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nicest day in October
Saturday, October 10 2020
It was a beautiful sunny day today, with temperatures warm enough in the morning for us to have our Saturday morning coffee out on the east deck. The New York Times Spelling Bee panagram was "plateful," which was obvious immediately.
Because the day was so gorgeous, Gretchen wanted to use to maximize socially-distanced socializing, given that we're soon to enter months when the outdoors won't be available for leisurely socializing. First Gretchen invited Kacey and Konca from across the street, though only Kacey could come. Meanwhile some asshole had begun shooting down at the bus turnaround, so I went down the Stick Trail (which runs on a higher contour line than the Gullies Trail) and yelled at them through the megaphone from behind a stout red oak tree (just in case they fired any wild shots in my general direction). I only had to do this for about ten minutes before the shooters gave up and went home, giving us several hours of delicious peace on one of the nicest days in October. Returning home, I came across Gretchen and Kacey walking the dogs southward on the Stick Trail only a couple hundred feet from the house.
Later I sat out on the east deck with Gretchen and Kacey while we talked about a range of things, including the existence of vegan cruises, which Kacey had never heard of. Kacey was also interested in all the remote bird photography I'd done using Raspberry Pis, thrift store telescopes, and twisty-ties.
Later Kacey went home and Eva arrived, joining Gretchen and the dogs for another walk in the forest.
This evening Gretchen made a potato-kale bake that she knew I wouldn't much like, but fortunately there was leftover stew Powerful had made earlier in the week. I haven't made much use of the ghost peppers I'd grown this summer, but tonight I diced one up and added it to the stew, and the result was the perfect flavor. It was hot, but not too hot, and the pepper actually added other flavor notes as well.
We were joined for dinner by Gretchen's friend Lisa P., and it was warm enough for us to eat out on the east deck even after darkness had fallen. Later I started up a bonfire in the fire pit using some white pine I'd salvaged from nearby across the Farm Road earlier this afternoon. Though the tree had been dead for awhile and had been standing until I cut it down, it nevertheless contained a disappointing amount of moisture. Still, using a constant feed of small dry sidelimbs, I was able to keep the fire going nicely. Topics of bonfire discussion included the particular weirdness of the household Powerful happens to find himself in after getting out of prison.
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