And... we're back!

That was basically just a 48-hour vacation--and it was awesome! I feel rested, reset, and ready.

We took a sunset cruise to marvel at the multicolored cliff faces 500 million years in the making last night, slept in this morning, and checked out of our hotel early. We planned to hike at Hartwick Pines on the way home. But when we got there, the visitor center was closed, everything looked deserted, there were no other hikers, the signal for our All-Trails app conked out, and I got a bad feeling in my bones, so I called it off. I felt good about honoring my intuitive sense rather than feeling self-conscious about bailing. Also, I read a review later that mentioned hunters with rifles on the trails, so I'm really glad I did. 

We picked up Culvers for the meat eaters and a Subway for me, and were back in time for a nice dinner reunion with the human and puppy babies.

Pic: From our raucous dinner with friends (CM, SS, and bestie KB) at Torch Lake on Friday.

beaches, please

The trip to Pictured Rocks was Big A's Christmas present to me. I wasn't sure if we'd go after his hospitalization, but he was cleared for work last week, and we already had reservations, so off we went. 

I wondered if we'd hike as much as we originally planned to... but we had a lovely day today checking out Wagner Falls, Chapel Falls, Chapel Rock, and Chapel Beach. The hike out to Chapel Beach is my FAVORITE-EST hike so far. Just hours winding through a cool and restful forest, until you slope down to a brilliant and soft-grained beach. 

Pic: Big A and me at Chapel Rock. I love how the lone tree on top of the rock has visibly sent its roots off the rock to source out sustenance and support. (The roots are right behind A's left shoulder.  You can see the beach just beyond the rock too.)

bump it up

Pic: The sibs hang out while Big A and I get ready to head out for a hike.

I took this photo "for the road" and we set off. And then we were back home inside of 40 mins as we got rear-ended on Grand River Ave. 

It was in a 25-mile zone and luckily the other car was under the speed limit, so everyone is ok (just some minor damage to both bumpers). Still, insurance had to be called, the other driver was so young and so rattled--so I had to check if they were ok, etc. And then we came back home to clean up the spilled coffee and snacks, which had flown out all around. 

Hope to have something more fun to log tomorrow.

"is it sad or is it good?"

I made time to watch The Goat Life on Netflix. It's on a dominant South Asian theme (immigrant laborers forced into slavery in Saudi Arabia), based on a bestselling Malayalam novel, and I wanted to be in the know. 

It's a long (I had an hour left to go when I thought I couldn't take any more) and disturbing film (the protagonist is forced to become a desert goat herder under dehumanizing conditions). If you thought it was about a G.O.A.T. life, no--it's about living with goats that bleat. 

Anyway, I was sitting around all sad and depressed after I watched the movie (by myself). Nu who came down after their shower was concerned. They listened to my recap and then asked why I was still thinking about it, "is it sad or is it good?" (They meant was the story sad or was it narrated well.) I was momentarily cheered because that's such an incisive question! I'm not sure I can answer it, though. 

Pic: Geese on the Red Cedar. I'm terrified of meeting them on the riverwalk, but they're so graceful in the water.

when you name the day

my prow is a prayer

this current is kismet

the surge, the surface

of an uneven stream

my thoughts are a fleet

treading the questions  

going in two directions

expecting new answers

I listen to many breaths

before shifting into song 

build up slips and glissades 

till they hold things whole

say you can hear me call out

even from this rough cradle

O, how the world amazes

for all its rocky embrace

________________

Pic: There were a pair of kayakers trying to get past the bumpy white water on the Red Cedar last week. One got through and the other had to rock back and forth for a long time to free themselves.

Update: The roofers are done; they're gone! Dinner at home with AK and EM, while Big A napped. I loved my friends trying to convince Nu (and all of us, really) that there are whole weeks of summer vacation left.

roofer madness

I woke up to Max and Huckie going bonkers at the crack of dawn and realized there were people moving stuff in the garden and laying down tarps. Turns out they were there to fix the roof... No one had told me they were going to be doing that today? I mean we've been fixing the roof for years at this point, so I'm happy for the work to get done, but I would have appreciated a heads-up.

Mosquitoes seemed to be eating them alive, so I went to fetch them some bug spray... and by the time I came back with it, one of those huge dumpsters had been dropped off right in front of the garage, effectively cutting us off from using our cars for the rest of the day. (It was one of those dumpsters that needs a tow truck to move it.) I immediately canceled our appointments (Nu's Derm, pest control, and a volunteer intake). I hoped that being housebound would make it a writing day, but it was too hard to concentrate with the constant noise. 

There's a Britney song called "Lucky" whose beginning always makes me smile ruefully. I guess we're supposed to feel sorry for the subject who is woken up in the "early morning" as it's "time for makeup." But I always find myself thinking about all the people who needed to wake up way before she did for way less pay. Anyway, that's a bit like me complaining about the roofers when they're here to help us fix the roof, and are the ones who are actually working outside despite the heat and the bugs.

Pic: A robin in a tree unfazed by our commotion.

feeling the headlines

1) There's a sense of hope in the air with Biden going bye-bye after his toddler-esque tantrum about having to leave. Even if it's only the relief that politicians can hear and respond to people's concerns. 

2) Also a great surge of energy for Harris in terms of new volunteers, campaign donations, and a record number of union endorsements. They said it couldn't be done, they said it would be disastrous. They don't know everything. 

3) Israel orders people to evacuate from Khan Younis. Evacuate to where? 

4) Sonya Massey should be alive. It is not a crime to remove boiling water from a stove. Let alone one deserving capital punishment.

5) A war criminal has landed in D.C. with literal dirty laundry.

Pic: I went to Trader Joe's; Big A went to Whole Foods (across the street). He sent me this pic (of myself) from the traffic light to let me know I was in his sights and that he would be picking me up soon.