{monday mishmash}

Skyway Drive 032

Monday, Monday. Jackhammers out front, trying to catch up with my brain, and expecting my internet to go out any second. New old house stuff continues, as today we get a new phone line dug. Apparently the last time it was done was when the house was remodeled, sometime near the year I was born… yeah. So, I shall enjoy a moment of time-wasting as I clear my ears from the sound of Driveway Destruction.

I try hard to avoid soda, but I love weird ones like this cucumber drink, which my mother gave me. Apparently someone gave it to her from a store called BevMo, previously Beverages And More, but those few extra syllables were JUST. TOO. HARD.

Since Tech Boy has now two jobs – one in the US and one in the UK (we are nothing if not happy with our dualities, apparently), I have a little extra time evenings on my own. Fortunately, there’s the Cybils which, at this time of year, means I have no free time anyway. Every year it seems such a decadent idea – books! Reading to my heart’s content with no interruptions! Because I have to! And then, when I see that I have to read one hundred forty-seven sixty-five two hundred and nine books between now and December 31st, decadent delight turns to, Aaaaaaaargh! Why did I say I’d do this again!?

(I need to photograph The Stack on my reading couch. Yes. I have a reading couch; what of it? Other people have eating tables and things… it makes perfect sense.)

We had thunder and a brief cloudburst on Thursday night, and I was at first convinced the sound was someone dragging their cans to the curb — until it sounded like herds of people drag-racing their cans around the block. It was so strange to hear the thunder rolling like a bowling ball bouncing down a lane. As it was explained to me, rolling thunder – as opposed to its more percussive explosion sounding cousin – sounds roll-y because it’s the result of cloud-to-cloud strikes. The sound differs because of the distance between clouds and the distances between US and the clouds – we hear the compression waves differently than we do for a cloud-to-earth, right-on-top-of-you strike. It’s like the difference between saying “Hello” in a crowded room and saying “Hello” over the Grand Canyon. More space, more room for sound to bounce. Anyway, it was really neat to even hear thunder – in our area of Scotland, heavy storms were not the norm. We’d have a real rattle-up periodically, but for the most part, the rain was just endless dampening – a middle-of-the-road, endless pattering. The dreich could be dispiriting, whilst an actual storm, with wind and hail and a real gullywasher bucketing down – those are rather exhilarating, and I’m looking forward to more of them, now that I don’t have to walk around in them!

Skyway Drive 033

Here’s this week’s Strange Discovery: it’s an Easter egg… which was stuck in a rose bush. We have a lot of roses which haven’t been well cared-for, so they’re growing out of control, out from the rootstock, etc. — it’s kind of a thorny mess. We’ve been systematically whacking them back, which is why it took us awhile to find this little bit of plastic wedged into the largest of the bushes. No, I am NOT opening it; I am saving it for Bean, since she feels brave. I’m sure it’s nothing but melted jelly beans and a puddle of chocolate egg… at least I hope it’s that benign. ::shudder::

BREAKING NEWS: Our possessions apparently will make it to a WAREHOUSE IN SF on Wednesday, at the latest. Hope springs eternal.

As for the Mr. Q. — it was a little sweet, a little fresh, and a lot cucumber-y. It was distinctly odd, in a good way.

4 Replies to “{monday mishmash}”

  1. 147 books! Holy wow! That is dedication.

    We get thunderstorms pretty regularly here, even in winter sometimes, and I do love them. At night, I always get up to watch them.

    Have your possessions arrived? I hope so. Perhaps this is covered in another post here, though. Back to reading…

  2. the two of you can play the Secret Garden as you prune your roses, constantly asking each other if they are wick or not…

    I will think hopeful thoughts about your possessions!!!

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