Weekly recap of my ritual of existence in this liminal space called life. (See here for more info.)
- Weather
We got very little precipitation this week and if you’ve been following along, you know we need much more to ameliorate our ongoing severe drought. Two inches of snow fell on Tuesday and the rain gauge measured another 1/4 inch of liquid precipitation the rest of the week, mostly melt I assume.
The high temperatures varied from 35.2°F to 71.1°F, almost a 36°F difference over the week. The average high temp was a springlike 51°F. The lows varied only 16.4°F, between 18.7°F and 35.1°F, averaging 26.4°F.
- Beginnings/Firsts
The sunroom temperature hit 70°F on Friday and we had our ritual “Welcome, Spring!” gin & tonics (this time with a purple pea flower gin!) and cheese crackers.
- Wild Things (Flora, Fauna, Fungi) in addition to others elsewhere in this post
TOP row: tufted titmouse; female cardinal. 2nd row: robin; northern paper wasp; 3rd row: 42 flying geese; two juncos; 4th row: Canada geese; song sparrow; BOTTOM row: fox sparrow.
- Wandering
I walked in town every day but Wednesday (when we walked at the lake) and Sunday (when we left for Maine, where we walked around after we arrived). We’ll be in Maine for a few days, exploring.
in town
lake
The wood frogs were active; we got as close as we could without disturbing them and causing them to stop calling.
Merlin heard birds at the lake:
Maine on Sunday
Merlin heard birds in Maine on Sunday:
- Curiosity & Discoveries
I love Longwood Gardens’ webinars. I watched one offered live on Tuesday about their Idea Gardens, which have been revamped in recent years, coinciding with the creation of the conservatory’s west wing.
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This was a distressing discovery, all this perfectly good and useable wood in a tip outside the renovation of an expensive home near the ocean in Kennebunk, Maine on Sunday evening.
- Creating
Not me, but our sunroom creates a lovely shoulder space in early spring (and late fall); on days when the outside temperature is chilly, or it’s windy, but it’s sunny enough, we are gifted this:
- Repairing and Maintaining the human(s), the cat, and the cars
Human: I worked out 3 times (3 hours) this week, and I walked more than 12,000 steps on six days, more than 15,000 steps on three days, and a high day of 17,548 steps. We played ping pong only 40 minutes this week.
Cars: The serpentine belt on the BMW gave out when my husband was driving on Wed. He had it (and himself) towed home and on Thursday he replaced it.
Cat: I wrote notes for the catsitter for Bumble on Sat. for our Maine trip and organised his food, treats, bowls, etc. Cat tax:
- Nesting
Cleaning/Maintenance: I vacuumed the kitchen, laundry, hallway on Wed. and did clothes laundry on Sat. I watered the houseplants on Friday (forgot them on Wed.). Cleaned kitchen, toilets, etc., as usual. We had a cord of wood delivered on Thursday and we worked together to get it stacked in under an hour (my husband had cleared space for it the night before).
Financial/Admin: Huh. Nothing. That’s unusual.
Supplies: Also nothing.
Food: Chinese leftovers, as predicted, took us through Thursday with the addition of some extra shrimp I cooked. Friday’s dinner was a hodgepodge of some leftovers from my lunch with a friend earlier that day (artichoke-white bean gratin), leftover mac & cheese, raw veggies and dip, leftover Old Bay shrimp, and some soy chicken. Saturday we had veggie burgers with green leaf lettuce, French fries from my lunch on Friday, and peas and corn. Sunday we left for our trip and had a late lunch at Warren’s in Kittery, Maine (big salads from the 60-item salad bar for each, soup for my husband, coconut shrimp app for me, and a salmon meal for him, most of which — besides the soup and salad — we took with us and had for dinner at the motel later).
- Garden
We had a landscaper come over on Tuesday (yes, the day it snowed) to look at our yard and talk with us about some projects we want help with this year. He sent us an estimate and since then I have rethought some of the projects and thought of a few new ones, so it’s a fluid situation at the moment.
My husband put up the pea trellis on Monday. I did some clearing out and cleaning up in the garden for an hour on Monday and on Wednesday I planted 1/3 of my peas (Progress #9 and Green Arrow). The soil temp 4″ down was only 40°F so I didn’t want to plant them all yet but I’m curious to see what comes up, and when. I plan to plant the rest within two weeks.
