A spell like this makes me feel so distracted and one-dimensional. A friend asked last night – did you notice how grand it is to sometimes just do errands?? Sad to say, I did not.
Today, to break the dreary trend of morning hours on the computer, I went out early to shop at the “other” farmers market (the twice a week one two blocks away, as opposed to the Saturday one across the street). The vibes there are somewhat different, but the foods are good and the vendors as solicitous and therefore charming as anywhere.
the perennial flower seller
the fruit and veggie seller
she had superb string beans
the salsa girls
It struck me today, at the market, that I ought to recreate some of the Mediterranean salads that I would throw together for supper in Sorede. Even as I know that when the time comes to “throw” something together, I’ll have less zest for the project. In Sorede it was a vacation pleasure, here, amidst hours of work, it is merely a chore.
I have been letting myself walk home. At 3.5 miles, that’s a hefty spell of walking, but I’m not riding my bike (deflated tires and no time to pump them up), and after one sedentary day early this week, I'm determined not to give in to physical lethargy. Inaction makes me feel incapable of action.
Just as the ride along the lakeshore path offered a rather standard assortment of photographic moments, so, too, my walk up Bascom and down Observatory Drive puts me in the same places, offering the same photographic moments, day after day.
But you get an update: for instance, today, Lincoln wasn’t watching a man plant flowers at his feet. He was bouncing teens on his lap.
At the Centennial Gardens, I watched a gold fish weave her way among the stems in the pond. She seemed quite content.
At home, I make a modified salad niçoise (oh! the Banyuls vinegar is exquisite!). Is it a chore? Yes, but I admit, it is not entirely unpleasant.
When I lived in the Lakeshore dorms during my undergrad years, I'd vary the route I took around Bascom Hall (one day to the right, the other to the left). If you catch the light right, the bell tower in front of whatever they now call the social sciences building can be pretty. Otherwise, I've always been partial to the hill right after Liz Waters; you can use the trail through the grass and still cut through the gardens you pictured today. Or, if cut to the left of Bascom, you can follow the road all the way past Ag Hall and then past the barns. If you can't tell, I love that side of campus! You always find a way to make even mundane things seem great, even if you stick to the same path, Nina.
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