Snapshot of Now

At this very moment, I'm sitting in my car because I've staked out an excellent viewing spot for Healdsburg's annual "Future Farmers of America parade. It's a very small town sort of thing, with every kid in town either in the parade or watching. For the bazillionth year in a row, my daughter is in it -- again, as with the last few years, she's been with her equestrian team to demonstrate vaulting (gymnastics on horseback) along the route. I try to forget that there's asphalt below the horse. (Rest assured that there are lots of spotters.) And she always gets a big cheer when she does a back flip off the back of the horse - which makes the staking out a spot and waiting for hours worth it in the end.

Reading: The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by .Jan-Philipp Sendker. I'm liking it fairly well, but just had the story shift into the past to follow a different character. These days, I'm annoyed by that device. I hate it when a novel shifts focus just when I've started caring about the character I started with. But I'll keep going and see what happens. (Added later:  I finished it.  Meh.)

Listening: Podcasts, a lot of podcasts. I have a bunch backed up in my Overcast app, so I've been listening to try to get current. I'm really loving the Alec Baldwin interview podcast "Here's the Thing" -- he's a surprisingly good interviewer. I still love Radio Lab and Invisibilia and This American Life and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, of course.

Watching: Grace and Frankie on Netflix -- I'm SO enjoying watching Jane Fonda's brilliant comedy. I also have been periodically watching episodes of "Longmire" on Netflix. The series is based on the mystery series of books by Craig Johnson. Longmire is a modern day sheriff in a small town in Wyoming that borders an indian reservation. The stories are interesting, the writing is excellent, and the characters are complex and compelling. In fact, I've been enjoying the mysteries so much, and I have such clear images of the characters in my head, that I was wary about the tv series for fear it would conflict too much with my mental Longmire. But I'm impressed and enjoying the series so far.

Eating: Chopped salads. I've become obsessed with Safeway's own chopped salad kits, which come with lettuce, other veggies, some crunchy add-ins like chopped nuts or wonton strips, and dressing. I thrown in chicken and voila, two nights' worth of dinner. My favorites are the Mediterranean and Asian kits but they have others, too. Can you tell I'm not in the mood to cook these days?

Creating: I'm in a creative whirl these days, alternately working with paper and fabric. My sewing room looks like a tornado went through it and hurled supplies every which way. No, I will not memorialize it with a photo... You can make your own big mess, multiply it a few times, and THAT's what my mess looks like.

Anticipating: Some possible road trips! I'm in the planning stages, which is fun. My sister and I are thinking about a trip up to Eureka, which is a small town on the California coast about 4 hours north of me. We're thinking we'll have some good day trips -- ocean and redwood forests and some quaint small towns to explore. But we're stilling pinning down accomodations and dates. A trip up to Washington might be on the summer schedule too. We'll see.

Working: Yes, there's always work in the background. It's interesting, but not interesting enough to talk about.

What are you doing right now?

Posted with Blogsy