In the garden this week
- Sleeping & Dreaming
I slept less than usual this week, only a tick more than 7 hours on average. Sleep scores were mostly in the 90s but one was 77 (on a night with 5 hours 40 mins sleep), averaging 88.6 for the week. REM sleep accounted for 12 hours 48 mins and deep sleep for 7 hours 53 mins. Dreaming has been vivid, as per usual.
- Reading / Words & Ideas / Listening / Watching
Reading
BOOKS: I read Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage (2026) by Belle Burden this week. Loved it. When Belle Burden’s husband, called James in this memoir, suddenly decides their 20-year marriage is over, Belle is heart-broken, shocked, devastated, and perhaps above all, completely bewildered, because it seemed up until 24 hours earlier that he was her steady and protective soulmate and that theirs was a loving, intimate marriage, a tight-knit family — and a wealthy family, hers with deep Vanderbilt, Standard Oil, Kennedy, and Paley connections, their three kids (17, 15, and 12 at the start of the book) attending private/boarding schools, James a hedge fund manager in Manhattan, and their second home on Martha’s Vineyard, where they belong to the prestigious country club. It’s here that they retreat from the city at the start of Covid in March 2020 and this is where he announces the divorce. Burden gives us the backstory of her socialite family and of her relationship with James, and the reader might notice a number of red flags warning that James was a controlling, narcissistic, and calculating man, but Burden is very much in love with him, even after he leaves her and the kids, until finally, with help from friends and family, she begins to look more clearly at James and at herself, her assumptions, and her way forward, despite being accused or shunned by those who side with James or who simply don’t think that a man leaving his marriage and his kids is as blameworthy and morally corrupt as a woman who tells people that he’s done it. The book is written almost neutrally but the story is gripping enough, James’ demeanour and actions so chilling and at the same time so acceptable to a swath of society (and Burden’s talking about it so unacceptable), that it is harrowing nonetheless, and her insights as she tries to understand are powerful.
OTHER: I appreciated this recent Thread, about why some of us — I would say not necessarily smart people, as the person posting does, but people with a certain kind of brain, a certain kind of imagination, or a certain kind of mind-body connection — often cannot form a sentence on the spur of the moment; the sensation of mentally seeing multiple intricate paths to follow, and the paths that flow from those paths, through a landscape infused with ambiguity and ambivalence, as well as the interplay with emotion, memory, and tone, is very familiar.
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I learned something new here! “Don’t be a snebber. How to cut cheese properly” in A Cheesemonger’s Odyssey newsletter, 8 April 2026.
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a poem:
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a recipe, from Dinner: A Love Story:
Listening
Watching
We watched ‘Strong Poison’ and ‘Have His Carcase,’ both based on Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey novels published in 1930 and 1932, both library dvds, this week. I caught some of The Masters golf tournament from Thurs. to Sunday.
- Connections & Community
Local Support: We bought some local eggs from someone in a nearby town on Wed. I shopped at the local farmstand on Monday (carrots, chocolate wafers, garlic, lime, spring mix). We had lunch on Thursday and Saturday at a local bakery/café. We made reservations on Wed. at a family-owned motel in Maine for a short vacation. We ate at an independently owned restaurant in Maine on Sunday afternoon. I attended an opening for a show at a local art gallery on Thursday.
Relationships: I stopped by a friend’s (ND) on Monday to bid her farewell before a vacation she’s taking with her daughter (SW) and we chatted for a half-hour (and she gave me bran muffins they’d made). On a short walk on Tues., we ran into neighbours (RD, K&JS) and chatted. On Thursday walking home from lunch we stopped at our neighbour’s (JL) and chatted for 45 mins, including a tour of the kitchen they’re about to renovate; on the way to lunch we chatted with other neighbours (BT&SS) for 10 minutes. I had lunch with a friend (CF) on Friday for 2+ hours at a local restaurant. On a walk on Sat., we ran into our catsitter and chatted briefly. On Tuesday a friend had shoulder surgery and I texted/emailed with her daughter.
- Endings
Our friend Nan Vulgamore died on Saturday after a long and full life. Full obituary. May she rest in peace, joy, and love.
- All This Useless Beauty
the audacity
I mean
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