The Avocado Story

It seems almost supernatural that on the very day I wrote about Tucker Carlson, he got FIRED from Fox News! That was the best present ever. Thanks, Universe, even though my birthday isn't for seven more months.

I promised yesterday to tell you why I moved the avocado back inside.

For one thing, winter is giving us a last gasp or two. Temperatures tonight were originally forecast to be in the 30's F, even just a few degrees from freezing. Now the weather folks are saying 40º F, so apparently it won't get as cold as they first thought.

But that's not the main reason. The main reason is hinted at by the photo above.

Dave and I looked out the window on Sunday and saw a squirrel climbing around in the avocado. We were amused until I realized it was eating something. The tree is budding at the top, with nascent new branches emerging, and I feared for their safety, so I opened the door and chased the squirrel away.

That evening, though, I looked outside and saw THIRTEEN perfectly healthy avocado leaves littering the ground around the tree, and when I examined it I could see they had been snipped off as neatly as if I'd done it with scissors. Rodent teeth!

So yes, I brought it in again, to save it from the squirrels. My hope is if I wait another couple of weeks to move it back outside, temperatures will be warmer and maybe the squirrels won't be as hungry (?). There may be no scientific foundation for that latter belief.

Last night I met up with my co-worker Colin in Camden Town for a concert at a venue called the Roundhouse. First I found a pub and sat with my book and a pint, waiting for Colin to join me. The mural above was painted on the side of the pub.

There's something pretty great about a cozy pub, sitting by the fire, when it's chilly and rainy outside.

Colin and I had a decent but unspectacular dinner at Nando's, a fast-food chicken chain, before proceeding to the theater. That's what the stage looked like from our seats. We were there to see Rodrigo & Gabriela, a pair of Mexican guitarists, but the picture above shows the excellent opening singer, Chisara Agor, and her accompanists.

Here's just a brief clip of Rodrigo & Gabriela, to give you a taste of their music. They're truly astonishing guitarists, creating rhythms and all sorts of unusual sounds and effects from their instruments. They used some background recordings as well, and sometimes the stage would go dark and these low tones would begin, and I almost expected David Copperfield to step out from behind the curtains and make them disappear.

Of course the minute they began playing, a HUGE man sat down right in front of me and I spent the rest of the concert trying to see around his HUGE head. Still, it was a great show.

Anyway, now I'm off to work. I have another concert with Colin at the Roundhouse tonight!