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practicalcatI tried to make some phone calls on Monday (as it is now past midnight so it is officially Tuesday), but since Monday was Victoria Day, that was not going well. So instead I took myself on an ADVENTURE.
I also reorganized my pantry shelf so that I know what I have and what I need to eat up before August (ahhhh, I'm almost done with library school, AHHHH I NEED TO FIND A JOB). And then I did a tea rinse with orange pekoe tea, because supposedly that gives you coppery highlights and I happened to find a box of orange pekoe tea of a brand I don't drink on my shelf. My hair is not noticeably more red than before, so either it doesn't work, I did it wrong, or it's very subtle. But I'm sure you want to hear about the ADVENTURE.
Because I am a strawberry blonde nerd, I slathered sunscreen on my face and neck and legs (my dress was long-sleeved, so I didn't bother with those), put on my sun hat, loaded a water bottle into my owl backpurse (which is about the side of a large purse but can be carried on my back like a backpack) and set out for a place that has essential oils because I spent all day yesterday reading about essential oils and the crafty stuff you can do with them. And because I needed some kind of motivation for my ADVENTURE because otherwise it is difficult to leave the house. I mean, I have to put on clothes and sunscreen and decide how I am carrying my stuff (because the fashion industry does not want to give me cute clothes with pockets. One day, I will destroy them); and really, the internet is RIGHT THERE. There is always more internet.
Anyway, I had a place I was going that may or may not be closed because Victoria Day, but it's also in an area that has other shops that are probably open and WHATEVER, it doesn't matter because I just need a goal to motivate me to get through all the necessary "leaving the house" stuff. Which it did, obviously, because otherwise this post wouldn't be titled ADVENTURE.
My end location for this adventure is, according to Google Maps, about 2 kilometers away from where I started. But since I was going on an ADVENTURE, I was not looking for the most efficient route. I pretty much just stopped at each intersection and decided if I wanted to go south or east for this block while keeping in mind that I didn't want to get as far as 41st because I've walked along 41st multiple times now and I am on an ADVENTURE which means not doing what I've already done multiple times.
Mind you, I do not have any sort of internal compass, nor am I particularly familiar with street names where I do not regularly meet or get off of buses.
But I was on an ADVENTURE, so that didn't matter! I merrily wandered about, looking at all the pretty houses and keeping track of what number the east-west streets were. At one point, I saw that the road ahead of me appeared to be a dead end. I was disappointed to have to back track, but I decided to continue forward so I could look at the houses. I mean, I'd just have to look at the houses on the other side of the street on the way back, right?
But then, SURPRISE! The road was only a dead end for cars! Pedestrians could go around behind to a little pathway. I reminded myself to check the cross streets at the next intersection so I could come back again to follow the trail in the direction I didn't take, and happily skipped on through feeling most pleased with my decision to not back track just because it looked like a dead end. Insert metaphorical moral of the story here.
I left the pedestrian path and proceeded toward the intersection I was supposed to memorize. But then I was distracted by a FRIGGIN' CASTLE. Look, it had a stone-looking exterior and battlements like you see on the castles kids draw, and it had a huge gate with a giant tree on it, it was a FRIGGIN' CASTLE. Just small. I decided that it was actually a faerie castle and it just looked like a large-ish stone house with battlements and a really cool gate with an awesome pathway leading down to the recessed door, and skipped on about my merry way forgetting to look at the street signs because FAERIE CASTLE Y'ALL.
This was in a hilly area, and for some reason a lot of people had their garages open -- you know, the ones that open onto the street when the house itself is further up and back? You see them in cities. Anyway, there were a lot of open garages and I was disappointed to discover that they're not actually attached to the house in any way. They're just boxes for cars. No tunnels from the house, which seems like a waste. Tunnels are AWESOME.
I hit another dead end that was actually a dead end, but there was a pedestrian walkway leading away from it at a right angle, so I was again pleased with my decision to follow that road all the way down. I was bemused to find myself crossing what looked like trolley tracks, since I was unaware of any trolleys, but continued on never the less.
