Even in Kyoto

Maybe I should have gotten more work done today. I don't know.

Instead, I spent some time rearranging the logs in the backyard and clearing the overgrown sidewalk to my back door. Then I hitched up the bike trailer and finally took a broken storm window over to the hardware store to have the glass replaced. I don't think I'll haul it home in the bike trailer, though - too risky. I also picked up a bundle of firewood, to see how I like fires in the fireplace as a way to keep warm.

Then I rode up to Whole Paycheck because I have discovered that they carry organic cotton underwear. They were even on sale. Such an exciting moment. They don't have superheroes on them, though. I also looked at the other foods in the store, because that's how I am - have to look at it all, even if I'm not going to buy any of it on principle. They had some cute Halloween-themed cupcakes going, and next to the cupcakes they sold tubs of real whipped cream, already whipped up for you. I guess sometimes it's too hard to pull out the eggbeaters.

From there, I went over to Big Box Pet Shop to look for food for Emma, who has only just now run out from the last bag purchased in Texas. Even with three whole aisles of cat foods, they did not have Taste of the Wild. Once again on principle I decided it wasn't worthwhile to try and shop for some other replacement brand of pet food (some of which appeared to be trying to masquerade as Taste of the Wild, interestingly). Instead, if I can't easily find Taste of the Wild, I might as well just go with one of the cat foods available at the grocery co-op, which ensures that, in the very least, my money goes where I want it to go.

From there, home to drop off the firewood and bike trailer, then to the generic grocery store for a handful of things, and the co-op for everything else. Then off to the lab to sort out and set up crickets, to the laundromat (yes, for laundry), and finally home, to cook up a large vat of curry.

It has been a long time since I've had a day like this.

At the farmer's market yesterday, I encountered one farmer selling sour (pie) cherries, one farmer selling interesting peppers for a reasonable price, some rhubarb, and some potatoes, and then I was out of cash. There were beefsteak-style tomatoes, but zero interesting heirloom varieties in sight.

At the grocery store, the shelves containing paper bags of "Tired Produce Discounted Just For You" had bags with slightly unhappy tomatoes, barely unhappy apples, green peppers with small bad spots, pears, and mushrooms that were just starting to dry out. It was also "co-op member discount weekend," and I finally got to cash out my green card discount stamps (totaling $5 off).

Goodwill had some sort of "Dollar Discount" thing happening, so elements for my pirate costume were even cheaper than usual. I might wind up looking like an Office Pirate, though, as I found a nice-looking business vest and the blouse I found doesn't have poofy sleeves. It's a start, however.

Then I rode out to Ben Franklin to see what they have in the way of devices that can punch a hole in the cap of an Eppendorf tube. That store was simultaneously horrifying and interesting. I like it much better than its other big-box craft rivals (JoAnn's, Michael's), and it carries certain odd items I hadn't had a reliable source for (envelope templates, glue pens). But it still made part of my soul shrivel up and die.

And they had punches aplenty, but nothing nearly sturdy enough for my project. Fortunately, there was an Ace Hardware next door that had a leather punch, which works fantastically. They also had popcorn. That reminded me of trips to Ernst with my parents when I was a kid, back when the University Village contained shops worth patronizing. What's the history of hardware stores offering popcorn, anyway?

Then I did my daily cricket work, rode home, and made calzones stuffed with mushrooms, green pepper, onion, tomato, and unhealthy but delicious quantities of mozzarella cheese.

Today's Christian Science Monitor features an article about the return of the clothesline, which makes me happy. (I think I encountered another such article a few months ago) I love clotheslines. Dryers are notorious electricity guzzlers and in most of the places where I've lived they are utterly superfluous.

It's funny to think that dryers are considered the norm in so many places, considering that they're unnecessary--especially somewhere really dry, like Arizona. Even if a clothesline isn't an option, there are lots of great clothes-drying racks out there if you are willing to look for them. Perhaps part of the problem is that as a culture we are encouraged to own a lot of clothing, which encourages us to wear something once and then wash it (instead of wearing it 2-3 times), which means we generate a lot of laundry that we then can't manage.

The clothesline is one of the things I like the most about where I live. We have a nice washer, but the dryer is pretty crappy and won't run unless the door is wedged shut. But I don't mind--I think I've only used it 2 or 3 times over the past year because it takes about the same amount of work to hang everything up to dry in the Arizona sunshine.

Well, I'm in the process of writing a grant that's due next week. So I spent the entire day (at least, up until now) doing chores outside. First, I pruned some of the trees in the back yard and mowed the front and back lawns. I also worked on a massive pile of garbage/recycling that has been cluttering up our back patio since early August. This led to the discovery of one of the hiding places of the American Cockroaches that keep on sneaking into my house. I terrorized them a bit, but then left them alone--they were in a box that had some food items/etc. in it. I also found a mouse hole and a whole bunch of plastic shopping bags stuffed into various boxes. So now I have trash can liners for the next while.

This brings me to something I've been pondering a lot recently. Lots of people buy trash bags--how odd that our culture has reached a place where we buy things strictly to throw them away. I pondered this quite a bit while going through many parts of the back patio trash pile; there were so many packages and boxes that were designed to contain things or show them off before purchase, all abandoned and left to be thrown away (or sorted out and recycled, which is what I was up to). I consider packaging a lot because I'm making a number of concerted efforts to reduce my personal waste production--weaning myself off of paper towels, for example (surprisingly, it was easier than I thought it would be), and remembering to bring plastic bags for fruits and vegetables when I go to the grocery store.

But the vast majority of waste occurs well before most things are purchased. Many of the boxes that have piled up on our back patio contained IKEA furniture. My contributions were fancy boxes designed to show off expensive electronics--an Apple laptop and my printer box, for instance. And take a look some day at the amount of packaging that goes into childrens' toys. You remember the boxes, the ones that show Barbie holding all of her accessories, or some action figure encased in plastic encased in cardboard. Oh, we buy so much just to throw it away.

I didn't make it all the way through the pile--there is still a lot of cardboard on the patio, because the recycling bin got full. There are also still a couch and television that were abandoned by the previous occupants of the back house; by now, they have been rained on a couple of times, and who knows how many cockroaches have held tea parties on the cushions. It was a valiant effort, in the least.

But I did do a few loads of laundry and hung them out to dry; then I biked to the library and dropped off a book and picked up a couple of bike maps. I mailed off an overdue package to sytharin, bought a garden hose and nozzle and groceries, and used the freshly purchased hose to wash my bicycle. As I washed my bicycle, I thought about the importance of taking good care of what one owns. Sure, my bike isn't a $2000 fancy-pancy road bike, but it's what I've got and if I take good care of it, it will last longer. I try to take this philosophy with everything I buy; often, things that cost more up front turn out to be more durable and are more worthwhile in the long run, if one takes the time to take care of said items.

There are so many things to do when one is procrastinating, non?

Today has been windy, but cool, so we were able to keep the windows open all day. I did a number of chores that I have been putting off for a while. I'm still tired from yesterday, but at the same time I feel restless and don't want to do much in the way of work. I keep telling myself I shouldn't feel guilty for not working this weekend.