a southern gal in the north

as in used to be, am again.

this weekend marks beginning of week seven

from baby steps – walking 30 minutes around the neighborhood, to walk/run on the nearby trail, and now running my miles.

a big step was last week – switching to the morning. as in 530 am alarm, out the door at 6 am. but the difference from running at night is so unbelievable that when that alarm goes off, the allure of that wonderful feeling post run propels me up and out. (yes me – the late night gal) which of course means by 8 pm i am ready for jammies and tv and am yawning off to bed by 10.

as for my time and pace, let's just say it's getting better week by week… working on not caring about stats too much but am so f#$# competitive even with myself that i do and well, thats ok. learning to let go and focus on putting the miles in.

great app that helps – runmeter (am in love with this app) and great tunes. opera was for evening runs; mornings have been bach with Yo-Yo.

lucky to have a great trail to run – both north and south of my village.

this morning took the north path that goes up to and thru an historic estate. for the most part from the village northward, this trail winds thru a very dense wooded area with trees arching overhead. nearing the estate, the trail opens from the cool green tunnel to the expansive green bright lawn. glorious today with the brilliant blue sky and cool winds (no humidity too!).

my usual route is south from my village – its a very popular and much wider and well trod trail; the northerly route is narrow in many places and has some bad spots near street crossings. its good to have two different ones to use to change up my runs.

your gratuitous rose photo

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hmmm almost year since posting… well blame it on mobile devices and my work in the IT world – basically the last thing i want to do at night is sit in front of a computer – since i do that ALL day. and that my laptop died last fall… an accident involving a cat, a mug of tea and a small ikea laptop table that swayed a bit when the cat decided to jump on the laptop… up went the mug and down went the tea into the laptop. didnt save it in time. and well, couldnt justify the money to replace – as well i didnt as my desktop was fried by a power outage a few months later and that really was more important.

anyway… that was last fall and this is now. with a mobile keyboard and a tablet, and now a great blogging app, i am sitting on my patio listening to a broadcast of DER ROSENKAVALIER from last fall at the Weiner Staatsoper with Fleming, Koch, Tonc. This past wednesday was Strauss’s 150th birthday and many classical stations celebrated in various ways – WQXR had two operas a day on their Operavore station, and a rebroadcast of the METs production from this past seasion. Radio 3 had lots of special programs. I decided to listen to this version as i have not heard Renee sing it in many years… it really is a touchstone role for her. and i am glad i am … she sounds wonderful … exquisite as always

unfortunately this gorgeous music is being played with a backdrop of very loud reggae and hip hop with lots of bass from the new tenants upstairs who are not paying any rent but working for the landlord in exchange. its not been a happy situation for me … they are very loud and noisy. don’t seem to have any sense of how what they do affects others in the world. i had to call them last night at 1115 and ask them to turn their music off… ugh. absolutely the worst tenants ever. (they also don’t put out their garbage or recyclables and then they pile up etc.) oh and did i mention the aroma of a certain legal in colorado item?

its not that i mind any music being played – but this is EXTREMELY loud – as in the floor shakes … really obnoxious… when it happens during a time i am listening to an opera i just turn up my volume … annoying as hell. and yes i will have a conversation with them if it continues thru the evening and especially tomorrow. but i also suspect they are ‘borrowing’ my washer and dryer which is also alarming (i pay for the water and electricity) – but i am taking measures to deal with that.

oh well life in a small building – moving on.

its the most gorgeous day ever this spring/summer – we have had rain for the last five days – really good for the gardens – esp my roses which are the best ever – this is the eighth year of this garden and it has really matured. its also the first year i have not had to do much … replenish the herb bed – the oregano, chives and strawberries survived the brutal winter-but nothing else… so the herbs were put in on Mother’s Day and then i had redone one bed last fall — so ordered from my favorite place GRACEFUL GARDENS some daisies and decided to try some foxgloves and hollyhocks in a new spot… so they went in Memorial Day weekend. and thats it. i may look for some more ferns at sales later to fill in some back garden spots.

anyway, i have never had so many roses in bloom… they are all outdoing themselves. and the clematis.. one in particular has never bloomed like this year.

more photos here

and now back to act three of ROSENKAVALIER and that sublime trio.

side note: i did watch the live/semi-live stream from Glyndebourne last Sunday – not crazy about the sets and costumes. found the singers good but the three women seemed a bit out of sync. maybe it was the cameras… enjoyed Kate Royal’s portrayal but she needs to settle in a bit more. (her role debut). Ms. Erraught was fine (however it IS hard to dispell memories of Troyanos and von Stade),the Sophie was delightful. not as crazy about the direction and concept. i am glad i saw the MET’s exquisite version before they retire it. (sigh).

