Pre-show dinner at trattorria at 44th St. & 9th Ave., window seat watching so many people walk by. Love the energy of this city. So different than tiny Chapel Hill. Got a great view from atop the Empire State Building.
With Erin and Oliver in NYC to celebrate Oliver’s birthday #12. A gorfeous day to walk. Just sat down for breakfast at a corner diner. Lion King tonight, Miss Liberty tomorrow.
A moment of confusion every time I hear the opening notes of Change by War on Drugs as I think I’m about to hear Solidarity by Rhythm Corps, a Detroit band I was introduced to by my college roommate in the late 80s.
Glad to get a haircut from my regular barber Kirby (Arrow North Hills), and on her recommendation I walked around the corner to discover Jubala Coffee for flat white and fresh drop biscuit.
Fiddling with the Smol Blog, adding a new page to pull in all posts about the various islands I’ve called home or visited (using the category+filters function) including Paama, St. Croix, and Hawaii.
Lots of rain today, but once it stopped I went for a walk out back and happened upon these (maybe a chocolate clover?).
Our daughter, Anna, is 21 today. So proud of her and grateful for how she has brightened our lives.
Blew out a quad muscle during warmups this morning, so had to leave the Sunday soccer just as the guys were splitting into teams. Bummed. This regular outside fun with others is so important to my health.
The 2011 Ford Ranger went to the shop for an oil change. Two days later, the power windows stopped working. Coincidence perhaps. I stopped by the auto supply store in Carrboro and bought a 30-amp cartridge fuse. Back home, fuse in, windows are going up and down again.
Just watched the first episode of Tokyo Vice. Very intriguing.
Got lucky today.
Wordle 294 2/6
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We’re traveling on my birthday and have arrived CLT with layover that nicely coincides with the Final Four game. (I work at Duke and have a degree from UNC.)
Snorkeled F’sted pier: blue tang, cuttlefish, green sea turtles, pencil fish. Now at Dorsch Beach. Playing Hapa on the bluetooth speaker, drinking a Leatherback Brewing Island Life lager (in a coozy thats says Pau Hana). Vacation days in the Virgin Islands (echoes of Hawaii).
Woke early and walked solo to the beach, strung the hammock, relaxed with my thoughts and a magazine. Watched three catamarans sail north to return their charters to St. Thomas. Now back at the house up on the hill, looking out over Frederiksted. #vacation
Over on my Storian blog, I’ve posted a mid-vacation update from the U.S. Virgin Islands. In short: we’re having a great time.
I started reading Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell last fall, took it with me on the winter vacation to Hawaii, but only on this St. Croix trip did I finally power my way through, and I’m so glad I did because this was a beautiful story that simmered until it’s boiling point. 📚
Sitting poolside at the Fred, a boutique hotel in Frederiksted on the island of St. Croix. Just had a massage, waiting as Erin gets hers. Reading a good book(Hamnet), drinking a beer, listening to a guitarist singing at the bar. Cruise ship looms beyond.
Back on Sandy Point for the final day of public swim. Turtle nesting season is starting.
Such a glorious day, warm and breezy and buzzing with life. I was glad to see the bloodroot bloomed.
Reading about the large Joro spiders that are moving up the East Coast of the U.S., I’m reminded of similar spiders, like this one, that were on Paama Island (in Vanuatu, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer). When we visited Paama in 2018, Reddy took us for a hike up to the family garden, and he snagged a giant spider and let it walk up his arm.