I love rain. I love storms, with lots of rain and thunder and lightning. I love puddles and the sound of rain. And I love that rain smell--which has a name: petrichor.
We got a lovely storm today. It wasn't nearly long enough, but it was a storm. And it had the sounds, and the clouds (I do love that dark grey sky!) and the smell and the thunder and lightning. It was a lovely way to wind down from an intense workday.
And with any luck, there will be more tomorrow. Here's hoping!!
Construction, construction, everywhere!
I'm not even kidding. My city right now feels like someone decided to bulldoze and start over.
My apartment complex, and the building next door, are being renovated.
The major tourist attraction is being renovated and earthquake-proofed.
The convention center is being renovated and expanded.
There are half a dozen high rise apartment buildings going up, probably in a 1-mile radius of me, not to count all the buildings everywhere outside of that.
And the roads! I don't know if someone just had a lot of spare concrete or something, but so many roads are being relaid.
Everywhere I go, stuff is being built. Which feels weird, because 1) pandemic, and 2) it feels like the planet is burning down, and some part of my brain is saying, "This doesn't seem good for the planet." But, also, the old stuff wasn't good for the planet, so maybe the new stuff will be? It's all so complicated! Give me calculus over climate math any day!
Also, there is a real drawback to so much construction. When it rains, my car ends up covered in a layer of dust, instead of nicely cleaned. Although, we're in a drought, so that is less of a problem than I'd like it to be.
And for a while, there was a bug problem. I think all the building was disrupting the insects' homes, so they came and hung out with me for a while, but I must not have been very hospitable, because they haven't been around for a couple of months. Granted, smashing guests with a shoe is not hospitable, which means my messaging must have worked.
Anyway, mostly I'm tired of all the building. It makes no sense, because most of it doesn't directly affect me, but I'm still kind of tired of it being everywhere. So, maybe we could finish something for a change of pace?
Last Thursday, the mountains disappeared.
Smoke from a huge fire almost 709 miles away moved into town and literally, the mountains vanished. Couldn't see them at all. And, while they aren't Macchu Picchu, these mountains aren't subtle, so for them to just vanish was quite the thing.
Also, how is it that smoke can travel 700 miles and still smell like something is burning?! I am impressed. It's a talent. (Not a fan, but yes, impressed). My friend and I swore that it had to be something local that was burning but nope. We checked multiple news reports and it was not a local fire. It really was just smoke from the west doing a tour.
The smoke was so bad that we were encouraged not to leave home if we didn't have to. I did leave home, but even having spent a lot of time inside, it was still pretty obvious that there was a problem.
Today it seems to be clearing up--I can see the mountains again, even though they are still hazy. So that's good. Maybe it will clear up in time for this week's meteor shower. And at least I'm only dealing with smoke. Somewhere, someone has to put up with the fire. And they definitely got the short end of the straw.
I'm not sure what the origins are, but in the last couple of years, I have started receiving a lot of sloth-related gifts. And I'm not going to lie, I am totally down with this development. I love pandas, especially when they play in snow, and elephants, and penguins, and many other animals, but there is DEFINITELY room for sloths.
Also, sloths are an animal that absolutely resonates with me. I went to the aquarium this week, and of course checked in on the sloth. He (she?) was really active that day and actually exited his log for a minute or two. Gave a yawn. And then decided it just wasn't worth it and went back to bed. My kind of guy!
Like I say, I don't know how this sloth thing began. Maybe my people just know me. Or maybe I said something. Either way, the universe has worked together and nailed it.
*Although I do not relate to their hygiene regimen.
I have not been watching the Olympics very closely, partly because they just started, but also because I don't have normal TV, don't subscribe to the right streaming services, and Olympic coverage in the US is horrible.* But today I saw the headline that Tunisia had won the gold in the men's 400m freestyle and I had to check it out, because if I love anything, it's seeing someone completely shock first world countries and get a medal when they don't. That may be awful of me, but I'm telling you, if you watch Ahmed Hafnaoui react to winning, you also will feel pure joy and be glad that he won.
It wasn't a feeling of, "Ha, down with western capitalism" or any kind of anti-my-country sentiment. I'm happy when our athletes win, but I'm not overly competitive, so I'm generally pretty happy for anyone who works hard and wins. It was just seeing how excited and happy he was, and knowing how much it must mean to him and his family and his country, it is just impossible to not be elated.
Also, because I knew he won, I was super vested in his performance when I watched the race. You would think that knowing the outcome, there would be no tension watching it, but no. I was seriously on the edge of my seat, thinking, "Come on! Come on, you can do it!" And then reminding myself that, yes, yes he could because he DID. But I was still kind of stressing out about the outcome. Which, I find hilarious.
I am a little disappointed that I can't find any other footage--nothing of him talking to reporters, nothing of the medal ceremony (the US coverage is really just not great**). But, maybe it will pop up in the next few days. At any rate, I now have a new video to add to my "This makes me so happy" watchlist. And, so much congratulations to Hafnaoui. Thank you for sharing your joy with the world, and well done on your win.
A while ago I was thinking about friendship. Not sure why, as is the case with most of the things I think about. Anyway, I was thinking about some of my dearest friends and I honestly don't remember how we became friends.
I know how we met, the where and the circumstances that led to us meeting each other. But I don't remember how we went from strangers to close friends. And that is probably because, for me, friendship isn't instantaneous. So, there isn't going to be a moment when I say, "And now we are besties."
Personally, I think that it is wonderful that I can't recall the details of how I gained my friends. It's lovely and just how I like my friendships. But I think not everyone is like that. I think there are some people who decide after 5 minutes that you and they are going to be pals for life.
For me, that is MASSIVELY stressful. I feel anxious just thinking about it. What's the rush? Let's just take a beat. And some of that is because, for me, I don't reveal my entire self in the first five minutes. So when someone decides after five minutes that they like me, my reaction is, "You know nothing about me. You love the facade me, who is polite and friendly in public. But that is NOT me."
Gasp! Horrors! Someone not revealing their true self on first acquaintance?!
Yes. And furthermore, I have no shame about that fact. It's normal human behavior (I hope!!!) to put our best foot forward when meeting new people. To be civil, even kind. But don't assume that means you know what I'm like. Also, don't assume you want to know all of the real me right off the bat. That is definitely not the way for me to win friends and influence people.*
I don't think the friends-in-time approach is necessarily better than the friends-at-first-sight mentality. They are just different. And for me, the friends-in-time approach works. My friends are definitely amazing!
*Not that I am a horrible person. As far as humans go, I'm pretty decent. I try to do the right thing, I try to care about other people and not just myself, I work to be honest, and I find myself hilarious sometimes. But I also get massively frustrated at things that make no sense to my brain, and the shenanigans of this planet!!! Also, I'm tired almost all the time, and as mentioned before, being social with strangers stresses me out. I've got my crazy. So do you.
When I was a kid, we'd do wheelbarrow races, the ones where you hold the partner's legs and they have to go around on their hands. I haven't done one of those in ages, or even seen anyone do them, and it just randomly popped into my head, the memory of doing those.
Also, sticker albums. I can see it, the pink pages and I have a vague idea of the design of the pages, but not super clear. And you'd stick all your stickers in there: scratch-n-sniff, puffy, everything in between. Pages of stickers.
Also, Duck Hunt. I was SO good at Duck Hunt. I couldn't play Mario Brothers worth a darn, but I was super good at Duck Hunt. It was the summer trips to my uncle's and while he was at work, we were at home playing video games. That's as close as I ever got to being a gamer.
Sometimes it's nice to remember the little things from childhood.
