Optimo makes beautiful hats in Chicago. They are out of my league. But I can dream.
Sitting on the porch with my morning coffee, reading: Think Little by Wendell Berry. Behind me, a pileated woodpecker is tapping at a dead upright branch of an oak tree.📚
Visited the Durham record stores today looking for new album by local Americana musician Joseph Decosimo but neither store had it yet so I walked out with Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago. Record sounds great in our house.
Caution signs are up. Rains keep coming. Turtles are on the move. Anna saw this one as she left for the Durham Bulls game this evening.
Family dinner (fennel-crusted tuna and broiled lobster tail) to celebrate our anniversary tomorrow (29 awesome years). I decanted the good bottle from Chimney Rock, which Erin and I visited in November. Good meal, great wine, a marriage to be grateful for every minute of every day.
Red chanterelles in the forest by my house. With all the rains these last weeks I haven’t done any exploring. Hoping to get out tomorrow for a walk of discovery.
Rainy day, another turtle crossing the road. This one a small female. I’ve received a few of these cool signs and will put them along the road this weekend to warn our drivers to go slow and watch for my favorite creature.
On plane to Texas, I read profile of pediatrician Greg Gulbransen and liked this graph:
Good people are often puzzles to those of us who wish we were better. We try to understand what they do, and how, and why. Many base their goodness in principle, or faith, or some vision of how the world ought to be, and we sometimes suspect that, if we could only adopt one of their systems, we might do good, too. But Gulbransen’s goodness wasn’t part of any system; it was personal, even arbitrary.
Wildlife seen in West Texas this weeked: kit fox (see earlier post), tan rat snake near our airbnb and long red racer (western coachwhip snake) along a gravel road, then porcupine (roadkill), roadrunner, havelina (roadkill) on US-90, and this cactus longhorned beetle near the horses.
Just before our departure this morning, Katherine took us outside Marfa for a bit of sightseeing.
Stenciled message on door of ruined house, Marfa, Texas. I bought a bottle of Mexican sotol from the surprisingly well-stocked Cactus Liquors in town.
After dinner and art at Capri last night, on our way to our room at the cool BOHEMIO Raconteur Lodge, we watched a fox cross the road. This article from Marfa Public Radio (Katherine’s husband, Tom Michael, was a founder of that station) says “kit foxes are America’s smallest canid.”
Erin and I made an impromptu visit to Marfa, Texas. We arrived just in time to surprise Erin’s sister, Katherine Shaughnessy, as she kicked off dinner for the Boise artists she’s brought here for tours. Loved the amazing Capri space for drinks, music, food, art. Katherine’s art show opens tonight.
Good show by Toronto band Ducks Ltd at DC9 in Washington, D.C. Songs all similar sounding but the playing was at fast pace and singing was electric. Glad I went. Last night I caught Detroit band Chirp, with jamming local group Dead Fish opening, at Byrdland.
Just stomped my second spotted lanternfly during my visit to Washington, D.C.
I stood up after my morning meditation, looked out the window to the wildflower garden below, and noticed this turtle so I walked outside to say hello.
Watched an episode of Ted Lasso (The Strings That Bind Us) and sure enough, there’s an embrace, this time between Sam and his father, Ola. The power of a hug - to show love, comfort, forgiveness, protection, or other bond - is a recurring theme across the show. To me, this is the power of the show.
One of the best shows I’ve been to recently was The Heavy Heavy (last year at Cat’s Cradle). Just saw the band will be back this way in September, at Motorco in Durham, so I snagged tickets for the family. Can’t wait. Fun band.
On my way to the mall to pick up my new suit, I caught a bit of the Sound Opinions show on our local public radio station, WUNC. A listener called in to hype the Irish band Dylan Flynn and the Dead Poets. Listening to their music on Spotify now. Running Away is bouncy good.