|
|
|
summer party 2017
Saturday, July 15 2017
Today was the day of our big summer party, and I had some chores to do. The first of these was mowing the lawn. But I didn't get far before the lawn mower completely and inexplicably died while mowing a patch of thin grass. It hadn't overheated; something inside it had spontaneously died (as things are want to do with GreenWorks equipment; a pattern I'd detected several equipment failures ago seems to be continuing). I was able to finish off what definitely needed mowing using the weed wacker. Figuring the rectifier had failed in the lawn mower (as it had once before), I ordered a two replacements. (The rectifier can be had for less than $2, but its failure has probably led to a lot of junked GreenWorks lawn mowers.)
Normally before a big party, I would've also waged a massive cleaning jihad in the main floor of the house, but our multi-month houseguest Andrea handled all that, freeing me to clean upstairs in the laboratory and teevee room.
Meanwhile, Gretchen seemed to be doing okay despite her ongoing battle with Lyme disease. She put the finishing touches on all manner of vegan finger food. There were little tiny hotdogs in little tiny buns that were actually roasted baby carrots in pastry. There were spicy cubes of what I think was tofu, and there were mushrooms stuffed with savory tempeh.
The party was to begin at 3:00pm. Gretchen looked lovely in a powder-blue dress and even I cleaned up a bit by donning a button-up shirt. Our first guest, Sarah the Vegan, didn't arrive until 3:30. But then they came fast and furious. We'd started with only eight beers, but several people brought six packs and Joe & Kate brought a whole case. Michæl, the guy who runs the successful locally-based nut cheese business, brought a huge wheel of his cheese. This was great with crackers and some Lactarius mushrooms harvested, sautéed, and brought by another Michæl, the one married to Carrie.
Not everyone who said they would come actually did come, but we had just shy of 40 people come through. There were only two visiting dogs: Nick and Chrissy's Chongo and Carrie & Michæl's Penny. Ramona hadn't seen Penny in awhile and seemed especially excited to see her. Towards the end of the party, Penny also got to spend a little time with her favorite cat Celeste (aka "the Baby").
The laboratory became the defacto stoner hangout, and I had it tricked out with the rotating disco ball, color-changing bulbs, and my favorite music of late, the soundtrack from The Girl With All The Gifts. I also gave a tour of the greenhouse (downstairs and upstairs) to some people who had never seen it before (as well as some who had). Among those who had never seen it were Nick & Chrissy and Rebecca and her boyfriend (I forget his name). As usual, there was puzzlement about the reason for the massive water-filled excavation beneath the basement's floor, and this time I didn't bother giving a reason, saying instead that it's all a massive art project designed to put unanswered questions in your head. Even the upstairs has an element of that, with that peculiar "cat box" jutting out from the top of the east-end of the south-facing window array.
A repeated subject of conversation that I kept returning to was all the work I'd done to divert surface runoff away from the house, which otherwise acts as something of a dam. I pointed out the swale along the west edge of the yard as well as all the pipes I'd buried at the bottom of trenches. It was apparently such a compelling story that I later overheard Peter (of Peter and Alison) retelling it to someone else. Like Gretchen, Peter is also struggling with acute Lyme disease right now, though he also recently picked up antibiotic-resistant staph from a unclean gym mat.
Somehow we completely lucked out with the weather, with conditions just cool and windy enough to suppress the few mosquitoes flying about (despite the plentiful rain, there haven't been all that many mosquitoes this year). This made hanging out on a plastic chair in the yard a perfectly reasonable option, especially for those who either don't smoke pot or didn't know pot was being smoked.
At some point this evening, Gretchen's illness came roaring back in all its glory, forcing her to retreat upstairs to the bedroom while the party raged on. Normally I would've had a massive cleanup chore after a party like this, but that was all handled by Carrie and Andrea. (Normally Carrie would adhere to our social group's rule that cleanup is always handled by the host, but rules are apparently different when one of the hosts is sick.)
During today's party, in the living room. From left: Nancy, Sarah the Vegan, and Andrea.
(Click to enlarge.)
Out in the yard at today's party. From left: Carrie, Kate, Joe, Ramona the Dog, Gretchen, Chrissy, Nick.
(Click to enlarge.)
Alison and Peter.
(Click to enlarge.)
From left: Jeff, Sandor, Eva, a new guy named Ed, and [mystery person].
(Click to enlarge.)
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?170715 feedback
previous | next |
