hey jud

Today is a special day because it's my Mom's 80th birthday. We celebrated last weekend in Orange, a week early so that nearly twenty-five family members could be there for the party. And a wonderful party it was, on the lawn with plenty of homegrown strawberries for shortcake and a special birthday cake.

And to Mom, I wish you health and happiness and harmony, and may you live all the days of your life.

Today was a day of flaneuring, a pastime to which I had not treated myself for quite awhile. The weather was perfect for walking, cool with a slight breeze, and the parameters for my journey were set by a couple of errands plus the requisite latte stop. With no time limits, my meanderings brought me from the waterfront to the Financial District, to the newly renamed Ladder District, to Chinatown and back through the North End. I paused to watch birds sleeping on a bobber line in the harbor and a cat sleeping in a window on the wharf (the nature segment of my walk). I followed tourists and carefully crossed streets between tour buses and duck boats (the exercise segment). I looked in the basement, considered the purchase of sauce dishes at a kitchen supply place in Chinatown and almost bagged a pair of lime green shoes, a very nice lime green, but made no purchases (the being sensible segment). When I spotted this police boat, the 'Probable Cause', from the ferry on the way home, I knew it was aptly named (the intellectual segment). What more could one ask of a day as a flaneur?

Meantime, maybe I should apply for a job working on the Filene's Basement web site. I wonder how long it's been 'coming soon'.

I pride myself on being an urban dweller, but with a rooftop garden where I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, fabulous swiss chard and all sorts of flowers. Getting things started this year has been a bit of a battle though, because something kept digging up the new little plants right after I set them out. I've only got two survivors from the morning glory seeds I started. The Martha Stewart lime green zinnias fared a bit better and there are six of those, all just about to blossom. Most of the larger plants are fine, except for a cluster of salvia that keeps getting all matted down. All along, I've been attributing the problem to squirrels, though it doesn't make sense that they'd still be looking for nuts buried last fall. The true culprit showed up the other day however. When I went out to water I noticed torn off bits and pieces of flowers and leaves lying on the deck. The poor salvia was more battered down than ever, almost like something had sat on it. As I tried to coax it back upright, I heard a slight noise behind me. There, right between me and the door was a raccoon with its dark circle eyes just staring at me. I quickly realized that one of the things I like about being urban is not finding myself in a situation such as this. With no place to back up and quietly move away, I just stared back. I'm not sure who was more scared, but the raccoon gave up first and disappeared under the deck. After a minute or so, I walked gingerly across the deck right to where he'd been, opened the door and leaped inside. Though urban raccoons are fairly commonplace now, I don't care to be in a common place with them.