Crystal Blue Skies and Aging Celebrities

Here's how it looked on the St. John's Wood High Street yesterday around lunchtime, when I went to Snappy Snaps to drop off some negatives to be scanned. I was captivated by all that bright reflected light on the pavement. Our skies have been crystal clear for several days, which is why it's been so cold -- no insulating layer of cloud cover. That's supposed to change today, when we enter a period of cloudiness, rain and possible snow.

The sun has been wonderful, even though it's hardly been sunbathing weather.

These cranes are part of the St. John's Wood Square development, which is going up behind these buildings. I've mentioned it before here and here -- it's on the site of an old military barracks and stable, which have been torn down.

The negatives I'm having scanned are from an envelope I found at my stepmother's labeled "Stephen's pictures." I don't remember taking them but they match the film format of my old camera, so they could be mine. They appear to be pictures taken at my stepmother's old apartment in Tampa, where she lived when she met and married my father -- probably from 1975 or early '76.

With these clear skies and low temperatures, my domestic engineering campaign known as "Operation Guacamole" has been underway at full capacity. It's 22º F out there right now (-5.5º C) and has been for several hours -- and will be for several more. This is a killing freeze. But the chicken-coop heater is chugging away inside the avocado's shroud, given an extra boost by the halogen lamp, and the temperature inside the wrapping is allegedly somewhere 50º F and 66º  F, at least according to the readout on the heater. I'm skeptical of the accuracy of that readout, and I'm sure it's much colder in the farther reaches of the shroud, but at least it's not freezing in there.

The next step is preparing for snow. Last night I taped panels of bubble wrap between the layers of the shroud over the parts of the tree where snow is likely to settle. This is just an extra step to prevent snow from contacting the leaves. On the highest parts of the tree I had to tape the panels on the outside, and even then it was quite a clumsy job because even standing on a chair I can't reach the top of the avocado. But I did my best.

At night it glows, illuminating the living room. It's not unpleasant -- kind of like a weird garden sculpture. By the time precipitation comes the air temperature should be above freezing, so I'll disconnect and remove all the electrics for safety.

Honestly. I am insane.

On another topic: Five years ago today, I did a post called "Who's Still Alive?" in which I discussed aging show-business figures. I named 17 of the oldest I could come up with. In the five years since, all those people have died except four: Eva Marie Saint, who is now 101; Dick Van Dyke, who is 100; Mel Brooks, who is 99; and the relatively youthful Tina Louise, who is 91. (Tina was included mainly for humor's sake, because I posted about her early in my blogging career and that post got a lot of hits. I pledged to mention Tina Louise every day, and for a few days thereafter I did!)