The Eleventh Week (May 25-31): Heat Wave, Dining In, Racism & Protests
Monday, May 25-Wednesday, May 27
We enjoyed our final morning with A, R, F, & C before heading to the airport for our flight home to Sac. The airport was a little busier this morning, perhaps because of folks flying at the end of the holiday weekend. We were surprised to receive a modified service (cans of water, small bags of snack mix) during our Southwest flight, as there had been no service at all on our outbound flight last Thursday. I asked the crew when the change was made and learned that the new service had been implemented last Friday. Interesting. Everything was on time, so we were home and assuaging the kitties by about 2:30pm, giving us plenty of time in the afternoon to do laundry, go through mail, and get ready for the work week. The temperature was already rising, but the house was fairly cool since we had left the a/c on at the default 78 degrees over the weekend in anticipation of coming home to a heat wave.
Since we missed our weekly weekend get-together with E&C, we met up for an early dinner instead at their place. Mr. E and C got takeout from Mas Taco, and E and I both opted for Fox & Goose. Even the short walk to get food and go to their home about four blocks away was quite warm. Yuck! Since it was a work night, we headed home just before 8:30pm and didn't turn off the a/c until the early hours of the morning. I think even the cats were feeling the heat, as evidenced by Caly's expressive sprawling on the couch:
This week marked the return of dining in at several local restaurants, including Iron Horse, Mas Taco, and Fox & Goose. Another bright spot was the re-opening of Cafe Bernardo and the other locations in the Paragary restaurant group along with outdoor seating at Market 515. Due to the heat wave with three days of 100+ degrees, my primary strategy mid-week was to get out early in the day and then stay inside in the a/c as much as possible. I did pick up Starbucks food and coffee for breakfast on Wednesday after my [slow, warm] morning run, and I'm hoping to make that a regular mid-week outing now that the location on R Street is available again.
Thursday, May 28-Sunday, May 31
I noticed some clever critter masks at a nearby apartment building during my post-workout walk on Thursday morning:
I had made masks for two of our resident creatures last week as well, but haven't yet gotten around to creating one for our outdoor reindeer companion.
On Thursday evening, I met up virtually with my friend and former CalSAE colleague B for a chat and tour of his new house. I'm glad that he and K were able to move forward with their home-buying plans in the midst of this pandemic and his job transition. They've definitely got lots of great space and now just will need to figure out how to use it all!
We finished assembling our new patio chairs and side table by the end of the week, just in time to enjoy the outdoor space again as the weather cooled down. These chairs are much more comfortable for lounging with coffee or a cocktail compared to the metal chairs that we use with our outdoor dining set. And we love the new pineapple pillow as both a decorative and functional item.
Saturday started off with brunch at home on the patio followed by blood donation appointments for both of us. Well, for Mr. E at least. For some reason, the process was very backed up and delayed, which has never been an issue before, and I had to leave before I could donate since I had another engagement at 1pm for M's postponed Spring Fling. I also attempted to stop by the bank only to discover that the R Street branch has even further curtailed its Saturday hours to close now at noon (originally 6pm and then previously changed to 4pm). *sigh* Luckily, being at M's and enjoying the small gathering helped to alleviate my morning minor annoyances, and I managed to get to CVS in time to pick up my prescription before the pharmacy counter closed at 5pm.
The evening was a bit odd due to the ramp up of protests, including looting and graffiti, in response to the recent killing of George Flyod in Minneapolis. I had noticed lots of CHP activity in the morning since we're so close to the Capitol, but I hadn't expected the situation to last all day and into the night. We could hear sirens and helicopters circling for several hours and learned later about the destruction to many local businesses on K Street and near DOCO.
On Sunday morning, we ate out at Fox & Goose on the patio. Our first dining out experience since mid-March! The rest of the day was spent on some house projects and reading, and then the afternoon and evening were marked again by more marches, protests, graffiti, sirens, and helicopters. We learned later that groups of volunteers had gathered in the morning to help clean up the damage to local business, and I wish we had known about that activity as we certainly would have foregone our outdoor brunch to participate in that type of unity and community-building effort.
Such a sad, scary, and uncertain time. I truly hope the righteous and justifiable anger and frustration can be turned into solidarity and lead to making real and meaningful changes throughout all of our social, political, and economic systems.
We enjoyed our final morning with A, R, F, & C before heading to the airport for our flight home to Sac. The airport was a little busier this morning, perhaps because of folks flying at the end of the holiday weekend. We were surprised to receive a modified service (cans of water, small bags of snack mix) during our Southwest flight, as there had been no service at all on our outbound flight last Thursday. I asked the crew when the change was made and learned that the new service had been implemented last Friday. Interesting. Everything was on time, so we were home and assuaging the kitties by about 2:30pm, giving us plenty of time in the afternoon to do laundry, go through mail, and get ready for the work week. The temperature was already rising, but the house was fairly cool since we had left the a/c on at the default 78 degrees over the weekend in anticipation of coming home to a heat wave.
Since we missed our weekly weekend get-together with E&C, we met up for an early dinner instead at their place. Mr. E and C got takeout from Mas Taco, and E and I both opted for Fox & Goose. Even the short walk to get food and go to their home about four blocks away was quite warm. Yuck! Since it was a work night, we headed home just before 8:30pm and didn't turn off the a/c until the early hours of the morning. I think even the cats were feeling the heat, as evidenced by Caly's expressive sprawling on the couch:
This week marked the return of dining in at several local restaurants, including Iron Horse, Mas Taco, and Fox & Goose. Another bright spot was the re-opening of Cafe Bernardo and the other locations in the Paragary restaurant group along with outdoor seating at Market 515. Due to the heat wave with three days of 100+ degrees, my primary strategy mid-week was to get out early in the day and then stay inside in the a/c as much as possible. I did pick up Starbucks food and coffee for breakfast on Wednesday after my [slow, warm] morning run, and I'm hoping to make that a regular mid-week outing now that the location on R Street is available again.
Thursday, May 28-Sunday, May 31
I noticed some clever critter masks at a nearby apartment building during my post-workout walk on Thursday morning:
We finished assembling our new patio chairs and side table by the end of the week, just in time to enjoy the outdoor space again as the weather cooled down. These chairs are much more comfortable for lounging with coffee or a cocktail compared to the metal chairs that we use with our outdoor dining set. And we love the new pineapple pillow as both a decorative and functional item.
The evening was a bit odd due to the ramp up of protests, including looting and graffiti, in response to the recent killing of George Flyod in Minneapolis. I had noticed lots of CHP activity in the morning since we're so close to the Capitol, but I hadn't expected the situation to last all day and into the night. We could hear sirens and helicopters circling for several hours and learned later about the destruction to many local businesses on K Street and near DOCO.
On Sunday morning, we ate out at Fox & Goose on the patio. Our first dining out experience since mid-March! The rest of the day was spent on some house projects and reading, and then the afternoon and evening were marked again by more marches, protests, graffiti, sirens, and helicopters. We learned later that groups of volunteers had gathered in the morning to help clean up the damage to local business, and I wish we had known about that activity as we certainly would have foregone our outdoor brunch to participate in that type of unity and community-building effort.
Such a sad, scary, and uncertain time. I truly hope the righteous and justifiable anger and frustration can be turned into solidarity and lead to making real and meaningful changes throughout all of our social, political, and economic systems.
posted by jms | 11:52 AM
1 Comments:
Fatigue is setting in for everyone. If only phase 3 would happen soon and the Healthclubs would open... JT!
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