Memorial Day weekend kicks off the beginning of the summer season, and the weather is clearly well-aware with high temperatures expected to be in the 90s.

In between trying to remain cool, I plan to:

• Finish the Mosaica socks. The last round of Sock Madness starts in the morning. I bought more white yarn, as it was clear I was going to run out in the home stretch.
• Read The Enchantress, which came out on Tuesday. I am so looking forward to this series finale. I may well take my signed copy of the book, a thermos of tea, and our camping hammock up to the park and read it beneath a tree. [As a side note, if Michael Scott does a reading anywhere near where you live, I suggest going. He is my favorite author to see in person — and it is not, as he suggested, because of the lilt. It’s because he really takes the time to listen to the questions the kids ask him and thoughtfully considers his answer to each one. And when he runs out of time to answer them publicly, he makes sure that kids know they’re welcome to come up and ask him while he signs books.]

• Have a picnic with John and Nicole, who arrived home from Albany too late tonight for our planned excursion to the Yards.
• Pick more strawberries and peas at the garden.
• Go swimming. The pools open for the year tomorrow.
• Make popsicles. I didn’t get around to my planned trial last weekend.
• Attend a barbecue. Megan has proposed one on Monday, and I hope to cross the Potomac in pursuit of fake meat cooked over a contained fire.
• Go to a movie. There are several to choose from.
• Do a few chores: laundry, change the sheets, put away the winter clothes (the summer ones got taken care of last weekend).
• Drink strawberry daiquiris. Because isn’t that what summer is all about?

What are you hoping to do this weekend?

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I’m trying to keep this weekend a little less ambitious than the last few in an effort to find a bit more sleep.

I’m hoping to:

• See a baseball game with Sarah and Rudi. (Already done!)
• Catch an art exhibit before it closes. (Also done! Pictures to follow this weekend!)
• Pick strawberries in the garden. Water the plot. Also weed, as necessary.
• Go to the library. I could do with a few more books, and a couple are ready to head back.
• Check out D.C.’s big Greek festival. We’ve been meaning to go since we moved down here. I’m dragging Rudi over there after he gets out of work tomorrow.
• Finish my Mosaica socks. I’m nearly through the gusset increases. I’d like to complete them before Sock Madness wraps up for the year.
• Switch out my winter and summer clothes. Right now they’re all in a big pile on the couch.
• Make popsicles. I have the book. I have the molds. World Summer domination is next.
• Sit outside in the sun.
• Watch the season finale of Sherlock. (Does anyone else think it odd we’ve hit Reichenbach Falls so early in the show’s run?)

Fragments of a weekend:

• A last-minute invitation to join Susan, Phillip, and Holden for dinner.
• A repeat viewing of the Sherlock season premiere — this time with less interference from traffic blotting out the clever lines and plot points.
• Knitting — a pair of Rudi’s socks made some serious progress.
• Reading — Scumble has sucked me in.
• Chores, but too few.
• Gardening — the first strawberries have been harvested, there’s a solitary pod amongst my pea flowers and two tomatoes growing on the low-light plant, and the dozen plants we purchased last weekend were jammed into the plot. The lack of progress among spinach and lettuce varieties remains puzzling.
• A trip to Estonia seems appealing.
• Farmers market — morels and strawberries and potatoes are the highlights.
• A 12-mile bike trip (longest of the season!) along the C&O Canal. No ducklings or deer this trip, but lots of turtles and five families of geese with a total of 22 goslings.
• Cupcakes.
• Calls home.
• A dance party in Dupont Circle — hula hoopers and urban dancers whose breakdancing and African dance skills would have tickled the heart of Lydia Grant.
• Curry dinner in time for Sherlock.

This weekend my plans include:

• Playing in the garden
• Hunting for ducklings
• Procuring strawberries and rhubarb at the farmers market
• Going to the movies
• Reading
• Knitting
• Working — both at a festival and at the computer for a bit (I skived off a bit at the end of the day in order to sit out in the sun for a while.)
• Attending the Georgetown French Market
• Seeing friends
• Doing more laundry
• Cleaning a room
• Writing
• Going to the library

There will probably be more, but that seems like a pretty full couple of days.

I meant to post yesterday, but our internet was giving us fits, so walking away from the computer seemed a far saner idea.

A quick update on things:

• I finished a book on Friday. It’s the first book I’ve finished since February. Pathetic? Yes.
• I planted potatoes at the garden this weekend. Fifteen starts each got chopped into at least two pieces, often more. I’m hoping that makes for a generous crop.
• We went to our first baseball game of the season. Rick Ankiel, the center fielder, had the most impressive throw home I may have ever witnessed in person. It was like he and home plate were having a game of catch. A throw to be remembered. Plus, the Nats won.

• Sock Madness round 3 has begun. That means I knit everywhere. As opposed to when it’s not Sock Madness time and I merely knit nearly everywhere.

• I watched the space shuttle fly past D.C. yesterday. A post about that is forthcoming. Truly and surprisingly moving.
• I wrote a blog post for work that I was really proud of. (I love having written something well, which, sadly, is why you get a lot of lists like this right now, because I don’t want to spend the time and energy required to write good posts. This is a reflection on me, and not on you.)
• My volleyball team won all four games last night. We found a groove and communicated well, and it just felt right. It was nice.

That is all for now.

I fell off the planet briefly, but only because it was a busy weekend:

• Friday night: Knackered. Dozed on sofa. Useless.
• A neighbor is moving to California. We stop by to wish her bon voyage.
• Clean-up day at the community garden. We helped clear an untended spot so a mom and her kids will not walk into the garden their first time and weep at the task ahead of them. Others worked on trail maintenance and redoing the garden compost heap.
• Rudi wants to clear some of the violets out to reclaim some of our plot. We compromise, and I bring home enough salvaged violets to fill a mason jar with purple cheerfulness.
• Rudi makes a delicious takeoff on saag paneer.
• Earth Hour. Lights out. Rudi noodles on the guitar. I knit by candlelight.
• Farmers’ market: Eggs for dyeing. Nettles. First ramps of the season. No asparagus yet.
• We have seen photos of ducklings around town. We head off to Georgetown to find some of our own. We walk. And walk. And walk all the way to Fletcher’s Boat House. No ducklings yet on the C&O Canal. We do see turtles and wisteria.
• We stop at Yola for a snack after Baked & Wired has a line that resembles a New Haven pizzeria. Yogurt is better for us anyway.
• A 9+ mile walk mandates a nap. Inadvertently, of course.
• The Life of Brian.
• Slots in the next round of Sock Madness flit away suddenly over the weekend. Knit faster! Sleep is overrated. I grab the final spot for the round. (Photos to come.)
• Back to work. Sarah and I take our lunches up to the roofdeck and bask in the sun.
• My first concert at the 9:30 Club. They serve cupcakes, local rootbeer, and hot beverages I like. Finally, a rock club for me!
• Bed. Blessed bed.