Into the Wild Wood and Home Again

Raining, but warm. I'll take it. I need a day to lounge, to bake, and just hang out. And in a few minutes, Holly will be here, and I hope she wants a lazy day.  The day started at 5:30 when I opened the  blinds upstairs, looked out, and saw a HUGE bear. I mean, we know its been here for months, raiding trash and generally being a nuisance. But my goodness, I had not seen it live, and there it was. He (and we believe it's a he) is a wide-body bruin, to be sure. If G had the deck door curtain open, he would have had a front row seat while eating breakfast. We don't have trash out, and the feeders are pulled in at night (and will not be put out today). Meg's trash got hit last night and again this morning though. What a mess. Stupid bear. And before the lecture begins, there is absolutely nowhere else for her to put the trash -- no shed, no garage, no door on the breezeway (not that any of those things stop a determined and hungry bear). Ammonia and ratchet straps have bee...

Sunday, cool temps this morning, but it promises to be lovely later. I sure hope so.  Yesterday, after I completely wasted well over an hour and lost my mind, I gave up on the tax forms and called the professionals. I got an appointment immediately, and the nice lady at HR Block is fixing my errors --and yes, they are mine-- and we will refile the documents. What an ordeal. It used to be pretty easy to fill in the 1040 and move on with your day, but not so much now. I will never do them myself again. I teach English , as I tell people, for a reason . The worst part is, the directions to fill out the form didn't agree with the form, and that gets me irate. So, I gave up on that. Sometimes you just have to. The rest of the day was really good. Groceries went well, and I made a pretty dinner of a purchased shrimp ring, french rolls, and a caprese salad that was photo-worthy. Our tomatoes are coming in well, and it featured the bright yellow and deep red, coupled with locally-produced ...

I got up this morning a little groggy, but determined to confront the form that the IRS says I didn't fill out (which is true) that shows the math leading to the number that reflects something about HSA stuff. UGH. I am not at all comfortable with this. I paid for the use of the HR Block fill-and-print thingy, but I didn't spring for the Premium version-- and thus, I have this paperwork to do. And somehow they lost (!?) the copies of our W2 forms. What the actual hell.  Instead, I ended up revising two new poems, one of which is the anchor poem for the manuscript I'm working on. Words, even when they are being resistant, are a hell of a lot more understandable than government forms.  So yeah, that's how I'm starting my Saturday. Today is our 39th anniversary, too. My goal, other than surviving this stupid paperwork, is to head to the grocery store. Yes, there are a few other chores, but those are flexible enough that if I don't do them, there's always tomorr...

Brr. It is 49 degrees, and of course, this is the "Fun Friday" at the pool to celebrate the end of swimming lessons. I'm pretty sure that "I must find out for myself" Holly will want to go, so we'll go. I just think she might be a little cold. So be it. I'll bring her sweatshirt.  Other than that, it's a typical day. I, for one, would much rather it warmed up-- I still have not spent a lot of time on the deck. I need to. I'm feeling almost panicky about the start of school --too soon, too soon-- and I don't feel at all excited about anything much. I'm just dog-assed tired.  I'm going into Year 40.  Can you believe this? Forty years of getting ramped up to try to lead recalcitrant teenagers to the promised land of written and spoken literacy. And all they want to do is scroll Tik Tok, watch reels, and eat snacks. Boy, did I take a left turn at Albuquerque.  Well, I'm not bad at my job. I can do the work. I just hate the resistance ...

Thursday, and it's a cool and damp start to the day. It rained again last night, just enough. I should putter about in the garden boxes later on. So many "I shoulds" are starting to crowd my brain, but right now, I have not even had breakfast yet (it's 8:20!) and I honestly have no zip as of yet. No matter. Soon enough, I'll be on the go-go-go. But maybe not today.  I have minimal chores to accomplish, and only one errand to do. I don't mind. In fact, the only possibly pressing thing I have on my internal agenda is to buy more peaches. The good ones are in the market now! And I've been enjoying them so much-- I love good peaches. The hard, tasteless, rubbery ones are such a disappointment. To have just-right, super sweet, big ol' peaches is a temporary delight, and I don't mind gorging on them.  And our tomatoes are starting to really come in-- I want to avoid having to chop/freeze too many, so we are having tomatoes with many meals. Again, I don...

Wednesday.  Did you see that the proposed 25% tariffs on imported metals will include brass instruments? An already expensive trumpet (say, $500) will cost $125 more. Yeah, way to get kids interested in marching band. And the reason? National Security. A reliance on imported copper and aluminum, etc. is going t undercut our safety. Okay, maybe, sort of. But gee whiz.  The hits keep coming, eh? If you have an old model in the closet, you might be able to get a good price on that ol' tuba, French horn, or trombone.  I spent years in marching band with my wooden clarinet. Yes, everyone else's were made of molded material, but my paternal grandfather had gifted me with a wooden Prueffer clarinet. It was hard to march with (heavy), and hard to keep on pitch, but I managed. I still have it. I do not still play it. I sincerely doubt anyone ever will. I should sell it.  I didn't really like marching band. Honestly, I didn't really like band all that much. That was a mother-l...