In keeping with self’s morbid pre-occupations this morning, self is now having dinner in front of HDTV, watching an MSNBC program on “Life Inside San Quentin.” Self expected all the guards to be brutish-looking, like walk-ons from “Deliverance.” But they aren’t. In fact, they look perfectly normal. (But, who would want to work as a guard at a state prison? Self thinks that would probably rank as one of the most depressing jobs, maybe just a step above strawberry picker).
Self landed on this program because she got tired of watching Fox News (strictly for the entertainment value, mind you), where the top news story of the day (notwithstanding killings at Northern Illinois University) was the murder of a Manhattan therapist, in her office, by an unidentified man. Man is still at large (with a suitcase apparently full of the following items, and self knows not how this information was obtained: rope, women’s clothing, and butcher knives), and self is sooo glad she does not live in Manhattan at the moment.
But it was a totally, totally gorgeous day! Self did not have to teach a class, so she spent most of the day in the garden, digging in the soil and weeding (manicure ruined beyond repair; self handy with the acetone and the cotton balls this evening). Today, she planted the following:
- one “Leatherleaf” fern
- one Helleborus “Courage”
- two white Japanese anemones
- one white “mophead” hydrangea
Yes, self was getting mighty tired of seeing all those bare spots underneath the trees and hopes that these plants will survive and propagate and make everything look lush and really beautiful. It was really quiet in the backyard because today self didn’t hear any of the neighbors: not the Baggetts, a family with three kids; nor Claudio who is from Italy (The third neighbor doesn’t count because the two men who live in that house never, ever go into their backyard, and the last time self peeked over the fence, she saw it was full of weeds almost as high as self)
Self also e-mailed Fr. Miguel Bernad, who sent her a very nice letter in January. This is a man who is 93 or thereabouts, and still has the energy to write and correspond with former students. What a treasure!
She was going to see a movie (either “Persepolis” or “The Bucket List” — she is saving “Definitely, Maybe” to watch with niece G, who is back at Stanford now, after spending the fall in Oxford, England), but spent all her cash at Redwood City Nursery, buying two beautiful, bronze-leaved Loropetum chinensis.
Hubby said he’d be home late, so self made herself dinner of tortellini with pesto sauce. She was inspired to cut oregano from a bush growing in her garden; this she chopped up with some red pepper. Then, she folded the mixture in with the tortellini and the pesto sauce. Mmmm, delish!
Life really can’t get much better than this, dear blog readers. Self fervently hopes this is only the start of what will be a loooong string of similar days, in 2008.
Kanlaon 