Written last night:
You can’t hurry routines, especially when you are as free to shape your days as I am. But at last my new days are beginning to take on a reassuring shape.
Even Zing is getting the idea; for the past few mornings he’s initiated a game of catch, plopping his small stuffed toy (is it a chicken?) at my feet. He wisely waits until after I’ve had my coffee. And, of course, we go for our morning walk — somewhere between 6:30 and 7 a.m. finds us prowling quiet streets that will soon be busy. We are becoming familiar with the Kings stadium, which was bustling at 7:15 today, preparing for an open house for ticket holders, I think. Finally, we were able to walk the sidewalks on the stadium side of L street. (Zing paused for a pee at the VIP entrance, just to claim the place.) Then we wandered to the main entrance to see the controversial Jeff Koons sculpture — of a pig, I think — but that area was closed off. (It was open on Sunday. Pix below.) The whole block buzzed with excitement, and it wasn’t 8 a.m. yet.
By 8 p.m. Capitol Mall area a block away had hosted three festivals — a bike ride for Alzheimer’s, a Suicide Prevention event, and Octoberfest — and at dark the Golden 1 crowd was straggling to an end -- lots of families with young kids jumping on the buses and trains to go to parking areas afield, I guess.
I can’t believe my proprietary interest in this arena; I love energy it projects. I may be romanticizing, but I love the hammering in the morning, the feeling of urgency when you pass a plot not yet planted with purple flowers, the way the kids who work there seem electrified because they’re part of a big community project. (I know, I know — there have been plenty of people who don’t think it’s such a great thing.) But it sure does jolt the city streets.
The rest of today was routine: laundry, scrubbing the entrance (finally!) where Zing had a tantrum at the doorway when I left him behind soon after moving in. I’m not certain how he did it, but the floor was filthy there. Now — after I got down on my knees with soap and water — it shines. Don’t do that again, Zing! There was a great, creative interlude talking to Janis in Tallahassee about her latest project, a memory quilt made of her brother's t-shirts.
And the Saturday farmer’s market is surely routine by now— today I took Zing along, praying he would not pee at the corner of each stall. (He did this the one time I took him to the Tallahassee farmer’s market.) He was continent! I bought flowers, fish, the best tiny green and red tomatoes you’ve ever tasted, and pears. Kids wanted to pet Zing. Parents hustled them along, knowing it was the start of a busy, cool weekend with lots more to do.
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| Zing with farmer's market flowers |
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| Suicide prevention rally at Capitol |
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Sunday morning photo of Jeff Koons' piggy sculpture
Its shiny surface reflects a Paul McCartney ad (in reverse) that's on a wall across the street. |
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| Shadow shows piggy outline |
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