Several Types of Recovery

When I took my walk up to Hendon a few weeks ago, I passed this restaurant in Childs Hill. I had no idea we had a Uyghur restaurant in the area. I couldn't even say what Uyghurs eat. (According to this restaurant review, kebabs, pilaf, dumplings and noodles, among other things. I guess the restaurant moved since that article was written.)

Well, today's the day -- my first back at school since March! The kids aren't returning yet, so for the next ten days it will probably just be me and a couple of co-workers in the library trying to straighten things up for the coming year. We have a lot of straightening up to do. The school's closure last spring was so rushed and (at least in the library) crazy, and there's been construction during the summer to make the place more resistant to infection transmission -- so there's a lot to recover from.

I'm not nervous about going back, strangely. In fact I'm looking forward to it. I never thought I'd be glad to see the end of summer vacation, but after all, we've basically been home for the last five months. It wasn't all free time -- we were working remotely during the spring -- but being unable to travel and even take day trips, I still feel like I've been trapped on the couch (and in a straightjacket) all that time.

It poured rain yesterday -- more rain than I've seen in weeks and weeks. I tried to look up how much we got but my normal weather website's rain gauge is out of order, and others were strangely reticent when it comes to what's happened in the past. All I could find were future forecasts. Anyway, it was a lot -- and it was also a bit chilly -- 66º F (19º C) at 4:30 p.m. I was very happy.

The rain didn't deter the gardeners next door, who were out with their noisy power tools in the afternoon. I would have thought running them in the rain would be a safety hazard.

Oh, speaking of the garden, remember that sad canna lily I ordered? Well, this (above) is what it looks like now. STILL SAD, right?! I had it sitting next to the bird feeder, where you may remember it was overturned a month ago. Well, I belatedly realized that the pigeons were also feasting upon it and tearing it apart. So I moved the pot onto the patio where I'm hoping it will recover. This plant is cursed!

I picked the last of our blackberries yesterday -- undersized and tart -- and put them on my cereal. That's it for the year. How quickly the season passes!

Olga went out with her dog-walker as usual, but she was not happy, having to go in the rain. When she got back home we gave her a bath and she retreated beneath the pink blanket to recover. Such a drama queen. 

My return to school today and Dave's return next week will mean a big adjustment for Olga. She'll be back to spending weekday mornings alone. She may appreciate the additional nap time!