Window Seat Gazing --- Day 13/267,8 & 9

Walks:  Hood and fingers on computer searches

Distances: Average 4 miles

*

Ciwt loves having a window seat again and spends many hours there, often just gazing at the city going by.

*Actually expressed by Piglet, but Ciwt liked the window seat image..

Tyger! Tyger! --- Day 13/266*

Walk: Hood

Distance: 6.5 miles

So Ciwt heard from a reader who was disappointed she hadn't been posting as many animal pictures on CIWTas she had in the past. Hearing that, childless catlady Ciwt went right to work and found this magnificent tiger.  She's actually a young mother working hard to raise her rebellious cubs. There's one above, and he does look like trouble,  You can see more of her and those naughty cubs in the movie Tiger produced by WildStar Films and the culmination of 1,500 days of filming.

* In honor of William Blake's (1757-1827) immortal poem The Tyger, with that unforgetable first line: Tyger! Tyger! Burning Bright..

Vini, Vici, Vidi - Hopefully! --- Days 13/263, 264 & 265

Walks: Hood 

Distance: Average 4 miles

So, Ciwt got her first electricity and gas bill for her new place - and had to sit down.  Stunning.  She even called a pg&e service representative to come check if the total could be possible.  He looked at every meter, appliance, and who knows what.  And, yup, it was possible - no leaks.

Turns out nearly everything here is 'green' - like your car if you've bought one recently.  In other words, computerized, totally techie, app operated, and supposedly great for the environment.  You know which age group this leaves out - basically everyone over 40.

Ciwt just walked right by all the dials for her first month - the one in the jaw dropping bill - telling herself everything they were running was a-ok.  Well, what they were was Full Speed Ahead, so Ciwt somehow had to learn how to conquer those dials.  Each one took a day: searching on line for the manual (they don't come with the product any more), trying to fathom it, flailing around with the dials and buttons.

And she's proud to announce, she has conquered the following (plus led bulbs in her lights and cannisters).  Hopefully.  Hopefully.  We will see when the next pg&e bill arrives.

Nest Thermometer

oc meterline

water heater

The English and Their Hats --- Days 13/256 -- 262

 

Walks:  Hood 

Distance average: 4 miles

Ciwt is a huge hat admirer. Must be her in her balmy English blood. And, if she lived in Bridport, Dorset, England, she would definitely attend the town's Hat Festival every year.  It's a celebration of hats, a fun(d)raiser for head-related charities (whatever they are) and a giant summer-ending party.  The festival combines live music, demonstrations, an auction, games, you name it, including multiple competitions.  In that last regard, Ciwt would head straight for the Hatted Dog Competition.

Box Walking --- Days 13/254 & 255

Walks: UPS, FED EX, Home to get more boxes, UPS, Home for more, UPS

Distances: Average 4.5 miles

Ciwt thinks she has mentioned that nothing is local these days.  So as she continues to move into her new home, her days are consisting of living on line, guessing about colors, fabrics, finishes. Some sooner, some later, the boxes - mostly large - arrive.  Then it's on to carrying the boxes up the stairs*, slicing open to see if the items are even close, either breaking down the boxes or....(and this is often the case), repacking and walking the boxes over to UPS, FedEx or USPS.  Repeat, repeat....

Oh well, it is exercise. Some people walk their dogs; Ciwt sees them on her way through the park as she walks her boxes.

* Occasionally a delivery person with a particularly heavy package notices Ciwt's cast and offers to carry the deliver upstairs.  Ciwt always says yes.

Long Stretch --- Days 13/253 & 254

Walks; Hood

Distances: 4 miles

So Ciwt has plenty of things to do from the time she wakes up until 4:30 in the afternoon.  But then comes the dreaded (for her) 4:30 to 6:30 stretch.  In her entire 80 years she has never, ever figured out what in the world to do during those hours except just sort of grit her teeth, wait around, dawdle, etc.  She wonders how her readers fill them.

Showing Off --- Day 13/252

Walk: Hood (of course)

Distance: 5.5 miles

Blow, Scott, Blow --- Days 13/250 & 251

Walks: One Day of rest, Hood

Distance: n/a, 3.5 miles

Scott Macomber on trumpet and Simon Berry on organ at St. Dominic's Church, San Francisco

Some people resonate to the violin, others to the piano.  Certain instruments speak most deeply to individual listeners.  For Ciwt is is HORNS, especially the trumpet.  And when that instrument is accompanied by organ music vibrating off the arched stone walls of a cathedral straight our of midieval France, oh my.  So you can imagine how much she enjoyed her "Dances for Trump & Organ" concert the other evening.