i didn't know what to overlook. And i dare you to learn

Instead of waking up at the usual hour of too-early a.m., I didn't manage to drag myself out of bed until after ten. Even after that point, it would not be fair to say that I was awake, especially since I kept falling back into bed, listlessly wondering if I could manage to do anything today at all. Sometime in the afternoon, I did lurch some fraction of a mile to get necessary things for the household (read: toilet paper), but then I only ended up in bed once again.

And then, a bit before sunset, I decided that I needed some food other than what I had in the house. So, I walked to a convenience store conveniently located a couple blocks away, but they had nothing to make me part with any of my cash. Then I walked to a drug store to see if any of the foods on their shelves held any appeal, but again I was disappointed. I checked in at a Latin grocery and stopped by little restaurants, but still was not satisfied with anything in my price range. Finally, I gave in to the inevitable and walked to a grocery store where I ended up selecting a wee bit of meat and an onion, but this was not the main source of today's excitement. Oh no! Today's excitement was this: I saw a former housemate I hadn't seen in many years (at least three. Or four or even five, now that I think about it (I have lived here a while))! Though we were both too tired and/or surprised to think of much to say, I did find out that he's still living nearby, newly married, and generally doing well in his life. It's always good to know that things are going well for a kind person.

I walked home by a more direct route, smiling. In the alley, some shadowy creature ran from one side of the road to the other. As I was watching to keep track of where it was, it changed its mind and ran back to the first side of the road. The critter did this once or twice more before a car turned into the alley, at which point the little guy dove for cover under a grate across a gutter. As the car got closer and the headlights lit up the surroundings, fuzzface stuck his head up and looked at me curiously. Though they sometimes make nuisances of themselves, raccoons really are adorable.

'Twas a Happy Independence Day

I hadn't had any particular plans for yesterday, which worked out well since other people who hadn't had any particular plans ended up being free to make last-minute plans to hang out and enjoy grilled sausages. hasufin and stardansr were kind/crazy enough to have several people-type beings and a friendly dog in their home yesterday, consuming the aforementioned sausauges along with baked beans, chips with cheese & salsa, cinnamon ice cream (yum!) and happily clogging our arteries. A ball was tossed and retrieved--mostly retrieved by stardansr, though I think the dog got it a few times too. We were generally enjoying each other's company and the various books around, which was a good thing because Mother Nature's fireworks knocked out the electricity, thus making electronic distractions unavailable for a few hours.

The guests eventually got sent away so people who had to work could get some sleep in first. I was dropped off at the nearest Metro station early enough that fireworks were still blazing. As I started to walk into the station, I realized that the view was good enough that it really might be worth my while to just watch for a bit, enjoying the pretty colors and big kabooms. There is a walkway into the station, glass-windowed so that Metro riders can see highway traffic flowing by below. Some few of us stood at the windows watching the show while other people walked to and fro behind us. One of the Metro workers gathered there looking was a woman who was nearly crying. She said she'd never worked this station on the 4th of July before, never seen the fireworks over the Mall before. It was all so, so beautiful, she said. After the finale was over, I finally walked inside and boarded a train.

My timing was good, in a way, I suppose. I got onto a train at the same time that large masses of people were getting onto trains--but I got onto a train farther from the center of the system, so the crowds were all well ahead of me. I did have to transfer later, but the transfer point was also away from the denser crowds. All this meant that I always had a seat and plenty of breathing room on the way home. Unfortunately, it also meant that there were plenty of delays because the crowds on those other trains ahead of us kept slowing things down. Mostly I read a book to keep myself entertained along the way, though I did chat for a while with a man who seemed very happy to have been able to see everything in DC.

I greeted two cats on the way home from the station last night. Cats seem very appropriate for Independence Day.