Saturday, September 1, 2012

Pat By Moonlight


Here's Pat, our balcony spider, by the light of Thursday's full moon. You can see the concentric, shimmering rings of her web. Halloween in August, right?

I had a great day yesterday, walking about 3.5 miles from New Cross to Elephant & Castle in South London. Beautiful weather, lots of great storefronts, some unexpected street art, some good street photography "moments" -- all the ingredients were there. I stopped at an Ethiopian restaurant for lunch, a simple, one-room place called Enat Guada on Old Kent Road. No menu that I could see, just a mildly surprised-looking proprietor who promised to bring me the vegetarian selection. I hadn't had Ethiopian food in ages, and I loved tearing off little pieces of injera bread and scooping up the food with my fingers.

I got lots of work done yesterday, too. The new job is going well, but there is a constant, low level of tension that goes with working at home and being on call, and thus never really being "off." I was even checking e-mail during my walk. Maybe I need to set boundaries.

Dave and I are continuing to watch "Breaking Bad" on Netflix. We love it. For those who have seen it: Last night we just found out what that stuffed animal floating in the pool was all about. Certainly not what I expected.

And then, last night, a stroke of misfortune. I was flossing my teeth when my gold inlay popped out, clattering into the sink. I cursed, instantly imagining the hours of pain I was about to endure from a sensitive, exposed tooth -- and where does one find a dentist in London at 10 p.m. on a Friday? Fortunately, the inlay didn't slide down the drain -- that would have been a disaster -- and surprisingly there's been no pain at all. Once I got over my dismay, which took a few hours, I slept like a baby. This morning I'm even having coffee, though I'm trying to drink it using just one side of my mouth, which is a challenge. Starting at 9 a.m. I have to track down an emergency dentist through the National Health Service. Not how I imagined spending my Saturday!

Finally, at least one of you wanted to see the medieval carving of the elephant from the South Lopham church that I recently mentioned. I have a photo on Flickr here. That creature looks less like an elephant than a duck with hooves!

9 comments:

Lynne said...

OMG!!! Amazing photo of Pat! So very cool! Great job!

Our moon was beautiful last night as well. We just sat on our deck and drank in the moonlight.

Treasure Pat while you have him. Tomorrow he might be gone. I miss Charlotte, she was part of my day.

How unnerving to have your inlay just pop out like that. You must have caught it just right with your floss. Fingers crossed you find a good ER dentist.

Thanks for posting the photo of the elephant pew (since I did want to see it). Very cool. Kind of an abstract view of an elephant, but so interesting. Nice job of capturing it too with that lovely shallow depth of field. ;) Some of your other pics in that stream are great as well. Big camera or little P&S?

Ms. Moon said...

Our spiders seem to have all moved. Sigh. I miss them.
Good luck on the inlay. I would have cried. Just cried.
That elephant? Charming. Who needs reality?

Reya Mellicker said...

Sorry about your tooth! Dentistry is no one's favorite pastttime.

Your walk sounds glorious. As you know, walking my ass off, taking pics, is central to a happy state of mind.

What did you decide to do with your Moroccan bracelet?

Reya Mellicker said...

Oh - and - the spider pic is truly exquisite!

Butternut Squash said...

Fantastic photo! I will have to show my boys. They are both afraid of and fascinated by spiders.

The Bug said...

Love the Pat picture - so cool!

Sorry about your tooth - I hope you were able to get someone to see it today.

Linda Sue said...

Love your take on conservatives and liberals- most accurate. And , yes, be very glad that you are not in the states right now- even the sunset is irritated.
Glad you posted about Pat- Good news- I am painting the ceilings and who showed up? JIMMY spider's grandson! I couldn't wait to tell you! I told him about Pat but must have frightened him -he has disappeared into the invisible zone again. How does he do that? There one moment and gone the next!
Again you have left me with London envy- your walks, and everything London. *sigh*- I heard on NPR today some guy talking about finding the country on this planet that resonates with your deep being- figure it out - how to be there , work, live, be...because the universe insists upon it. Hmmmm...

Elizabeth said...

Steve, that photo is CRAZY! You must be proud of yourself.

Good luck with the tooth. :(

Steve Reed said...

Thanks, everybody! I was happy with the photo, too -- it was the result of about 20 experiments, all with me crouching behind a potted plant.

Lynne, the photos at the church were taken with the big camera. (As was the photo of Pat.)

Ms Moon: Maybe the spiders hide when the barometer indicates an approaching storm? In which case they should be coming out again, right...?

Reya, I still have the pieces of the bracelet, but I probably won't try to get it fixed. I think its time is past. I may just sell the scrap!

Butternut: Hi! Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the compliment on the pic. :)

Bug: More tooth stories to follow!

LindaSue: Great! I'm glad Jimmy's grandson is back! And yes, I do think we need to find the place that best suits us, whether another country, city, whatever. I was pretty well suited for NYC, too, I think, but I love it here!

Elizabeth: I was proud, and I think Pat was annoyed. :)