Monday
Ran errands in the morning. I love how conveniently-located our house is! Our actual street is a quiet dead-end, but driving about four twisty lomg blocks to the east leads you to a nice main street, McLoughlin, with most of the shops and things I’d ever need — except Trader Joe’s, a fabric store, and a yarn store, all of which are an easy 15 minutes away.
First stop was Fred Meyer, a huge grocery store with a pharmacy and more. Got my prescriptions, some peanut M&Ms, and some black raspberry ice cream, which I love but simply doesn’t exist in California. I remember it from when I lived in the midwest as a toddler, believe it or not.
Then across the street to BofA to pay my credit card bill. Then down the street another block to pick up a burrito from the excellent hole-in-the-wall Rigoberto’s, then another block to drop books at the library, then around the loop and home again. We also have an Ace hardware, a good pizza place, a family ice cream shop, an independent donut place, a Goodwill, a Harbour Freight, and all the little things like tire shops and weed dispensaries and whatever. Easy.
I spent hours watching the birds at my suet feeder. There’s a pair of Northern Flickers that I just adore! They’re unusual and beautiful: tan, with black speckles and a curved black bib. Bright orange cheeks. When they fly you see a flash of cantaloupe-orange from the underside of their wings and tail. They’re rather large woodpeckers— bigger than a jay but smaller than a pigeon — and incredibly shy. If they see me make one tiny move through the glass door they are GONE.