyfriend. Uncle Trev Buggy and Sam's mom, "Oma"
Trying to make sense of Christina's hair
The handsome rowhouses of Baltimore's Charles Village
