Blow It Out Your Nose
I’ve got a head cold. An all too brief moment of sunshine wrestled its way through the clouds Sunday night, just long enough for me to dust off the push mower and set out trimming the grass. It’s been raining off and on for the better part of a week now. It was getting to the point where I could stare out the window and just watch the grass grow right before my eyes. The clover is in full bloom creating exploding archipelagos of violet expanses amongst the tall dark-green grass in the back yard. It’s no more however, as my steely blade chopped though it all without discrimination. After finishing my chore my nose began to run like Giacomo at the Derby. I thought at first I was just having a case of allergies brought on by the felled flowers but by Monday morning it was obvious that it was something more debilitating. So I took yesterday slow and passed most of the day in bed honking on kleenex and reading Ted Kooser’s Local Wonder. A fantastic book of beautiful vignettes, mostly concerning life on the farm in the Bohemian Alps of Nebraska.
I also watched The Incredibles which I thought was a lot of fun. Jason Lee made for a good villain. The cool house that The Incredibles family lives in, I believe, is based on a suburban Joseph Eichler design who coincidentally was just profiled in this weekends New York Times Magazine.

Also, on a sad note, our 97 year-old silver-haired neighbor, Zelda had a major heart attack early Saturday morning. She’s comatose and in hospice care right now. It makes me sad to look out of my office window and into her living room; her easy chair is empty now and I may never again see that beautiful crop of pearly curls peeking out above the head rest as she watched her afternoon television shows.