We went out to dinner with four friends from our political activism days — Sarah, Michael, Julia, and Susan — tonight. It was lovely.

While we see Sarah with some frequency, Michael and Julia have been away from D.C. for nearly the past two years — first in London and now in New Orleans. It was great to hear they’d be returning home in September. (I’d been prepared for them to say they were leaving for good.)

And while I have seen Susan and Phillip and their kids more recently than I’ve seen Julia and Michael, it must also have preceded the pandemic, because we were indoors at a restaurant.

Once upon a time we saw each other several times a week, so it was especially nice to find ourselves in a single location in real life again.

[Saturday afternoon] It would help if I hit publish before I close the laptop for the night:

We kicked off our weekend tonight with a date night of bowling and returning to a favorite brewery (they make their own root beer, in addition to more traditional libations) and we’ll wrap it up on Sunday by seeing some friends who are in town.

In the meantime, though, I’m going to try to squeeze in a few other things:

• Spend time at the garden. Rain is in the forecast, but weeds are growing, there are probably cucumbers to harvest, and the forest is encroaching over the fence again.
• Swim. While not as perfect as the ocean was last weekend, the pool will offer some respite from the heat and humidity, particularly if the forecast falls apart.
• Read. My brain is sad these days, and escaping into someone else’s life seems like a perfect antidote.
• Clean. Laundry can’t be on the agenda, despite moderate need, because the washing machine won’t accept any more coins until the company comes out to tend it, and they tell Rudi that won’t happen until Monday. But I should probably do tackle some other projects to make up for that. Maybe I’ll try to uncover the coffee table.
• Knit. It’s the last weekend of my knitalong, and I will have failed spectacularly. Well, okay, that’s not true. I didn’t crash out. Neither my project nor I ended up injured. We just finished outside the time cut early on, and rather than packing our bags and going home, we just limped on, following the course. We’ll make it to Paris; it’s just that no one will be there to notice. (Again, not a wholly apt metaphor. I can enter my project into the Ravellenic Games (which start next Friday) and get a medal in the WIPs Wrestling category if I finish it before the Olympics end.)
• Bake. If the thunderstorms come during the day, being outside will be less appealing, and I might take the opportunity to make some cookies or a cake.
• Organize. I’m taking part in a Christmas in July swap that should be sent out in the next week or so. I’d like to pull more of that together, so I’m not scrambling next weekend.
• Go to the farmers market. I got our first nectarines of the season last weekend. Yum!
• Sleep. I’ve gone from not getting enough sleep because I was trying to hit neverending deadlines to not getting enough sleep because work is upsetting. The former was beyond my control, but the latter should be met with more discipline.

How about you? What’s on your agenda for this weekend?

I’m feeling lazy and tired, so I thought I’d share what found its way into my market basket at the farmers market today:

• Milk and yogurt
• Granola
• Lemon pound cake
• Blueberries, queen Anne cherries, and currants
• Plums, peaches, nectarines, and peaches
• Corn on the cob
• Lettuce
• Summer squash
• Yu choy (an Asian green for stir-frying)
• A yellow heirloom tomato
• Three tiny cabbages (savoy, red, and pointed) — Rudi had an amazing key lime slaw at the brewery last night and I wanted to see if he could recreate it

What kind of produce is in season in your area right now?

Apparently I thought I could knit with my eyes closed, because I fell asleep. Now I’m going to finish sleeping in my bed rather than writing you a better post.

All that remains of my long weekend to-do list is to drink strawberry daiquiris, bake a pie, and go swimming, since the barbecue was canceled.

I’m thinking I will also sleep in, start a new print book, and knit some more (I’m about to start the second of eight mosaic sections), as well.

That feels like a manageable Monday, don’t you think?

I hope you’re having a great weekend so far and are enjoying just hanging around.

Have a great Fourth of July!