Hook, Line, and Sinker

My boss from the hotel texted the Pool Team this morning with great news!

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone!

I can't believe I fell for that prank. (Ayoub really should have asked Tan what payback is like for pranking me... heh heh heh.) 

I had slept in very late; at some time during the night I'd woken to find a documentary of the black death playing on my MacBook Air.

I tried to call Michlin Pharmacy to ask if my prescription was in stock, but they were apparently too busy to answer. I was considering whether to walk all the way down there in the midday sun or just go to the market by Canada Gardens for cat food, when Arlan texted me.

Hills to the west

We "happened upon" each other just below the first playground. I'd been feeding cats all the way down. There were a only few songbirds singing, much fewer than at sunrise.

Look who I found!

Look who found me!

We sat and talked and enjoyed the views. It was like being at 9Beach, without the cocktails. That deficiency can be easily fixed next time!

Working from "home" on his laptop

Arlan told me about the books he has been reading. They all sound interesting, but one I'd like to read is The Sense of Style, by Steven Pinker.

Of course we discussed corona virus news. The curve is flattening in Israel. Hopefully, we won't become complacent now.

At the store, I was torn between Israeli and American personal space. Arlan and I both hung back as a French woman carefully read the labels of various packages of cheese. When she finally noticed us, she didn't bother to move aside. Feeling non-toxic in my mask and gloves, I became Israeli.

The word חומץ has too many meanings in Hebrew: canned veggies, olive oil, anything sour... I finally found a bottle of vinegar, conveniently labelled in German.

Because I'd bought too many heavy things, including a large bag of cat food, I stopped many times on the way home. It was a beautiful day, so I just enjoyed the park. At one pair of benches, I decided to do stretches and situps.

During another stop, I listened to pigeons making music together! You often hear a few pigeons cooing to their own drummer, but this was half a dozen or so singing a concerto!

I didn't accomplish much of anything this afternoon, unless you count watching YouTube videos and checking the news. Eventually, I drank a couple of beers and, disgusted by the music my neighbors have been playing too loudly, blasted Led Zeppelin II on the little speaker Arlan gave me a couple years ago, holding it outside my window to share it with all. Then, Immigrant Song... strangely nostalgic about high school. My current studio isn't much bigger than my room there, but my tiny, bluetooth speaker is probably better than the two knee high ones I had then. (Perhaps I can get a Robert Plant poster for the ceiling...)

I fed cats all the way down to the first playground in Canada Gardens, drummed furiously at the foot of the hills, and then finished my cat feeding rounds. After I returned home, I called Tan as she rode the bus home from work in Newcastle. We had a poor connection, but it was nonetheless so cool that we could see each other from different countries.

Illona sent me a beautiful video of a clear day in a snow covered forest in their little town near the Arctic Circle.