Halfway

June is here. How is it that time seems to flow by faster? I know people have been asking themselves this question for, what, ages now. How did people think about time before we came up with a calendar or clock? I'm not sure that I'd want it to slow down or perceive it as being slower, but its "speed" does amaze me sometimes. And it's good to pause and think about how I spend my time. Am I doing what I want? Am I spending it wisely?

I'm not always sure I know what time well spent means, however. For instance, I'm composing this post on the kitchen table and my eyes are continually drawn to the backyard, where the birds are so active: hummingbirds battling over the feeder, little brown birds zooming over to Rex's outdoor water dishes or hopping along in the grass. One bird dragged an enormous twig along the deck then flew into the mulberry tree, which has finally grown out a respectable green coif after the buzzing that M gave it a few months ago. I just took a break to go sprinkle some fabric strips, yarn bits, and batting around the yard hoping to help in nesting efforts (and yes, I consulted the Cornell website first). I also spotted a bird hopping near the slider with a tail feather completely askew and I wonder if it was the one Roxy had gotten ahold of earlier this year.

I'm trying to appreciate our tiny backyard more. I had hoped to make some serious progress on redoing both yards this season--getting rid of the lawn in front and replacing it with low-water landscaping, and putting in another small deck in the back to make the slope a bit more usable and generally trying to make it more pleasant to look at; maybe even a garden container or two. However, once again procrastination pays: we received a notice from the city that they were planning to fix the easement, a concrete ditch really, running along the back edge of our backyard. Which is good and needed, but in order to maintain it going forward, they planned to fence it in which would mean cutting the space we currently have in half! There's not that much to begin with and though it's not all ours, it's not like the synagogue people are putting it to use. We suggested that they just install buried drainage rather replacing the concrete ditch--then it wouldn't need maintenance--but they said that would be too expensive. M sent them a letter questioning their right to put a fence on our property. How wonderful it is to have an attorney in the family. We haven't heard back yet.

Traveling continues. Mom and I went for a very quick overnight trip to the interior--a few hours in Redding for Sophia's birthday, then evening and overnight in Chico for Ryan's play and Mark's birthday. It was nice seeing so much family, even if it was for a very brief period.



Ry acquitted himself quite well in the play, as narrator in Aladdin. The opening scene was set in a bazaar and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to see him in the crowd. When a much taller boy appeared, head and shoulders above the rest, it took me a moment or two to realize that it was Ryan! So no worries about catching sight of him during the performance. That's middle school for you. It reminded me a little of Felicia's middle school graduation, where some of the students looked like young adults and others like children even though they were all about the same age. I was also very envious of the chicken coop Mark was constructing. It would be fun to have a few cluckers running around, though Rex would chase them. Well, no sense thinking about it til the backyard situation gets resolved.



I also had a conference in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. It went pretty well. I've been hostessing a series of events to help encourage more women to speak at conferences at our events, and the one at this conference was the most successful event yet, yay. I'm off to another in about a week, in Santa Clara.

View from the Hilton Union Sq, a photo by suzipaw on Flickr.

I had to cut my time at the conference short for the biggest adventure of late: M's knee replacement. He's been living with pain for a long time. The replacement has been in the making for some time, too. In fact, the surgeon even remarked that it should have happened earlier. But now the waiting is over. The procedure itself went very well and recovery is underway. He's still in a lot of pain, but getting physical therapy. On one of our walks on Taylor Mountain a few weeks ago, we ran into a guy who was hiking pretty well just three months after his replacement. He said the first month was "Why did I do this?" but the second month was "Why didn't I do this sooner?" so we're eagerly awaiting month number two.