I continued on, looking for the named street that my end goal was on, but mostly enjoying my ADVENTURE and the pretty houses. Then I found myself on Granville, which is about half a kilometer further east than where I was going. So I went south a block and then followed one of the numbered streets back east. Then the road got a bit twisty and weird and I ended up on 41st anyway, but from the direction I don't usually walk, so that was acceptable for the ADVENTURE. I walked a block, crossed East Boulevard, and tripped over the trolley tracks again. Oh yeah, I said to myself, there are trolley tracks between East and West Boulevard. Doy. So that was one mystery solved.
The store I was going to was closed, because Victoria Day. Oh well. However, the drugstore nearby was open AND THEY HAD JELLY BABIES. This resulted in the following texts to my significant other:
(He had not had an epic kitchen accident. He just has to wait until next time we see each other to get his jelly babies.)
Then I sat down and downed all my water and read a book for awhile. I also ate the entire bag of fruitsnacks I'd bought for myself, oops. Then I got myself some dinner (while reading my book. I kind of enjoy eating out with a book) and ambled on back home. I saw more neat houses and saw some forget-me-nots (which are one of my favorite flowers) and probably confused some people by standing in front of their house with my eyes closed for several minutes (in my defense I was smelling the wisteria they had growing all over their front gate/surrounding fence). I also walked a block further west than I had to so that I could minimize the amount of "places I've walked before" on the ADVENTURE.
To cap off the ADVENTURE, I took out the recycling. That's not the capping off part, that part was on my way back in when I saw a crow try to eat a mouse. I didn't know crows did that, but I guess I'm not too surprised. However, the mouse was having none of it, and scampered into the grass along the fence to the yard of the house where I live. I don't know if it crawled under the fence or not, but it would explain why my roommate's cat refused to come in with me if it did. He didn't bring the mouse inside though, so it's just ended up an uncertainty principle kind of thing.
So that was my five hour ADVENTURE. And it's been another hour writing it up, so I think I'll wrap it here.
I also reorganized my pantry shelf so that I know what I have and what I need to eat up before August (ahhhh, I'm almost done with library school, AHHHH I NEED TO FIND A JOB). And then I did a tea rinse with orange pekoe tea, because supposedly that gives you coppery highlights and I happened to find a box of orange pekoe tea of a brand I don't drink on my shelf. My hair is not noticeably more red than before, so either it doesn't work, I did it wrong, or it's very subtle. But I'm sure you want to hear about the ADVENTURE.
Because I am a strawberry blonde nerd, I slathered sunscreen on my face and neck and legs (my dress was long-sleeved, so I didn't bother with those), put on my sun hat, loaded a water bottle into my owl backpurse (which is about the side of a large purse but can be carried on my back like a backpack) and set out for a place that has essential oils because I spent all day yesterday reading about essential oils and the crafty stuff you can do with them. And because I needed some kind of motivation for my ADVENTURE because otherwise it is difficult to leave the house. I mean, I have to put on clothes and sunscreen and decide how I am carrying my stuff (because the fashion industry does not want to give me cute clothes with pockets. One day, I will destroy them); and really, the internet is RIGHT THERE. There is always more internet.
Anyway, I had a place I was going that may or may not be closed because Victoria Day, but it's also in an area that has other shops that are probably open and WHATEVER, it doesn't matter because I just need a goal to motivate me to get through all the necessary "leaving the house" stuff. Which it did, obviously, because otherwise this post wouldn't be titled ADVENTURE.
My end location for this adventure is, according to Google Maps, about 2 kilometers away from where I started. But since I was going on an ADVENTURE, I was not looking for the most efficient route. I pretty much just stopped at each intersection and decided if I wanted to go south or east for this block while keeping in mind that I didn't want to get as far as 41st because I've walked along 41st multiple times now and I am on an ADVENTURE which means not doing what I've already done multiple times.
Mind you, I do not have any sort of internal compass, nor am I particularly familiar with street names where I do not regularly meet or get off of buses.
