Tappahannock

 We left the city for four days. On the freeway going south, I could see from horizon to horizon. It reminded me of driving through Oregon and California, except the open spaces were full of corn and soybeans instead of grass.

We stayed in a house built in 1751. The strain of historical places in the South is that you know that slavery happened there. A Customs House is better than a plantation house, though, I think.

The house has a second story (almost third story, if you count the semi-basement) balcony that looks out over the Rappahannock River. It's next to a loud bridge, but we watched osprey and cormorants and seagulls for hours. It's high enough that the breeze keeps mosquitos away. It rained every day - soft, cold, drizzly rain that was perfect for the balcony. It dampened the sound, dampened the world, and I wore a sweater for the first time in months. 

I brought a fantastic issue of the London Review of Books. I read almost every word. On the last page, there was an ad for an "aging French rock star" to write you a song, in "English, French, or Franglais (recommended)." Only $200. I'm considering it. 

The monthly farmer's market took place while we were there, and we picked up a few vegetables. There was a Blue Lives Matter bakesale, but most people wore masks. I went into a tiny thrift store and bought new shoes. 

On the first night, our friend made us a curry. Every night I ate it I had wild dreams. I wonder if it was the beet greens, or the coriander, or some other ingredient. Vivid, colorful dreams. 

Our friends cooked a lot. Sometimes it was hard - I'm used to 20-minute meals, and I'm usually quite hungry by the time I notice that I'm hungry at all. But, the food was incredible. The best tacos of my life (and huevos rancheros for breakfast). A fabulous beet salad. We made fondue as well - our friends' first!

We went on hikes every day (except for the first day, our settling in day.) On the first hike, we saw tons of boletes, just past their primes. On our second hike, I saw my first Destroying Angel, plus a Luna Moth just drying its wings for the first time. We hiked to the Potomac River, through marshes and forests and hills and creeks. Each hike had so much variety in trees and underbrush (and fungus!). Our last hike on the way home we saw a black snake and a massive hairy spider. 

I haven't had anyone to tell about my trip, so it's already fading from my memory faster than it would have if I'd told my colleagues and friends. 

So that's why I wrote it here.

There is such a thing as too much freedom

It's the end of another pandemic weekend! There were a few good Age games, and I read The Quaker by Liam Mcllvanney. It was a good plot, but not as well written as The Story of a Crime.

Maybe I should get the new Elena Ferrante in French, since it's already out! I also need to get Braiding Sweetgrass, and I saw a book called Phallacy hyped by Ed Yong on Twitter that I think I'll look for as well.

I bought Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby at Solid State this weekend. I just started The Terrorists today, to wrap up the Martin Beck series ahead of our early September book club. 

What else - I watched Viper play the Deathmatch World Cup this morning. They were exciting games, but nothing super creative or unusual. It was cool to hear him evaluate the game as it evolved, talking about what went well and what was a bad trade, and how comfortable he felt at any stage. It wasn't a very close competition, but that made it more relaxing than the normal deathmatch nail-biters.

I played three games of Age today. 1v1s - the first I lost after 1.5 hrs gametime, and the next two I won. The middle one was ridiculous - he hid all over the ravines map and made me run around and find him, but he never really boomed. The last one I was proud of - I did a few good archer pushes and got a lot of vill kills. He resigned kind of early but I was quite far ahead in villagers and map control. 

On Thursday I'll be back at clay. I have a few projects planned that will be interesting and exciting. The teacher might have some ideas for me/the class as well. I hope it feels safe, and I hope it makes me feel curious and creative. It's gonna be a bitch to get there without gears on my bike but it seems like every shop in the city is overwhelmed with work.

Yesterday's Age games were a blast. In one team game, I was down to two villagers right before castle age! In another, I only made flaming camels for the last 10 minutes. In another, Gameboy and a Sinergy dude played basically without me, because it was arena and I just boomed. But, the flaming camels game was ridiculous and fun. We laughed so hard. 

I'm still so lonely for my friends, whoever they are. I feel very lost, like I don't have real connections to anyone except my boyfriend and my Age friends, and the Age connections are tenuous. 

So, that is some of what's going on. Work is still mellow, because I barely do any!