Morning, friends.  Happy Julember one millionth, or whatever it is.  How were your weekends?  Mine was a bit of a roller coaster.  Started out well – on Friday evening Steve and I drove down to Alexandria for dinner with our old neighbors, Zoya and Robert.  We sat for hours on their back patio, talking and laughing under their twinkle lights, eating Robert’s homemade sourdough bread, a fresh green salad, and pizza from Lena’s – our old fave.  It was just what I needed after a long week – but the good feelings dissipated on Saturday morning, when I got an email from our VRBO host for our planned vacation, telling me I should probably cancel.  We were planning a trip to Cape Cod, and I was so looking forward to a week of breathing in sea air, feeling sand between my toes, and whale-watching to celebrate our fifteenth anniversary.  But with the Massachusetts travel advisory, all of that was up in the air.  I spent a lot of the day feeling sad and angry.  I know, rationally, that it’s not the end of the world – there will be other trips, and at least we’re all healthy and employed.  Many people have it worse; I know this.  But I couldn’t help feeling horribly disappointed, cheated out of two summer vacations (we were supposed to go to Lake Tahoe to celebrate my parents’ forty-fifth anniversary; that trip was cancelled months ago and the Cape Cod trip was the consolation – now even that is gone), and furious at the lack of leadership and abdication of responsibility.  If the federal response had been anything but criminally negligent and incompetent – if thousands of people put community interests before their own selfish desires – we could have this virus at least closer to under control by now.  140,000 American families would still have their loved ones.  And we’d all have something resembling our lives, if not back, at least closer to being back.  I know it’s just a silly vacation, but I’m angry.  I’ve been quarantining strictly for months, homeschooling my children while holding down a full-time (and very demanding) job, working late into the night to make it all balance, going without hugs from friends – and those of us who follow the rules will continue to pay the price and subsidize bad behavior and incompetence.  It feels very unfair.

Anyway.  Thank you for letting me get that out.  Steve and I both needed an outlet on Sunday morning, and luckily we had reservations to rent kayaks at a new-to-us boathouse on the Potomac.  (Used to be, you could just roll up to the dock and be out on the water; those days are gone.  We reserved our boats a week ago.)  We both breathed a big sigh of relief as soon as our paddles hit the water, and it felt good to cruise upriver toward Fletcher’s Cove.  We spotted great blue herons and cormorants and waved to other kayakers, then rode the tide and the current back downstream toward Key Bridge.  We spent the rest of the day finishing up our garage clean-out project while kicking around ideas for summer vacation, version 3.0.  Camping at Smith Mountain Lake?  Renting a cabin in the Blue Ridge?  Staycation at home with the kiddos?  Time will tell.  I’m sure we’ll figure it out.  And now – another week of following the rules, working hard, and seething.

Reading.  If the weekend was a roller-coaster, the reading was at least good.  Mid-week, I finished up Tory Heaven, which was page-turning, a little unsettling, and felt very prescient.  Spent the latter part of the week, and through Sunday afternoon, with Wigs on the Green, which was an interesting read.  (Nancy Mitford takes on fascism… and pokes fun at British fascists, because making fun of things is just what Nancy does.  It felt quite subversive.)  Finished it up on Sunday afternoon, and ended the weekend with Mary Barton.  I’ve only just started that one, but so far I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Elizabeth Gaskell, so expectations are high.

Watching.  It’s been a good week for watching.  A few episodes of The Baby-Sitters Club, which continues to knock my socks off.  And Steve and I have been on something of a Marvel kick.  I got to choose the movie on Saturday, and picked Captain Marvel, which we both loved.  Then on Sunday, Steve chose Black Panther, which was incredible.  Getting out to the movies is a production (<–see what I did there?) these days, so we hadn’t seen either before this weekend, and loved both so much.  I get to choose the next installment in what we’ve decided is our Marvel binge, and I’ve already told Steve that we’re watching Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. II.  Y’all know how much I adore Chris Pratt.

Listening.  Not too much, because I haven’t been driving much.  But I’m continuing to work my way through my back episodes of The 46 of 46 Podcast.  At the moment I’m about twenty minutes into a marathon Summit Sessions episode about becoming a 46’r from 350 miles away – obviously a subject that interests me.  Also caught up on the Northville-Placid Trail episodes and listened to another Summit Sessions on backpacking gear.  I’m not keen on backpacking by foot, but Steve and I have our eye on another kayak trek at some point, and some of the same principles will apply.  So that was an interesting listen, too.

Making.  Meh, not much.  It was a particularly hectic week, so I didn’t do much cooking.  I did put together a nice composed salad Nicoise for dinner one night, so that was fun.  And yummy.

Blogging.  I’ll have a Themed Reads post for you on Wednesday – can’t give you any hints on the topic, yet, because I haven’t decided.  And on Friday, some more pictures from Sunday morning on the water, and the return of Steve’s kayak expedition hat.

Loving.  It’s hard to think of something this week, honestly.  I’m so angry about my vacation being cancelled, that I’m having a tough time thinking positive.  I’m looking for small victories to celebrate, though.  I’m loving the full dumpster out at the end of my driveway, because it signifies that Steve and I have finally pulled off the epic decluttering and purging of all the crap we’ve been lugging from house to house.  I feel so much lighter.  Still have more stuff than I’d like, but it’s a victory for sure.  Another victory: my organized bookshelves.  I have another pile of books that still need a home, but I’m more inspired to read now.  I even told Steve – this is going to come as a huge shock, so sit down – I think I may hold off on getting a library card for a little while.  I’d like to make my way through more of my own books, and they are looking so lovely and organized right now, they’re really enticing.  So that’s a nice thing, too.

Asking.  What are you reading this week?