Paperwork with interludes

Written last night:

Today was so boring: lots of paperwork that I'd  put off while unpacking. It’s true I did some at the hotel — seemed like a lot, but I think that was a mind-trick. 

“Today I did paperwork,” I said to Bill the contractor when he dropped off his key this afternoon. “I hate doing it!” “Yes,” he nodded, “but it has to be done.” Exactly.

Something about paperwork makes my heart thump: I expect everything to turn out wrong. (OK, I know — think happy thoughts! Everything will be OK.) Today it looks like everything is OK. More to do, but no financial disasters yet: no missed payments, etc. The more I do this all alone, the more confident I become. Tomorrow I hope to finish all the address changes, name changes, direct deposits and automatic payments. Even as I write this, I know that won’t happen. But I’m off to a solid start.

I took a break to get lunch at the Thursday farmers market on Capitol Mall. It’s only one block away, hidden behind tall office and government buildings. (Where I live is kind of like Brickell Avenue in Miami.)  There was olive oil pressed in Sacramento, and local wine (Yes, wine at a farmer’s market! Don’t you love it?), nuts, honey, skinny eggplants, sweet and firm  melons that are half honeydew / half cantaloupe. (I finally bought a I bought a curried chickpea wrap.)  I wanted to take pictures of the cops and construction workers and office workers all leaning against buildings and sitting on planters, relaxing with good food for their lunch hour. But I decided to leave them alone.

More paperwork followed. Then for a late afternoon break, Zing and I went to Paradise Beach on the American River, just out J Street, near Sacramento State University. You turn left for the park and right for the university. 
Several people, including Melanie, who loves to run and knows her parks, have told me Paradise Beach is beautiful and safe and nearby. Those are its advantages. But I have to say its sand isn’t as sandy as  Florida's beaches. I'll learn to love river sand.


To get there you drive a shady street just past a school, there’s a parking lot; then you climb a levee and follow a sandy downhill path with dried grasses on each side. Soon you see trees and a clearing and then another downhill slope to the river, where the color is green and families and teens are splashing. Because of my knee (much better but I didn’t want to push it), we stayed up on the hill, where I snoozed  on a bed of dried grass, while Zing did the same nearby. It was comforting to hear the kids yelling in the distance. I can’t wait to feel the water myself — to see how cold it is, and how the bottom feels.

Zing and I were so happy to be in the “wild” again. Aside from a couple short walks at Phipps in Tallahassee, this is the first time we've roamed since Clark died. We’ll be back to Paradise Beach (What a great name!) on Tuesday. 

We hurried home, to beat the rush hour traffic — ate stuff from my cooler (chopped kale salad, pre-made in a bag, with crackers and an avocado and tomatoes), and I tried to learn to program the TV. Now I’ve turned it off. Good night!

Love,
k

Farmers Market on Capitol Mall
Notice the grass is not green!

Paradise Beach
on the American River