I lost all track of days during Week Twenty-Nine. Every day felt like a Wednesday — a middle of the week day. Everything is becoming a blur, so I’m grateful for this picture project helping me hold on to each day as its own. At least I have something somewhat tangible to look back on and say, “Oh! That was Week Twenty-Nine! The week Taranne finally came back to Utica and I learned how to play Yesterday on the piano!” All things considered, it was a pretty decent week.
Sunday
I went for a walk (not unusual these days), and when I came upon this I thought it was a bat. It is a dead bunch of leaves. My vision sucks?
Monday
Poor Tyson. If he and Sam didn’t hate each other, I’d let him in.
Tuesday
I’m not very good at the piano, but I’ve been learning a new song. I only know a few and I play them on repeat, so I figured it was time to try to add a new one to my repertoire. I’d actually love to learn one of my dad’s songs, but I’m not sure he’d ever be able to teach me and he certainly isn’t able to transcribe them. So instead, I learned a song that I first heard because he played it for me. Yesterday, by the Beatles (obvi).
But Willow hates live music and put a stop to that real quick.
Side note: I snuck to Cazenovia today to have a picnic lunch with someone I met recently. It was mostly nice, a little awkward, and something I feel good about following through on.
Wednesday
Here we see the “Oh shit, I never took a photo today” picture I snapped right before I went to bed. Willow did not know why I was disturbing her.
I spent a huge chunk of the day at Hobbsie’s doing summer curriculum work, but I forgot to snap a picture. I regret this, as I love Hobbsie and know my days with her are numbered. Not because she’s dying or some other morbid shit, but simply because while my move to NYC may have been postponed, it will happen eventually and eventually (as in within the next few years) she will retire anyway, and probably move to Colorado. She’s one of those people you meet and from the get go you sort of understand that her time in your life is fleeting, so you better fucking appreciate it while you have it.
Thursday
I helped Chris collect the MUCC farm share veggies and deliver them to the families. We walked among the sunflower stalks and I tired to take some artsy photos of the flowers, but when Chris decided he wanted his picture taken, I realized that was more representative of the outing anyway.
Side note: I tuned in to a conversation hosted by Quail Ridge Books with author Deborah Wiles and her editor (and my favorite author, obvi) David Levithan. I tuned in because I could see using her book, Kent State, in the classroom some day if I teach high schoolers again. When it came time for the Q&A I asked if they could talk a little about the decision to use the same font for all the voices in the last section (because I loved that), and David Levithan picked my question first and said, “This is such a good question from Tiffany!” And I geeked out a bit.
Friday
If this ridiculous selfie, courtesy of Taranne, doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will. I mean, look at her. She looks creepy AF. She’s a reservist and she’s assigned to the unit based in Utica. She used to come stay with me once a month when her weekend of duty came around, but that hasn’t happened in awhile. Actually, it hasn’t happened this year. Her third child was born in December, so she was on maternity leave, and then right when she was about to get back to it, the whole world went into the pandemic lockdown.
This time was a little different because they’re still not back at it in full swing. She came in just for the day and we grabbed dinner after (donning masks and sitting outside). It was nice to spend time with her, though. She’s my oldest friend now, and I’m so thankful for her because she accepts me for me. Even if she sometimes talks and talks and talks and talks and talks and forgets to take a breath, I still love her. She grew tired the last hour and twenty minutes of her drive home, so I lent an ear and I honestly don’t really remember what she talked to me about, but whatever it was kept her awake and got her safely home.
I forgot to take a pic with her when she was here, though, so I asked for a selfie and this is what I got.
Saturday
The pigeons have decided the cold water dripping from the back of the air conditioner is thirst-quenching on this hot day. I called Brian up to look because I knew he’d appreciate this, and he did.
Brian spent Thursday night on a gaming date with his brother. I feel incredibly guilty, but it was kind of wonderful having him gone for the night. He left around 5:00 in the evening and didn’t return until around noon the next day. I spent a few hours Thursday evening thoroughly cleaning before relaxing, and Friday morning when I woke up, the house was still clean! It was the most amazing thing!
Brian has a good heart. I love the kid. And part of my heart will always belong to him. But it’s time.