But I was on an ADVENTURE, so that didn't matter! I merrily wandered about, looking at all the pretty houses and keeping track of what number the east-west streets were. At one point, I saw that the road ahead of me appeared to be a dead end. I was disappointed to have to back track, but I decided to continue forward so I could look at the houses. I mean, I'd just have to look at the houses on the other side of the street on the way back, right?
But then, SURPRISE! The road was only a dead end for cars! Pedestrians could go around behind to a little pathway. I reminded myself to check the cross streets at the next intersection so I could come back again to follow the trail in the direction I didn't take, and happily skipped on through feeling most pleased with my decision to not back track just because it looked like a dead end. Insert metaphorical moral of the story here.
I left the pedestrian path and proceeded toward the intersection I was supposed to memorize. But then I was distracted by a FRIGGIN' CASTLE. Look, it had a stone-looking exterior and battlements like you see on the castles kids draw, and it had a huge gate with a giant tree on it, it was a FRIGGIN' CASTLE. Just small. I decided that it was actually a faerie castle and it just looked like a large-ish stone house with battlements and a really cool gate with an awesome pathway leading down to the recessed door, and skipped on about my merry way forgetting to look at the street signs because FAERIE CASTLE Y'ALL.
This was in a hilly area, and for some reason a lot of people had their garages open -- you know, the ones that open onto the street when the house itself is further up and back? You see them in cities. Anyway, there were a lot of open garages and I was disappointed to discover that they're not actually attached to the house in any way. They're just boxes for cars. No tunnels from the house, which seems like a waste. Tunnels are AWESOME.
I hit another dead end that was actually a dead end, but there was a pedestrian walkway leading away from it at a right angle, so I was again pleased with my decision to follow that road all the way down. I was bemused to find myself crossing what looked like trolley tracks, since I was unaware of any trolleys, but continued on never the less.
I continued on, looking for the named street that my end goal was on, but mostly enjoying my ADVENTURE and the pretty houses. Then I found myself on Granville, which is about half a kilometer further east than where I was going. So I went south a block and then followed one of the numbered streets back east. Then the road got a bit twisty and weird and I ended up on 41st anyway, but from the direction I don't usually walk, so that was acceptable for the ADVENTURE. I walked a block, crossed East Boulevard, and tripped over the trolley tracks again. Oh yeah, I said to myself, there are trolley tracks between East and West Boulevard. Doy. So that was one mystery solved.
The store I was going to was closed, because Victoria Day. Oh well. However, the drugstore nearby was open AND THEY HAD JELLY BABIES. This resulted in the following texts to my significant other:
Guess who has 2 thumbs & a girlfriend who just bought him jellybabies?
Assuming you haven't had some sort of epic kitchen accident, I mean
(He had not had an epic kitchen accident. He just has to wait until next time we see each other to get his jelly babies.)
Then I sat down and downed all my water and read a book for awhile. I also ate the entire bag of fruitsnacks I'd bought for myself, oops. Then I got myself some dinner (while reading my book. I kind of enjoy eating out with a book) and ambled on back home. I saw more neat houses and saw some forget-me-nots (which are one of my favorite flowers) and probably confused some people by standing in front of their house with my eyes closed for several minutes (in my defense I was smelling the wisteria they had growing all over their front gate/surrounding fence). I also walked a block further west than I had to so that I could minimize the amount of "places I've walked before" on the ADVENTURE.
To cap off the ADVENTURE, I took out the recycling. That's not the capping off part, that part was on my way back in when I saw a crow try to eat a mouse. I didn't know crows did that, but I guess I'm not too surprised. However, the mouse was having none of it, and scampered into the grass along the fence to the yard of the house where I live. I don't know if it crawled under the fence or not, but it would explain why my roommate's cat refused to come in with me if it did. He didn't bring the mouse inside though, so it's just ended up an uncertainty principle kind of thing.
So that was my five hour ADVENTURE. And it's been another hour writing it up, so I think I'll wrap it here.
