sunday poem

 

we love what we have

we love what we have, no matter how little,

because if we don't, everything will be gone. if we don't,

we will no longer exist, since there will be nothing here for us.

what's here is something that we are still

building. it's something we cannot yet see,

because we are a part 

of it.

someday soon, this building will stand on its own, while we,

we will be the trees that protect it from the fierce

wind, the trees that will give shade

to children sleeping inside or playing on swings.

by mosab abu toha (born 1992)

things you may find hidden in my ear, page 49 (city lights books, 2022)

a smokey day

the smoke grew worse as evening came on. korrina took this photo and the video below while on her way home from work. 

i ran a bunch of errands again and also went to the dentist, and then we all spent the evening packing after having dinner.

zuzu . .

and wash . . 

time for some sleep . . 

heat and haze

 

i was out earlier than usual to walk milly as it was supposed to go up to the high 90's . . which it did - stopping at 98 degrees. but even though it was cooler at 10:30 in the morning (only 93), the air was terrible. the dewpoint and humidity were high and all the dust and debris from the local construction was just hanging in the air (double townhouse renovations and parking garages being converted into luxury apartments). my throat was sore from breathing it in. as the day progressed, the wildfire smoke moved in. 

daisies by the morton williams supermarket on la guardia place. i stopped in to see if they had a bottle brush that i could use for cleaning our flower vases. fortunately, they did.

the light this evening was yellowish brown and heavy. i put the air on and chanda and the cats were much happier.

running errands - again; on a hot summer day - again

the myka yogurt place has not had a line these past two mornings when i pass by . . so i've stopped in for a small yogurt with two toppings each day. yesterday i had chocolate chips and walnuts. today i had olive oil and ground pistachios . . so delicious! this photo is a true new york social media moment: i was talking to my cousin while eating the yogurt and taking a picture! i was going to post it on my ig . . well, maybe i'll do so later. (i was on my way to print out the letter to our cat sitter and was finally successful!) i also stopped at the sustainable shop for a refill of dish detergent.

i've probably passed this dog sculpture more than a dozen times, but today was the first day i noticed it (on 9th or 10th street).

zuzu likes to join me when i sit at the table to write out cards or a letter. thankfully, she let me write this afternoon, and didn't try to head butt me or knock the pen from my hand . . or sit on the card itself. twice last week i stopped working on this task because of her. yes, i'd much rather procrastinate further with my correspondence than put her away in the bedroom. 

we had a nice dinner tonight of left over tuna (for greg) and chicken thighs for chanda and i. chanda did a work shift today and brought home beautiful looking cauliflower and patty pan squash, so we had fresh vegetables too. (it's quite hot today - 93 degrees - but we all must be used to it finally as no one has suggested putting the air conditioner on. of course, 93 is not as bad as 100! we do have the fans going, and there was a nice breeze . . which has sadly disappeared.)

it's almost 11 pm . . i still need to do duolingo and babbel . . language learning has been neglected these past two weeks as i've concentrated on packing and getting the cats and apartment ready for being away for a little bit. 

greg has already fallen asleep.

and here is korrina's beautiful photo from her evening beach visit.

running errands on a hot summer day

i met sacha at peace food today. reina was supposed to join us but she is still dealing with a frustrating rash on her face. we're hoping it goes completely away soon!

peace food has the best tumeric ginger latte . . made with oat milk. they're supposed to be closing by the end of july. since we're leaving soon for the wedding, i wanted to get in another visit. if they do close this downtown location, i'll have to visit the uptown one.

i did a lot of errands today and walking around (returning library books, stopping at the health food store in the east village, printing out two knitting patterns i'm supposed to be working on, purchasing packing tape for packaging up a pair of loafers i'm returning to the quince company . . etc. i was supposed to print out a letter that i always tape to the kitchen cabinet for our cat sitter, but somehow i missed sending it from my computer at home. i'll have to return tomorrow! so much for errand consolidation.) anyway . . i was too hot and tired to make dinner so we went to chelsea market for tacos. chanda and i were hoping for chicken tacos, but the line is always too long! we had fish tacos instead (which are just as good).

greg loves taking this "secret" passage to the fish taco place.

morning poem and sunday afternoon

 

daughter

i ask her to remember, 

not because i want to hear the story again,

but because i want to watch her face relive

the moment. that moment, her eyes sparkle with longing,

i can see how she flies from the tent

to a time when she leapt

through our farm in every direction with eyes closed,

only stopping at the fence, where our orange trees

embrace our neighbors' olive trees.

some fallen oranges would tell her to open her eyes,

to pick them up and put them in a plate on our doorstep,

where children returning from school

would stop to gulp some.

i love the smell of oranges best

when she remembers.

by mosab abu toha (born 1992)

from page 37, forest of noise, published 2024 

----

i walked to the vintage pop up store chanda and i had visited friday to pick up the striped pants i liked that were on sale. i'm glad i did. they're very comfortable and they're something other than blue jeans, which i tend to wear every day. i met greg by cooper union/astor place and we popped into the muji store to see how much their suitcases were - chanda needs one. i don't know why she doesn't have one. i guess she was using an old one of morgana's all these years . . or morgana took her's back to london. anyway, they were a little pricey so she'll probably go to tj maxx. greg had never been in muji before and was excited about their pens and notebooks; now he's a big fan. afterwards, we walked to chobani in soho for one of their yogurt specialities, but they've changed their menu so we had an iced chocolate at burdick instead . . not such a bad trade off . . then we stopped at pet bar for a large bag of kitty litter which greg had to put in the basket of a citibike to pedal it home . .

now, hopefully i'll get to sleep a little earlier than last night . . 

(dinner this evening . . fresh tuna sauteed with olive oil, cumin, paprika, sea salt and pepper - picked up from the lobster place as our fish vendor no longer sells on saturdays at the green market. we really miss them!)

biking, chinese food and dance practice

we rode our bikes uptown to see ron and andy today, and to order in from ollie's: broccoli with garlic sauce, shrimp and broccoli, vegetable spring rolls and cold sesame noodles. (morgan and harley had raved about it last time they visited.)

we also practiced the line dances for the wedding . . 

coffee, flowers and clothes shopping

 

chanda and i noticed two new friends with the black cat today when walking to abraço . . crows or ravens? ravens or crows?

hello fig tree . . we love you.

(i stopped at east village organic . . but they were out of chestnut honey. he said they would order it though!)

and now it's very late and i'm still up and about . . putting together dance music for the wedding. 

time for sleep . .