today was a good day.

on the bike ride back from minneapolis, i spontaneously stopped by the elouise butler wildflower garden in wirth park, one of my favorite places to geek out about/commune with plants.

bushwhacking along the steep steep banks of the mississippi, on a plant walk. summer sun filtered through maple leaves, a carpet of water leaf wit,h the occasional solomon's seal and columbine. dirt, bruises, heat, life, big water, a reprieve in the city eve if you can still hear the hum of the freeway.

i biked home from minneapolis at ten, with no lights. the city was sleeping, and i felt pleasantly safe and alone inside of it. the waxing moon watched over me, and i serenaded the shadows, singing as i went. it was a sultry summer sunday night. the loveliest part was the cottonwood chaff illuminated by street lamps, blowing.

i watched this video, and it turned my day around.

i crouched under a bridge as a slow train passed, screeching and grumbling and wailing like some unsatisfied american god. the sad songs of metal on metal, disappointed dreams. sometimes i find melancholy to be deeply enjoyable. my friend had laid quarters down on the tracks. one got flattened and came out shiny and irresistible, smooth and sharp, good to hold, transformed.

i made a glorious improvised shepherd's pie - potatoes and sweet potatoes with walnuts on top of ground turkey cooked with onions, ancho pepper, chipotle powder, thyme, and a tiny bit of cinnamon. i am grateful that food is delicious. it's so much better this way than if we just ate because otherwise we'd die.

whizzed past traffic on my bike during rush hour!

i love bike commuting.

the best thing i did today was restart this blog.

this time i mean it!

at true thai in seward, i reunited with two of my best friends from high school - the first time the three of us were together since we were sixteen. we had the world's most thorough waiter, who catered attentively to my many obnoxious allergies.

i biked to minneapolis wearing bright blue leggings with my baritone ukelele protruding my backpack. some kids in the back of a pickup truck were very amused.

we went to the elouise butler wildflower area in wirth park, and i swear i started to cry at the feeling of being back in real woods again.

i sat on astroturf and enjoyed a picnic while wearing a child's foam zebra mask and catching up with a friend from high school i hadn't seen in seven years -- surreality at its very best at the happy show at the bedlam theatre. if you are looking for a dynamic and fully-engaged theater experience, i really recommend this "choose your own adventure" piece by live action set.

a late night trip intended to be urban exploring ended up as a frigid walk along the mississippi, where mist ghosts obscured the shore. a shadowy flap descended over the water: a heron landing near us on the shore to fish in the shallows. the world was beautiful and still, visible breath and the freeway hum beneath a few pale stars.

back on the wagon

the best thing i did on sunday was march in the may day parade!

and i've been recovering all week. you know that slump that follows an event you've been anticipating for a long time. well, i'm in it, and that is my excuse for not updating this blog.

here i am, though.

the best thing i did today was walk the four and a half miles home from work when i unexpectedly got off early. nothing makes me as joyous as walking. i felt all of the anxious thoughts and work-week neuroses dissipate after about the third mile. something uncurled, unfolded, and i sang, and i moved, and i was

i met up with a fellow from okcupid and we went on a lovely off-trail ramble through elm creek park in futile (but fun) pursuit of morels.

a midnight stroll along the mighty mississippi, serene and gleaming beneath a bright moon, was the perfect way to welcome the month of may!