i don't think i left the house...

Cocooning

Cécile Veilhan

The only time I left the house in three days was to meet my friend, Joanne, for a drink on Friday afternoon. I meant to go to the grocery store, but didn't. I meant to go for a walk, but didn't. Normally, this would make me crazy but for some reason, it didn't.

I slept a lot and I read a lot. Another mystery by Colin Dexter, Anne Tyler's book Beginner's Goodbye, and The Last Afternoon at the Ritz. I finished one knitting project and started another. We watched a couple movies and the first installment of Sherlock which I didn't think I'd like but I did. I cooked quite a bit and I think I reported on that here before so I won't bore you with those details. The only thing I can add is an eggbake yesterday morning. After the nap.

I talked to Tiffany (who has the flu) and Peter (who does not) over the weekend. I talked to their dad, Steve in Eagle Lake, Mom in Canby, and Deb, my cousin in Arizona. My brother, Bruce, called last night. It's not that I didn't have any social contact, I just never left the house. Somehow it was just fine.

The paired cardinals who come to our feeder keep us entertained. We're looking forward to the whole family again this summer. Last year, there were two adults and three young ones. The flinches are turning color and are also active at the feeder. Lots of other birds, too: juncos, woodpeckers, chickadees, blue jays.

My neighbor had a hawk in her yard, shopping her bird feeders for a small birdie snack. With the snow cover, it isn't easy to spot lunch so they come to town where there's fast food. Tasty and convenient. It's hard not to be distressed when you see cardinal pieces strewn about the stump in the back yard, but everybody's gotta eat. Cardinals are usually pretty smart...not like robins who get squashed by cars on a regular basis all summer long.

I'm in a mood to pack up about 80% of my winter clothes and stow them in the basement. I wear the same things a lot and it would simplify my life. I root through them all every day and leave a giant mess that needs to be folded up later. Maybe I'm just in the mood for spring clothes. That's one of the problems with a cold climate...the change of seasons doesn't always coincide with the change in fashion mojo.

We tried to watch some of the red carpet business at the Academy Awards last night but since we don't have cable, we had to stream it. We watched something called Popsugar for a while but the conversation was so vapid we had to stop and blow the cobwebs out of our ears. I heard one young woman say a dress was "over more sophisticated" whatever that means. Like fingernails on a chalkboard.

On to the week. I'll try to get out a little more... I can see a Guenther's cheeseburger in my future today.