§ For the entirety of this unusually mild spring I’ve been craving nothing more than sunshine and warmth. This week the heat finally arrived. Temperatures broke 100° Saturday–Tuesday and have hovered around 90° each day since.
The weekend saw none of the neighborhood ambiance of early summer. Bicycles stayed parked in garages and people inside their homes, windows tightly shut to preserve the AC. I feel a pang of optimism looking out the window at the clear skies and sunlight but as soon as I step outside into the oppressive heat all of my motivation melts into lethargy.
§ On Monday afternoon, three days into the heat wave, a big chunk of Cleveland suddenly lost power for a while. Later that afternoon, an apartment building exploded.
Back home in the evening, I watched a newborn fawn chase fireflies around my backyard.
Overnight, a power substation overheated and caught fire, causing power outages once again all day Tuesday.
§ Meanwhile, Tuesday was my two year anniversary at my job. When I saw the anniversary pop up in my calendar I genuinely thought there had been a mistake. Surely I’ve been at this job for at least five years now? Take that for what you will.
Last year, in my one year anniversary reflection, I mentioned appreciating the wide variety of projects I had the opportunity to work on. This second year was similar, just at a bit higher level: more responsibility over harder problems.
Over time I’ve realized that it generally takes me about a year to really feel comfortable at a new job and that has rung true here. Wrapping up this second year now, I feel very comfortable with the day-to-day and feel energized to push myself to take on increasingly ambitious projects over the year to come.
§ By Wednesday, the weather had begun to mellow and infrastructure slowly came back online.
No longer paralyzed by heat, the garden was reanimated. I harvested the season’s first peas and green beans and finally dug up that garlic bulb. The squash is flowering.
§ On Saturday it was once again time our local Lebanese festival. Last year I was full of nerves about my impending wedding. This year I was able to fully enjoy the kofta and live music, knowing that the wedding is behind me now and that everything turned out great.
§ I’m starting to suspect that half the fun of a big vacation is the excuse to research and buy unnecessary travel gear. This week I took advantage of this opportunity to pick up a new tiny backpack, portable power bank, and camera dongles.
§ I haven’t seen the baby raccoons in a few weeks. However, in their place now is a fully-grown skunk. An even less exciting new backyard neighbor.
§ I’ve been trying to pace myself. Nevertheless, I’m already halfway through The Wolves of Eternity, the follow-up to Karl Ove Knausgård’s book The Morning Star which I found so engrossing last week.
I finished the 400 page “Syvert” chapter that comprises the bulk of the book. Knausgård has a gift for dropping you into little highly-immersive vignettes and then abruptly pulling the plug and switching to an entirely different perspective. At this point I’m more than 1000 pages into this series and Knausgård hasn’t wrapped up a single narrative thread yet. Somehow, that is completely fine with me.
I already bought a copy of the third book in the series and I’ve promised myself I won’t start reading it until the start of my trip next month.
§ There is a new King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard album out: Phantom Island. It’s billed as a follow-up to last year’s Flight b741 which I quite enjoyed.
Maybe Phantom Island just needs more time to grow on me but I miss the wild frantic energy that made Flight b741 so infectious. I like the addition of the orchestra though!
§ And now for a totally different music recommendation: All Life Long by Kali Malone is great. Warm and enveloping, with pipe organ, brass, and droning choral vocals. It is the closest thing to scratch the “Woodkid For Nicolas Ghesquière” itch I’ve found to date, although much more serene and contemplative, comparatively.
