Third time's the charm, they say. I've started this post twice before, and got interrupted. The story of my life. So I'm trying for the third time, maybe this time it'll get done. Fingers crossed.
It's been absolutely miserably hot here the last week or so, unreal in as much as in all my years of living here, I don't think there's been anything like it, in terms of heat, humidity, and duration. Going outside is kind of like wading through a pot of boiling soup. Not my idea of fun.
Of course, this hasn't stopped Pablo from wanting to be outside, although it has slowed him down a bit. Thank goodness. I don't think I could manage a mile or two walk in the afternoon when the weather is like this. And while I can carry him home, I'm afraid he can't do the same for me.
So we've been slogging along, sometimes literally. Sopping wet feels familiar now.
Today it was finally not so bad, and I shut off the a/c. Give it and my electric bill a rest. Which was fine until I somehow got the bug in my head to go out after dinner and trim back some of the blasted decorative grass that fronts my property. Pretty, yes. But I am tired of feeling like I need a machete to get up the front steps.
Of course, one thing leads to another while in the yard, and I eventually wound up clearing out all the crud that was growing wild and uninvited in the front sections of the front yard, where the slope is steep and I need cleats to not slide down it. So now I'm sopping wet from that (it isn't COOL out, it just isn't boiling hot).
And of course I decided in the process that I need to go back to the store and buy another flat of hens and chicks, because one is not enough to fill the area I just cleared out. Tomorrow's project. It's ok, tho, I needed to get more for the back yard as well. Sigh.
In my spare time, of which I have surprisingly little (I thought I would be working less, it's off-season in my business, but no, I'm working more than I did last summer), I've decided to try to snag some photos of some of the nice features of the neighborhood; the ones that make me smile when I see them, out on a walk. It's not easy. It seems people are not so comfortable with a person walking around taking pictures of their stuff. But I shall persevere, and try to post some here from time to time.
This is the first one I'm really almost satisfied with the photo of. Yah, it's national end a sentence with a preposition week, get over it. It's across the street and up the block a bit. I was hoping to get some of the little globule thingys being red, but it seems the red ones fall off once they turn red, so it could be a matter of split second timing to catch it just right. The plant is a Japanese dogwood, I've been told, and I absolutely love the lantern, which stands on a stone post, about chest high (for me, and I'm short). This particular house also has a brick driveway, which I absolutely love, but driveway pictures can be kind of blah.
So, other than sweating and working, that's what I've been up to lately. That, and a jaunt yesterday into the West Village, to meet a new client. I did a little bit of walking around, too, since the area has it's nice touches (and has yet to be overtaken by glass and steel monoliths). So this is my favorite stoop:
If I had to live in a city, I would like to have these guys guarding my stoop. If you don't know "stoop," Google it.
And that's all, folks. Happy last days of summer, looking forward to opera season!
