Friends and Strangers

Another busy day yesterday, spent almost entirely off the computer. Obviously I blogged in the morning and answered some comments, but after that I didn't subject myself to the digital realm. Life like it used to be! We all need it now and then.

I got some laundry going and took Dave's concert tux to the cleaners. On the way back, I passed the abandoned street sign, still standing forlornly on a nearby corner where it's been for the last six months or so. You may remember I tried bringing this sign to the attention of the authorities in several ways, reporting it both to the local roads authority and to the rubbish collectors. It disappeared into bureaucratic limbo with the former and the latter said they couldn't do anything about it.

So I thought, "I am going to do something about this *#$@% sign." I picked the whole thing up -- easel, sandbag and all -- and carried it up the hill, around the corner and down the hill again to a traffic island near West End Green where the council has installed large bins for recycling.

And I left it there.

Because this is a much busier area, frequented by public works employees, my hope is it will be noticed and disposed of properly. (Yes, I cheekily left it in front of a "No Dumping" sign, but I don't see how this could be called dumping since it's government property in the first place.)

Anyway, then I came home and mowed the lawn.

Here's Olga gamely (and stiffly) chasing her Kong toy through the newly mowed grass. She definitely doesn't move with the ease and energy of her youthful self. I used to be able to wing that Kong long distances and she would take off after it like a shot. I think she still wants to, on some level, but her body is telling her, "Why?!"

Don't you love our little patch of unmowed meadow with all the teasel plants? I can't wait to see how it looks this summer.

Finally I went into town to meet some friends for a theater outing. We went to see a musical called "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)." It's a terrific show with two charming and energetic performers, and I enjoyed it a lot -- especially with all the New York references, having lived there for ten years. The set was amazing -- two piles of suitcases that stayed on stage the entire time, but rotated and became a hotel room, a restaurant, a nightclub and other venues. Brilliant! I hope the show goes far.

Afterwards I went to dinner with my former boss, who's running in the London marathon today. She's been substituting for several months at school for another librarian who was out on maternity leave, but now that gig is up and she's returning to the states on Tuesday. Who knows whether I'll ever see her in person again. She invited us to come and see her in Minnesota but Dave and I are never in that part of the country so I don't see it as very likely. A strange thought.

(Photos, both taken yesterday: A Soho doorway, top, and crowds on Regent Street, bottom.)