Musings from a Quiet Weekend

We had a very quiet weekend at home.  I suppose this is not particularly exciting news or even that unusual at this stage of our lives but the end of the week was exciting enough.

1.  I had been completely unaware that the Clinton Wedding was this weekend until I had a meeting at the bank on Thursday and it was the entire subject of conversation.  At that point the village of Rhinebeck already suffered from an excess of reporters.  Opinion seemed split between those who wanted to flee and those who were eager for the opportunity to see someone famous.  Since I had already resolved to delay my grocery shopping until Saturday, I just took the scenic route and drove around Rhinebeck.  I was rewarded by a mid-day Saturday trip to a Stop & Shop that was about as deserted as is usually expected at 11 PM.  Lucky me.  As the day progressed I continued to be amazed at the number of distant relatives that came out of the woodwork and called us up to see how we were weathering all the excitement.  What excitement.  The missing relatives were all the excitement.

2.  I did miss not attending a couple of notable musical events in the area:  Friday was opening night of Franz Schreker's The Distant Sound at Bard.  And Steve Reich was in Woodstock on Saturday.  Both were far more appealing than celebrity watching, but I had known I would not be going anyway as G seems to have lost all interest in going out to musical events.  I consoled myself by thinking I would have had to drive through Rhinebeck to get to either, or significantly lengthen my drive.  I need to stop putting things I wish I could attend buy know I can't on the calender.  This only brings heartache.

3.  I learned on Thursday that the mason who has been doing the front walk was going to be available for two more weeks and then perhaps tied up for a considerable period of time.  I seized the opportunity to knock a few other projects off my list.   This way a major portion of the hardscaping in front will be done.  This spent spending some time rejiggering budgets but it works.   

4.  I called the electrician at 5 PM on Thursday because an electrical line had to be moved so I could build a stone wall and hide the old half-buried oil tank, which we decommissioned and had filled with foam several years ago.  The electrician called me back at 5:30 and came out at 6:30 to look at the job and give me a quote.  He was at the house again Friday afternoon and, after consulting with the mason, moved the line so everyone is happy.  

5.  G's new hearing aides came in Friday and he can hear me when I speak in my normal voice, for the first time in years.  It is marvelous watching him respond to small everyday sounds that I take for granted, puzzled and then marveling at the sounds things make.  It reminds me of when I was in college and learned I needed glasses to see distance, when, for the first time, trees did not look like a late Monet painting.

6.  I finished reading David McCullough's biography of John Adams, which was absolutely wonderful.  It was a vivid and inspiring portrait of our second president, a man I have long found fascinating.  If anything I have newfound respect for Adams the man and the president, strengths, foibles, and all.  Oddly enough, although I don't think I am unusual in this, Jefferson, as shown through his correspondence and dealing with Adams comes out less well even though we are privy to more of Adam's petty sulks.  This was probably one of the the best biographies I have read and one I shall read again.