sunday poem

 

a rose shoulders up

don't ever be surprised

to see a rose shoulder up

among the ruins of the house:

this is how we survived.

by mosab abu toha (born 1992)

things you may find hidden in my ear, page 99 (city lights books, 2022)

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)

back in londontown

 

(it was fun having a ping pong table in the garden)

here are photos from our first day in london: from lunch at gail's cafe to meeting up with morgan and harley for the first time (so exciting to see each other again in londontown!), to the amazing dinner harley made for us at the airbnb with my nephews and our friend amelia (a delicious curry!). it was a very happy day.

on our way

 

i had a lot of trouble packing for this trip. i just didn't know what summer clothes i wanted to wear in london. i also ended up bringing too many books!

korrina's packing situation . . 

korrina didn't know which shoes she wanted to bring for the wedding . . 

unloading our bags . . 

i had a window seat for this trip and loved seeing the sunrise . . 

and happy to see the beginnings of the uk!

unfortunately, chanda's suitcase was misplaced and we ended up having to leave the airport without it (we were there for what felt like an hour - waiting while they tried to locate it). she was not happy. (there was a happy ending however, as it was delivered later in the day to the airbnb.)

on the lovely elizabeth line!

i think we got off at whitechapel and then took the bus along cambridge heath road (which turns into mare road) to victoria park. chanda is commenting on the weather in this video. it was much cooler in london than at home.

our block! i actually managed not to take any obsessive photos of the airbnb when we first arrived.

but here we are at gail's bakery after dropping off our suitcases and relaxing a little at the really lovely airbnb house. my go to pastry at gail's for this trip was their "tahini bite" which was quite similar to a brownie but with sesame seeds and a sesame chocolate sauce.

greg had the blueberry muffin . . 

sisters back together . . everyone talking at once (me included).

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.

peaceful wind chimes . . 

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.