Going to the dogs

The sidewalk artists are back, and this time their subjects are canine:

I was a little confused by this one, though—six paws?

Upon reflection, I think there are four paws and two jowls with whiskers.

 

 

 

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

Gratitude Monday: regrowth

Last Autumn—maybe September/October—I was dismayed to see that someone had demolished the hibiscus shrubs that have the gigantic flowers. They were on a berm next to a small basketball court, which in turn is next to an apartment complex. I loved those bushes, and someone hacked them literally down to the ground.

Some time later, I came across a woman from the People’s Republic Association mulching the area, so I asked her why they’d been cut down. She replied that they do it every year (although I’d never noticed that) and that the shrubs would grow back.

I was dubious, and every time I walked past the site (which is to say: every day), my disbelief only grew, because the hibiscus certainly weren’t.

However: this past week, look what I saw:

I don’t know whether they’ll bloom this summer, but I’m so grateful to see that they are, indeed, coming back, right next to the stumps. 

 ©2024 Bas Bleu

On the boat to heaven

It was rather a roundabout way on Bluesky (as things often are on SoMe) that I came to today’s earworm.

Someone skeeted an AP story about one of the winners of the $1.3B Powerball lottery. Guy’s an immigrant from Laos, was a machinist at an aerospace company and he’s suffering from cancer. His comment on his net of $422M for him and his wife (they took the lump sum and split their winnings evenly with a friend who chipped in $100 to buy a bunch of tickets) was that now he’d “find a good doctor for myself.”

The commentary ran to “now that I won $200M I can finally afford decent healthcare,” which is a fair take. And one person added, “America, the land of opportunity. The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in the world.”

Which of course features large in Guys and Dolls, so my contribution was “Sit down, you’re rockin’ the boat.” One of my favorite numbers in one of my favorite musicals. So here we are.

©2024 Bas Bleu

Sign of the times

I’ve added a new dogleg to my morning walk, so some new yards to assess.

This variant on the “no soliciting” sign was…interesting.

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

Not crop circles

Here’s an interesting pattern I saw on the putting green (? I assume that’s what this is?) I pass on one of my morning walk routes.

Not sure what caused these—at first I thought it was the push-jobber they use to collect all the golf balls that are left overnight after a day’s worth of putting. But possibly one of the mowers?

I dunno—I just thought it was interesting.

 

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

 

Have a seat

This bench is along one of my walking routes.

I’m not sure whose property it sits on—whether the townhouse cluster that would be to the right and behind me or the golf course onto which it looks out. I suspect the former, although there's a community path separating the bench and cluster, so it would be their landscapers' responsibility to trim the area.

But I don’t think anyone’s going to be watching the sunset from it anytime soon. It's actually looking like the kind of setting where unwary sitters disappear unexpectedly.

"I dunno, Muriel. I ain't seen those kids since they went out to watch them golfers tee off on the 9th hole..."

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

 

Gratitude Monday: new neighbor, old friend

A few weeks ago, a neighbor brought me a pastry, which was lovely. But what sent me over the moon was that it was in a Paris Baguette bag. Because that meant PB has made it to the ‘hood.

Back when I lived in the Valley They Call Silicon, I was a regular at the Santa Clara PB. It was my preferred coffee shop for lingering over a coffee, writing and people watching. My status was so well established that as soon as I opened the door, Kenyon, the manager, had someone start my decaf latte. The pastries were extra primo good, too.

I’ve not found anything close to PB, either in the District They Call Columbia or the People’s Republic, so I was profoundly grateful to learn that an actual PB has opened in Herndon. As soon as I could, I tracked it down.

It was interesting to me that it’s located on the ground floor of a block of mid-rise apartments—first to fill the space that will be all-food all-the-time, apparently. Like you might find in a city, instead of an ex-urb next to a highway. Whatever—I was just happy to see it.

Right after I found the place, I mentioned it to my yoga instructor, showing her a couple of pix after an in-person lesson. Not 20 minutes after she left my house, I got this text (and then follow-up):

Well, I mean—just look:

So my gratitude today is knowing there’s a Paris Baguette nearby—but not as close as the Santa Clara one was, so I won’t be tempted to pop by every day.

 

 ©2024 Bas Bleu

 

We wonder why the test

I was chatting yesterday with a friend and former colleague. He was part of the first shock wave of 12,000 employees laid off in January of last year from the Megalithic Software Company (I was let go in May). We meet once a week to check in, give encouragement and have some laughs.

But I realized as we were talking about the job market that I feel a greater sense of destabilization than just looking for a job. We’re seeing concerted, credible attacks on the institutions of government and democracy and I’m suddenly conscious of how much is riding on this election cycle, and how tenuous is my conviction that the center will hold. It’s not just the student demonstrations, or even the police riot responses (although they’re certainly top of mind); it’s that millions of people would rather solidify their own immiseration than vote for a candidate with a D after his/her name.

The noseless face-spiting crowd want the whole thing, and they’re willing to do anything to get it. And our institutions were not shaped to deal with this level of fuckery.

So—today I’m turning to one of my most stalwart sources of comfort, Sweet Honey in the Rock. Let’s have “We’ll Understand it Bye and Bye”. Bernice Johnson Reagon's voice anchors this like a rock. We all could use that in these times. 

 

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

 

Seen on the street

On my walks last week I discovered that the Sidewalk Chalk Artist has returned, with expanded coverage.

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

May Day! May Day!

For May Day, I think I’m just going to give you a selection of April flowers from the People’s Republic. It’s either that or a screed on the need for unions to restore balance against the capitalist oligarchs, and—TBH—I’m just a bit too tired for that.

©2024 Bas Bleu