I can now leave town with a clear conscience

I mowed the lawn tonight. My compromise because of the surgery was that I only mowed the front yard. The whole place is as dry as a popcorn fart anyway, so all I really had to do was knock the tops off the dandelions. My daylilies just looked like broomstraw, so I mowed them down, in the process finding that my old neighbors hadn't been very vigilant in picking up all those stupid sample papers that fell down in them on their side. The dust billowed out like something from "Grapes of Wrath". The back yard is pretty fried, and has less dandelions, and is behind the house, so I just cut it some slack. The nice thing about a yard full of weeds is that a) I don't have to worry about watering it; and b) as soon as we get any rain, it will immediately be green again. Right now, I don't have to feel guilty about using up water in a drought-stricken state to maintain something as useless as grass. Scientists call single-species lawns "green deserts" anyway. They're completely unnatural, especially here. Grass was meant to grow in moderate and wet places, like England and Ireland (the "pastoral ideal" lawn concept of sculpted grass originated in England). It is certainly out of place here, where the plants get baked in a kiln 4-6 months each year. I've decided my crappy lawn is just natural selection at work.

I was pretty tired afterwards, but I would have felt bad if I had left town with the house looking shaggy and unkempt. Why that isn't a problem when I'm in town remains a mystery. I also did two loads of laundry tonight, and ran errands after work, so I was a very good boy today. As a reward, I got more cookies with dinner. One of the agencies sent me another cookie box this week, and I have attacked it like the cookie monster. In my defense, this was a Mrs. Beasley's box, and those Caramel Pecan cookies are seriously addictive. The Chocoloate Truffle cookies are an out-of-body experience. They are that good. They are also hella expensive, and I only get them when the agency sends them to me, usually at Christmas. They're also hella fattening, so it's a good thing I don't get them that often. Now that I'm not worried about dating really, though, I'm not obsessing about my weight either.

I had lunch with Pat Green today. She came in to visit at work. I worked with her for years and years, since 1993. She was the "Grandma" for most of the office, and I love her dearly. Pat was a great rarity in the corporate world - someone who speaks their mind. If Pat didn't have any use for you, you pretty much knew it, but if she liked you she could be a great help. She helped me a lot through the years, and we have remained friends. She had to retire last year with complications from lung cancer, but she seems to be doing OK. She's pretty feisty, and if you can beat cancer through willpower, she'd be the one to do it. She told me she has started doing acupuncture to help with the chronic pain she lives with now. We had a good lunch, and caught each other up on our crazy families. Hers is as disfunctional as mine. So I spent $40 for lunch (she likes to go for Japanese). But it was worth it. Sushi and Pat together is a great treat.

One of my favorite Pat stories. She had asked me to take her to the Japanese restaurant, because she wanted to try it, and knew that I was familiar with the cuisine. So I took her and ordered some food, part of which was Miso soup. The place near where I work, Sushi Masa, has really fantastic Miso soup. So she was eating it, and asked me what it was. After I told her, she asked me what Miso was. You should have seen her face when I explained that it was fermented soybean paste! She ate it, but never ordered it again. I have gotten her hooked on edamame though. To this day, she never knows what it is that she likes. I always get her a teriyaki chicken bento box when we go.

I heard the "Jenny Wore Black" commercial again tonight. It is for Ritz crackers, not an amusement park. I'm not sure which is worse. But I think I know kind of how the boomers felt now when they heard Nike using John Lennon songs to sell sneakers. At least 80's music didn't really stand for anything to start with, it was just about money and a good time. I guess that's why it sounds so dated and hackneyed now. Not that that makes me love it any less.

After I finished mowing tonight, my hunky bear neighbor (who doesn't know he's a bear - he's straight) Tim came out on his porch and talked to me for a while. He is a super nice guy, and I really lucked out in the neighbor department there. I have to say, I was a bit nervous at first, moving to the Mill Hill. There weren't as many gay people living over there then as there are now, and I wasn't certain what my reception might be. But Tim has always been nice. He offered to watch out for our cars after Michael's got egged one year near Halloween (he is up periodically at night, smoking on the porch). As usual, we used up our stock of "polite neighbor conversation" and retired to our houses. If we had anything at all in common, we would probably be friends, but as it is, we just have a polite mutual admiration thing. Which is fine for neighbors.