Destination: Home

After a week of staying in hotels and a college dorm, I finally awoke in my own bed this morning, with Lover beside me. Bliss!

I am glad to return to my routine. When I awoke, Malai knew and wagged her tail. I arose, and let open the door for her so she could do her business in the yard. I filled the cat's food and water bowls. Quadrapus rubbed against my ankles, mewing and purring. I checked the temperature in Phoenix's terrarium - 82 degrees. Perfect for an Okeetee corn snake. I put a quarter cup of home cooked food into Malai's bowl. I walked around the house, sprinkling food into fishtanks and the betta bowl. I let Malai in who straightaway ran for her food dish. I put on running shorts and a tank top, grabbed my cell phone, and headed out the door.

The plants are doing well with the irrigation system we recently installed. Well, most of them are. The phlox is in a spot with bad drainage, so it's on the way out. This afternoon, I may try to salvage it and see if it'll bounce back enough to establish itself again and withstand winter.

I did my stretches while peering over the front yard flower gardens. The bee balm needs to be treated for powdery mildew, but it is growing new, mildew-free leaves. The hydrangea is putting forth new flower heads. The zebra and fountain grasses are flourishing. The sedums stand tall, and the hollyhock is blooming. The rudbeckia is out of control. I love it.

After stretches, I trudged forth in the soup we call air. Connecticut summers are thick with humidity, and it makes you move slower, chases you inside to take refuge in air conditioning. After leaving the dry heat of Los Angeles, I am taken aback again with the balmy, suffocating heat of New England. I run, anyway.

I ran to the beach and back, doing an easy pace of 11 minute miles. Upon entering the house, I chugged down a glass of water, cooled off in a shower, and then did a half hour of yoga in the air conditioning. Ahhh...

Today's chores include watering the houseplants and the outdoor vegetable pots, planting a Karl Foerster out front, pumping air into the bike tires (my vehicle to work), cleaning the fishtanks, bathing Malai, doing laundry, and uploading photos from the trip. I better get to it. It's great to be home.