Things, washed and grown

Today I washed my panniers. My parents gave them to me for my birthday or Christmas many years ago, perhaps early in high school (in the very least, I remember getting paint on the bottom of one of them during my junior year of high school at crew practice). That makes them at least 13 years old. I don't think I've ever washed them before, but sometime last week my cat decided they looked like a nice place to pee, and so I had to do something about the smell. She's done this periodically with other absorbent items left on the floor, so I should have known better. Usually, I get rid of the offending item, because it's impossible to completely get rid of the smell, so once something has been peed on once, it will probably get peed on again. But they're my panniers, and they still work fantastically, so if I can get rid of the smell so I can't detect it anymore and store them out of her reach, I think I can still get another 10 years out of them, at least. Stubbornness demands at least that.

A lot of dirt has come out of them in the washing--soaking, really. They're such great panniers.

I also spent much of the middle of the day working on the yard. I can't really afford the time, but I can't afford to not work on the garden. It's planting season. Grass must be tamed, soil must be loosened, and seeds must be put in the ground. It was hot and slow work, but it felt necessary and human to try and scratch out a small corner of soil in the name of growing things. It's also a time for me to let my thoughts wander and almost meditate.

And then I graded, and was happy to discover that the majority of my students were careful and diligent about their assignment.

And now I sleep.