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today we have 50ish degrees but with a bit of a wind blowing. the windows are open to let the fresh air into clear up some of the stale winter air. however, its getting chilly and so they will be closed soon.

still it feels good to get the fresh air inside. cant stand being anywhere without access to fresh air.. where i work i am in a windowless room in the center of the building with no fresh air all day. i park in front at meters and that is beneficial for a couple of reasons – it gets me out of my office chair every two hours and i get to breathe fresh air. although this winter its been more of a dash to the meter and a dash back.

the building is a block from the Hdson River and thus the wind can be fierce at times. like thursday, almost knocked off my feets

this winter has been on for the record books as they say… and the worst i have lived thru here in the north. never have had so much snow andstay on the ground… it seems as if the snow in the backyard will never melt. my poor plants…
the whole area is still covered with feets of snow. at least two feet still on the patio, covering the patio furniture and the herb bed and blocking the path into the garden.

its still frozen solid … keep poking at the piles to see if i can shovel some of it away. since the next four days are below freezing it will be here for awhile.

i hate working holidays when most of the world is closed or off.   and today has been one of those days

1 i forgot an item that i needed to return to the very place that i am going to after work.  but it would take too long to go home and collect it and then go run that errand especially after work at 6 pm.  which means that i have to make another trip to this store later this week just to deal with this return and i may be too late.

2 received a parking ticket for doing exactly what i should have done – stupid scrooge policeman.

where i work in a small village, there is no daily parking lot for non residents.  there is only a permit only lot for which you apply in a lottery once a year.

so for the past two years i have been parking at the two hour meters in front of the office building… the only other alternative is a six hour meter that is up a very steep hill and about a three block walk .. so that means after six hours you have to trudge up and fill your meter again.

i have been religious about filing the meter on time – have my routine down – i have a timer clock that i reset for 145 minutes each time i come back.  have never received a ticket for no money in meter.

so this village where i work the week or so before christmas and thru Jan 1st they make the meters free but for two hours only.

Last week it snowed a bit and when it snows, the parking on my home street in another village becomes a nightmare so i dont drive during those times.  I took the train each day – its more expensive ironically than driving and paying the meter for 8 hours (there is something WRONG with that but that is for another post).

anyway, today i needed to go to the store after work – so i drove – and moved my car every two hours since i came in …. as it happened the only spots open each time were the spot either in front or behind me.  as in i parked in spot 2 when i came to work and two hours later spot 1 was the only one available and so i moved to that one and then two hours later spot 2 was available and so i moved there.

so i went at 320 (the THIRD move of the day) and again spot 1 was the only one available – so i moved to that spot and then saw the F#*#*#G ticket on the windshield.

I am so angry – I had called the police and explained that i work in the building and would be glad to take the bag off and pay all day – but he said i would have to move it.  So I DID.

And I was told that they would mark the tires – well I cant help it if the F#*#*G policeman either didnt mark the tires or didnt pay attention to the fact that the car HAD BEEN MOVED.

So i called after getting the ticket and was told “THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO, you have to go to court”

i am still so angry about this.

YOU ARE DAMNED IF YOU DO AND DAMNED IF YOU DONT

I promptly made a sign and put it on the car – THIS CAR WAS MOVED AT 320 pm.

as the court will be off for the next two weeks due to the fact that it meets on WED and the next two Weds are holidays – AND the court hears the Criminal cases FIRST and makes the Traffic cases WAIT until they are all done… so its going to be horrendous and take forever to just get to the traffic tickets.

Sent from my iPhone

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STATIONS
Bartok Radio
BBC Radio
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CBC Music
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WFMT The Lyric Opera of Chicago Broadcasts
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Broadcast Series
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Performance Today from American Public Media
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Today’s roses.

Sitting on the patio. Morning latte. My beautiful homeysuckle transplanted this spring to a nice big pot all of a sudden is withering away. Sulking and drooping. Not sure what's going on. Photo to come. Must research.

Today's agenda includes the youngest nephews kindergarten graduation. Exciting. He Came over on Sunday to invite me. That was the day of the big fishing expedition. More of anon. And his elder brother saved his teams bacon by pitching out the best two batters in the month with bases loaded. Alas the younger and I were fishing off the shores of the Hudson while that momentous event occurred.  (the younger not that interested in watching hours of baseball, the elder is in two leagues … last weekend he had SIX games oi) 

More anon. Dashing off to work.

ETA photos