justing.net

Week Notes 22

By Justin G. on 24SEP15SUN

A lot of good food this week. And running, a good amount of running. Not to mention that work audibly ratcheted up a click or two.

Almanac

Temperatures are cooling down this week. Monday is the hottest day with a high of 86 F, and midweek will be in the upper 70s. Morning temperatures are in the mid to low 50s. Sunrise is in the last quarter hour before 7 o’clock, and sunset is a little over twelve and half hours later in the second quarter of the seventh afternoon hour. The moon is waxing from a crescent toward full, rising in the afternoon and setting later into the night. The nights will be bright with moonshine later in the week.

SEP09MON

I usually save the food updates for the now page. But this tomato risotto, with tomatoes from A’s farm, it is the risotto of the decade. We’re both wrecked from how good it is. I don’t think that recipe in particular has any secret sauce. The secret is the homegrown garden tomatoes. They are the secret to everything.

I’m sad because the picture I took of it doesn’t effectively represent the experience of it, or the taste at all.

SEP10TUE

A breakneck WFH day. If the week were the plot of a novel, today would be the climax. Kinda early in the timeline, but I’m not really the author.

SEP11WED

Running in the AM. I’m feeling like I’m coming down the back side of “running is hard.” Next challenge: changes in the weather.

In terms of the plot metaphor I mentioned yesterday, today is definitely the denouement. WFO. Big presentation. Well, I mean I have just one slide in a big presentation. Most or all of the neck breaking things yesterday are now making sense. I can return to my regularly scheduled programming.

SEP12THU

Finally, a day of going at my own pace.

SEP13FRI

Running at lunch. Definitely getting a handle on it. Only the last few minutes are suffering but that’s because it’s sunny and warm and no shade. Or at least that’s what I am telling myself.

Sometimes I have a shadow that runs with me. Or maybe my shadow also has footsteps; I mean that today I hear what sounds like someone running a couple of steps behind me. Not this time, but other times I’ve even looked over my shoulder to check if someone is there waiting for an all clear to pass on this completely empty and very wide trail. It would be pretty creepy in the dark, but I don’t run at night. And I usually don’t have a shadow either.

What I think is actually happening is that the sound of gravel crunching underfoot is echoing off of nearby things, maybe even just the ground. Under this theory, the sound is a half step back or more. Some quick math should verify or rule out that possibility. Also under this theory a rougher surface for the sound to have more area to bounce off of, or things like trees and curbs, will make the effect more apparent.

SEP14SAT

I’ve been branded. “Those people. The ones who put their mattresses on the roofs of their cars.” Two loud talking cyclists ride by, talking loudly, possibly unaware that everyone can hear them. A and I are loading some old things into, and on top of, our car for short distance transport to the rally point. People, it’s dumpster day. You’re probably the sort that doesn’t put your shopping cart away. I’m not really taking umbrage at being labeled, but I am a little surprised that the words have more impact than I think they ought.

Friends over for dinner. We should do this more often. It turns out that you can clobber the best tomato flavor out of a recipe, if those best tomatoes are crowded too much with other flavors. The result is only excellent, not sublime. Oh well, lesson learned.

SEP15SUN¹

The Costco run this morning is unusually busy. A and I are only a few minutes later than we wanted to be, but the place is already packed with busy shoppers going every which way, and they’re escalating. A number of people are muttering under their breath about it. That’s unusual; I usually don’t see anyone else noticing the mundane mayhem. So maybe it is an out of the ordinary amount of chaos. Something in the air? Full moon is soon, and so is the autumnal equinox; could be anything.

Extra²

In the evening we relax with the screen door open, and A notices an owl hooting. When directed to it, I notice that I can hear it too, and it’s not another distant dog barking, a different animal entirely. Neither of us had ever heard it before; neighbors such as L have heard it often. It’s a few percent magical.

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