1. Rainiest field trip ever. I was a bit worried about chaperoning a hiking focused, 4 day/3 night field trip so soon after recovering from COVID, but it was a blast. I moved extremely slowly the first day, better the second, great the third, and then slow again the fourth. But that may also have had something to do with the fact that it poured buckets the first, second, and fourth days. My waterproof jacket turned out to be not so waterproof when there was a backpack on top of it, and the spray I’d put on my shoes and Z’s was no match for all the puddles we stepped in. And of course, about a day after we got home, my phone started blowing up with texts from other parents saying their kid had the flu/COVID/a nasty cold and was Z also sick? Yes, yes we were, and yes, I would do it again in a heart beat!

2. Pass it on: I went into the local bookstore to pick up a few tchotchkes and treats for my team at work (who are all under incredible stress right now), and was given a free copy of Fahrenheit 451. I thought about sticking it on my bookshelf to read with Z, but then decided I’d rather make it a community book and put it in the Capitol St Steps library. So I added in a few blank pages to the front, for people to put in their names and comments, a label on the front, and stuck it in. Here’s hoping it comes back!

3. After almost three years of organizing potlucks, I decided it’s time to step down from a leadership role with poly alt parenting. Partly it’s because my kid has aged out. The first time we went to a potluck, Z had so much fun that they immediately wanted to start planning the next one. Now, though Z isn’t into them unless I can guarantee that particular friends are coming. Partly, it’s that I wasn’t really vibing with the folks that were there. And partly it’s that I didn’t like the way folks took the organizing team for granted, including the general lack of help with cleanup after events (a giant task that fell mainly on the organizers). I’m glad that other folks have stepped in to keep it going – it’s a great resource for folks with younger kids – and I really hope that attendees are able to pitch in with cleanup and other mundanities enough that it continues.

4. Raccoon research. The downside of having a security camera is that sometimes you see things you’d rather not see. Like the family of racoons that seems to have adopted your house as their nighttime strolling grounds and are constantly figuring out ways to get into the microchipped pet door and mess up Kit’s room. I have Consulted the Internet and found the following solutions, none of which seem feasible at the moment: 1) set up a motion activated system that plays very loud noise and/or music (I can’t imagine that this wouldn’t also deter the cat from entering); 2) set the door higher in the wall and build some sort of platform a few feet in the air that the cat can jump up on to access the door (raccoons can climb, but they can jump. Who know?); or 3) buy the Very Expensive dual microchipped door, that stays locked on both the in and out directions unless it senses the right microchip. I think I will continue to ponder my options.

5. The after effects of 3 weeks off. When I initially took 3 weeks off work in February, I expected it would be a whirlwind of chaperoning, house projects, and the Death Valley trip. Instead, thanks to COVID and the Mission Springs crud, I ended up doing a whole lot of nothing but sitting around and thinking. Thinking about the world, and my job, and what I want to do with my life. I suspect that there are some changes a coming for me.

Links & things

Highly recommend Mary Stancavage‘s morning meditation. I often only make it about once a week, but I’m always glad when I do

When everything is overwhelming, it can be hard to know what we’re feeling. This list of feelings might help.

* Yes, this is terribly late, but thanks to the magic of scheduled publishing dates will at least have the right date on the website. I went in to write the next monthly update and realized I had a draft I’d never pressed publish on.

1. You just need the right gateway drug. I’ve been adjacent to the Bay Area dance scene for years, and was quite happy with that arrangement. Then I stumbled into contact improv, at a Soul Play workshop called “Blindfolded Contact Dance.” I went because everything about the workshop scared me (that’s what you do at Soul Play, right?). Dancing? Blindfolded? With other people touching me? Hells no! I gave myself permission to leave if I wasn’t enjoying it. To my surprise, I loved it so much that I went to a workshop they held in Berkeley a few months later. And then to a contact improv dance class. And then to a new monthly dance called everything everywhere all at dance, which was the most fun I’ve ever had dancing, full stop.

2. Mingling in Mud (& food). Sometimes it’s nice to hike solo, so you can choose your own trail and set your own pace. And sometimes it’s nice to hike with friends, especially when somebody else is responsible for picking the trail and keeping the group on track and you all go eat way too much pizza afterwards. Which is why I’m delighted that there’s now a hiking thread in my Signal chats and that my hiking shoes have already gotten very muddy indeed.

