two.

I wasn’t planning to write here today (although I was planning to write in the way that I always do, the planning and failing way). But so far this year, I’ve only pulled off one blog post a month. I want more. Today is the last day of April and by god I’ll put up more than one post this month.

I’ve been listening to hard rain all day. Leaves have collected at our front door, which is at the bottom of some steps, so the drain is blocked and the rain is flooding the steps. There’s a bird out back that I can’t see, but he’s been chirping away. I don’t know many birdsongs, but Jacob said this morning that it was a chickadee because it’s saying “dee-dee-dee.”

I was listening to some spring pop, then some Beethoven, and now good old Langhorne.

Most blogs that I read these days are full of beautiful pictures. It’s such a thing. It’s a thing that makes me think this will never be a blog blog (athough I’m not sure I care) because a) I don’t take beautiful pictures, although I try sometimes and b) most of the time I forget to take pictures anyway.

Jacob and I had a blitz day in Philly last weekend. I finished a work meeting at noon, and we hopped in the car with sandwiches and made the two and a half hour drive north. There was traffic and it was sunny and beautiful outside. By the time we got to Philly, the sky grayed and it rained. We parked in the scariest parking garage I’ve ever seen, but not because there was a shortage of parking garages. We joked the entire afternoon about how we managed to find the scariest parking garage in the city. There were two elevators, one was broken. A sign was taped to the wall that said 4 person max. It was because the elevator was the size of a roomy coffin. But these are the things you remember.

We wandered around through Reading Terminal Market and through an impromptu flea market where Jacob bought a shirt. We saw the Liberty Bell and took pictures of the people taking pictures. We walked down the street past a row of touristy horse drawn carriages. One drove empty past us and stopped at a stoplight. A man ran up and asked how much it would cost to take him a few blocks down the street. The driver said I don’t know. Five bucks? The other guy said Forget it and started to walk away, then turned around and said I’ll split a joint with you? To which the driver replied Get in.

We had these mind blowing vegan wings that I can't stop thinking about. We wandered around and then drove up to Temple to see a play. Then we drove back down to DC. Despite our best intentions and many hard lessons, we still always find ourselves tempted by McDonalds on a late night drive. Jacob gets a milkshake and I get fries. We did and it was a mistake, like it is every time. We were both tired and the windows were rolled down and music was playing loud and I was being annoying for the sake of keeping Jacob awake while he drove.

I’ve been thinking about ruts and how to break out of them, partially because I just finished this book. One way that I know is to find a new experience. It doesn’t have to be perfect or planned or even cultured. It’s just good to shake the dust off.