Weekend Meditation in Orange

I took these photos on my lunch break yesterday, when I walked north of school to no particular destination. I bought my lunch at school as usual, put it in a brown bag and took it out to enjoy the day. But then I had a little trouble finding a place to eat -- I wound up sitting on a bench at the main entrance of a big, architecturally uninteresting council estate. At least I was outside with some time to myself.

That's one thing I miss about working. As much as I like the companionship of others, I also miss time on my own, which I had in abundance before I got this job. Now my only quiet moments are the mornings, when I write my blog and when Dave is either still asleep (on weekends) or already off to school.

Olga and I have already had an exciting morning. Her stomach is upset for some reason -- she probably ate something weird while out with her dog-walker -- and that has meant a certain amount of rug-washing. (Never mind the details.) She and I went for a short walk, and I had to make an early-morning grocery run for milk -- so I also popped in to a little cafe and bought a cinnamon roll, a pain-au-chocolat and some fresh figs for Saturday breakfast.

We got a huge new TV monitor at work, so late yesterday afternoon -- when the library was basically empty -- I used it to view my favorite photos from the past year. I'm thinking about putting my next book together, and what I should include and what I should leave out. It was cool seeing them on a wall-sized TV! Of course, a parent came in and commented on how nice they were, and right at that moment this photo came up in my automated slideshow, and I thought, "Hmmmm....maybe some of these aren't appropriate for school!"