Saturday started with sleeping in, which I needed, but which also ate into my time outside. This is why it’s helpful to have a backyard or a beach. You can throw on a bare minimum of clothing and go back to sleep outdoors. But I did eventually get myself out and down to the garden, where my harvest included two sweet potatoes, most of the rest of this year’s basil, two types of sorrel, and several tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos,

I met up with Rudi and we took ourselves up to Petworth, to one of our local bookshops, which was having a sale. I bought the short story collection Black Boy Joy and a collection of poems written on bus commutes. After stopping by the house to feed the cat and drop off the car, we took ourselves out to Art All Night, the annual celebration of late-night art. We visited an embassy and an art space in our neighborhood and then metro’ed downtown to the park by my old office, which has been rehabbed for the past year. They’ve done a beautiful job of updating the space, and if they can find a way to let the homeless use it unimpeded, I’ll be totally pleased with their work. We ate some jollof rice from a Nigerian food truck, enjoyed some music, and then took ourselves off to the library.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is our main library and reopened during the pandemic after a major renovation to the Mies Van der Rohe building. And after a public dedication during normal business hours, they opened it up for alternative programming for the festival, with juggling, community performances, a Black art pop-up, a film screening, and an outdoor hip hop show by Black Alley.

Today was chiller, with a trip to the farmers market and later to a farm, where I picked apples, and the Tonys concert. Overall, a good weekend, but over too soon.

How was yours?

As of today, the sun is setting at 7 here in D.C. I haven’t wrapped up work before that time all week, so I’m going to have to be very intentional starting this week to shut the computer at the time I’m supposed to, not at the time the work is actually done. (Because, to be honest, the work is never actually done.)

The weather is now pleasant enough to want to be out during daylight hours, so I’m going to need to get up earlier and try to get a walk or cup of tea in the park in before my workday begins. And then I’m going to need to scurry out to the garden or to the towpath for a bike ride or to the only cafe with evening hours on this side of town after it’s supposed to end. Because if I go straight through my favorite season without ever seeing the sun on weekdays, it’s going to be a huge problem.

I discovered a pull in my knitting tonight. It was on the wrong side, so conceivably I could have just stretched the fabric a little bit and then woven it under the stitches.

But instead I picked at the stitches with a spare needle, teasing the elongated loop in both directions until all the slack was gone.

It took more than an hour to accomplish, but I’m glad I took the time.

There’s a lesson there to apply to real life, where taking the time to relieve tiny increments of a major stressor eventually lead to the problem being solved. But that takes time and patience, and I really just want to weave in the threads and disguise the things that could take down the entire thing.

I am pleased to report that very few insurrection-friendly protestors arrived in D.C. this weekend, so mostly we were all able to live our lives as usual.

Yesterday I finished a book, returned things to two libraries, bought some doughnuts, and video-chatted with some friends.

Today I went to the farmers market (but too late for paw paws, chanterelles, baguettes, and milk), started a book I picked up from the library yesterday, and spent a couple hours at the garden (I planted lettuce, dill, and cilantro, as well as some fall seeds; harvested a bunch of things; trimmed lots of tomato plants; watered; and weeded).

In an effort to disentangle my life hours from my work hours, I thought I’d share that we’re planning to head to the movies on Wednesday and I have a volleyball doubleheader on Thursday night. I just need to make some plans for tomorrow, Tuesday, and Friday.

How was your weekend?

So, there are more right-wing nutjobs coming to D.C. this weekend. Expert analysts of the dark web suggest, unlike Jan. 6th, this time the rumors are more likely to be bigger than the turnout. But, they also warn that nutjobs be nutjobs, and there’s just no predicting what some of them will do.

Most of us who are staying put are planning to take precautions. I’ll probably save taking Metro across town until Sunday. And if I go out to Virginia to return my overdue library book, I’ll try to plan the ride out there for when delusional people will already be in the city to avoid interacting with them, rather than when they’re returning to their “safe” suburban hotels. If I go over to the H Street Festival, I’ll bike or take the bus. (Again, while insurrectionists may charter buses to bring them to the city, I have my doubts they’re going to hop on a Metrobus. Okay, maybe a Circulator.)

If I want to stay in the neighborhood, there’s a craft sale by Latinx makers, and I can walk to the library. And I can spend time in the garden.

If they institute a curfew, I’ve already got plans to video chat with friends. I had to postpone our usual call because I was headed to a ballgame, and they suggested this weekend as a replacement so we could hear about the first couple weeks of kindergarten. There are also National Book Festival talks online I could watch, but the problem is that I already spend too much time in front of a screen. Luckily, I don’t have to listen to talks about books — I can read them! And I can knit. And I can paint my nails (although not while I’m knitting).

Sunday is the farmers market. Paw paws are in season, and Rudi would probably be grateful if I got up early and went and bought him some. We’ll see. If there are some available at whatever time I get to the market, I’ll buy him some, but I’m not going to get up early to buy something I don’t eat. (It’s surprising how many fruits taste like bananas.) He is a grown adult and can plan to be around to buy paw paws if that’s a priority.

What’s on your to-do list for this.final weekend of summer?