Lark and I went over to chat with the Seamans for a bit, standing in the driveway in bare feet. They have sharp gravel, but it was nice talking. Ralph is, wonder of wonders, being careful with his shoulder--he says he doesn't want to have to do the surgery again. How surprisingly sensible.
Lark has been enjoying my discovery that I can just let her out and usually see her from the greenhouse. Supervised unsupervision for the win. :p
I'm reading a webcomic titled "Alien Dice". It's not particularly original, the accompanying writing is so stylistically awful that I mostly just read the comic, and the occasional flashes of greatness in the art are all that keeps me going. I'm also rereading The Corinthian, and, because it's finally completed, finishing Houkago Hokenshitsu-- After School Nightmare--Setona Mizushiro's most harrowing work, as far as I'm concerned. Diamond Head was pretty angsty too, a bit worse than my favorite so far, Shoujo Ningyo, Doll Girl.
Well, Philip called just before lunch to check up on us, and then Grandma's hairdresser called to try to find out how to reach Grandma. I told her that Grandma's home now, and I believe she made an appointment to cut Grandma's hair here. Then while Grandma was still on the phone Linda, the occupational therapist, rang the doorbell. She was talking to Grandma when Carole showed up. :D It was kinda funny. Carole is a tallish (which is to say, taller than me, though maybe not that much) woman with brown hair cut to her shoulders, currently wearing a bright t-shirt and a long denim jumper with sunflowers embroidered on the front. Not quite as impressive as Lee's blue and green coordination, but rather nice.
We went for our walk while Grandma was in the shower, about one-thirty, perhaps, and got back close to three-thirty. We went by the Seamans' first, and spent some time chatting while Lark and Madeline played Pop goes the Weasel through the house. It was pretty funny--whenver Lark retreated, which wasn't often, Maddy advanced unobtrusively. Sid told me to come by on our way back as she had some clothes I might like, and then we went up to the top of the ridge, with Lark leading the way a great deal of the time. I asserted myself occasionally, as for instance when she went in entirely the wrong vertical direction, or took a path under very low branches. But it was pretty well up to her all the way to the top. Once up we followed the trail along the ridge, as usual not bothering with finding the Treasure. We followed the trail to its end in a wealthy neighborhood where I leashed Lark and tried to keep her off lawns and well-mulched flowerbeds. As we went through a young Doberman ran out on its lawn and barked at us. A human followed it to the door, and it did not come out in the street. They were the only visible life as we went along the loosely-defined block--we had come out into a cul-de-sac--and found a road that seemed to go in the right direction. It looked like a dead end, but closer inspection discovered the red dirt road I had seen from the ridge, leading down to the dormitory parking lot. It was posted--"University of Colorado Property. NO TRESPASSING. Violators Will Be Prosecuted."--but it went where I wanted to go and it looked like nothing else did. It went down the mountain in three stretches, zig-zag-zig, and after periodic consideration of the slopes we ended up just going off the road at the end of the first zig. It was fairly easy ground for all its near-verticality, and I maintained control until the last six feet, which were landscaped and steep. These were easily traversed with that run where you just try to move your feet fast enough to keep up with your body, and we made it to the parking lot. I'm considering stopping going through there. There are too many young people, and a lot of the guys look at me. Compliment or not, it's unnerving. This problem extends along Stanton as we walk home, with Lark exhausted and me worrying about getting a drink for her. I'm going to have to carry water if we keep this up, which I intend to. We made it to Sid's, where she supplied water, and then a fairly large heap of clothing. The best part was the fabrics. She finds the most amazing fabrics. So we chatted awhile, and then she escorted me home with an armful of clothes, a book set in WWII Japan, and a potted palm that had been in Grandma's sitting room and is now there once again. Anyway, she and Grandma chatted for awhile--apparently she has some hope of a new medication that may help her pain go away and possibly even let her hike again, which is relevant to my interests. She was here almost an hour, I think, and shortly after she left Harriet appeared with pork chops, roasted veggies, and watermelon chunks--all in disposable dishes. Wonderful woman.
Dinner was easy to prepare: thank you, Harriet. I went out twice, during the sitting-after-dinner and the sitting-after-dessert periods, to herd--to assist Lark in herding Sid's Maddy-cat back to her. Maddy seems to have an unfortunate interest in the bank along the road behind the house, and she went too far along it both times. Lark was delighted to remedy the situation.
Well, having gotten out of the shower just at eleven, I am now headed for bed. Please, keep me from going back to Cousin Kate......No fear, I'm too tired.
No comments:
Post a Comment