3. Lady adventures club. Over the last few years I’ve started to pick apart the things that it feels like I need a nesting partner for. Reaching things on the top shelves? Got a step stool for that. House maintenance? I’ve got a toolkit, a crew of friends who can help, and, when all else fails, my dad will fly out. Plus ones are harder, because let’s face it, the nesting partner basically is the default there – but my meditation group has been a great source for finding people to go to events and parties with. That left travel – I love going to new places, but prefer not to go by myself. So, toward the end of last year, I reached out to a few friends and asked if they’d like to be part of an informal travel group. Something big enough that not everybody needs to go on every trip, but small enough that we all gel. We’re starting with a trip next month to catch the wildflower bloom in Death Valley, somewhere I’ve always wanted to go. And I think the thing I’m most excited about is having the capacity and willingness to experiment – it may work, it may not, but either way I’ll learn something about myself and about travel with friends. As Ms. Frizzle says, “get messy, make mistakes, learn something!”

4. The phantom tax credit. I spent the last week of last year and first week of this year frantically preparing to file for a tax credit for older homes – only to find out that my house doesn’t qualify because, even though they drew the historic district specifically to include my house, the house itself is not actually in the national registry. I didn’t even know how that’s possible. On the upside, I did not have to spend hours and hours taking pictures and filling out forms.

4. 0 stars – do not recommend. I finally got COVID, over MLK weekend, while I was in Tennessee for a family reunion. It has been a slooooooow slog of a recovery. I worked this last week, but used the gaps between meetings to take 20 minute naps, so I could get through the day, and then crashed hard after clocking out. I can’t even imagine what that would have been like without vaccines and paxlovid. And I’m doubling down on masking in public places, because I do NOT want to do this again any time soon.

Links & Things

I’m gonna plug Heather Cox Richardson again. Some days, she’s the only media I consume.

Has anyone done Storyworth or something similar? I’d love to get more of my grandmother’s memories written down (and my parents, for that matter)

I love the idea of continuing these – and trying to do updates on a weekly basis does not feel at all sustainable. Going to try a monthly cadence and see how that does

1. Trekking the Parks. Z and I went up to Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks. We lucked out on timing, arriving in between two storm systems – meaning that the road between the parks was open and we had two days of gorgeous weather and that the hour detour we made to pick up chains was completely unnecessary. 

It’s hard to describe how breathtaking it is up there, so I’ll drop in a few photos instead.

2. Work-trade program: retiree edition. My dad spent two weeks here helping out with things around the house. It was lovely to have him here, and Z had a blast. He and I worked together to prep the patch of weeds Z claimed for their garden spot – I removed the weeds, he did everything else. He also helped me put together the library kit that had been sitting in a box for two months, so now the Capitol Street Stairs has a library box.

3. Get off my lawn. I’ve started buying cayenne pepper in bulk to mix in with my birdseed. My eyes water and I sneeze like crazy every time I refill the feeder, but the squirrel is finally leaving it alone.

4. Socially non social. Even though I host a bunch of events, I’m fairly introverted. Meeting new people can be exhausting. This last weekend, I brought a waffle iron to the parenting brunch and alternated between making waffles in the kitchen while talking to 1 or 2 people, and wandering into the mixer proper and being more host-like. It may be my new favorite way to socialize.

5. The Cats of Eldritch House. We have a new addition to the roster. I’m calling this one Tiny Tuxedo. And we lost the Princess, who got sick and Houdini’d out of the front porch where I had locked her in to keep an eye on her. She hasn’t come back, and I haven’t been able to find her in any of the usual spots. I keep hearing stories from people about cats who do things like this and show up a month later, so I’m still holding out some hope that she returns.

Links & Things

We’ve been rocking our National Parks Pass, thanks to every kid outdoors. It’s super easy, you just answer a few questions – but make sure you print the paper form! Not all parks will take it if you have a PDF or other electronic version.

People sometimes ask what I do for work, and I say that I work with refugee. I’ve not been a fan of the NY Times lately, but this article was spot on.