Matt's Journal

I’m trying different a writing time here – in the morning, at the dining room table staring out the window at the wakening day. It’s not early – about 7:30am. But the sun’s not quite up yet, although there’s plenty of light. The LED street light across the way is still on. A runner just went by, but there’s been no car traffic and as yet no dog walkers.

The house across the street has its window shades open, implying that the owners are home. I think they have a place at Tahoe; they are often absent and they draw the shades when they leave. The next door neighbors’ cars are absent, which is noteworthy. They might be on vacation, or staying with relatives. His father had a stroke recently.

It’s nice to know your neighbors. I came out yesterday to see the dog that lives across the street out front barking at a passerby who lives down the street. I went over and we discussed what might be wrong, since the dog is usually not unattended. We decided to close him up behind the electric gate. Just as we did, the owner drove up. He’d just gone out to get a paper. Another non-catastrophe averted. I bid them farewell, as I had a date for coffee with another friend and had to walk over to his place way up by 2^nd Avenue.

One neighbor is a family of four, with 2 little boys. Once they asked if they could “borrow” our earwigs to feed to their Venus Flytrap. Sure! They are a sweet family. The mom’s a doctor and the dad works at home. The other neighbor is a couple, older than us, long retired. They are good neighbors too. My only worry is what happens when they move out and some monster truck owners come in to replace them. Space is tight around here.

There was a Bay Area couple that moved in across the street. The guy suffered from back pain and I heard that he was found dead of an opioid overdose, intentional perhaps, after his wife left him. There’s another older couple where the wife never comes out and acts rather strangely when we do see her. So many people, so many stories. There’s a retired judge three doors down who has cancer but has written plays. There’s Lisa the cat lady who mourned the passing of her white cat a year ago and seems to have not quite gotten over it yet.

My sister is ready to quit her job over insufficient vacation time. I don’t blame her. If they’re flush they should consider it. But she’s outgoing and a “driver” and might miss the company and mission. Laid-back introvert that I am, solitude’s been no issue. In fact, often I’m the best company I can find!

I will write about the camellias out back, perhaps. They are old. We got them with the house a few years ago. New Orleans has them and so does Sacramento – another point in common between these towns.

We were going to snowshoe today but a guy from SMUD called yesterday afternoon and said they were coming to trim the camphor tree today at 8am. I didn’t think to have them postpone it, and my spouse wants to be here while they work. Too bad. I could barely understand the SMUD guy because of his accent and the poor quality of the phone connection – and because when he called I was at F and I80 and it was rush hour. I was biking home from Grebitus’s where my wedding ring is being shrunk to fit my shrunk-down finger. It fell off a few times and it was time to fix it.