TGIF

Another Friday, dear reader.  I can report that, from a retiree's perspective, it was a week full of doldrums, physical and mental exhaustion, fidgeting and sharp self-talk (a selfie kick in the pants).  Another week of watching crazy ass things happening because of our extremely vain and idiotic POSPOTUS (and meetings with Putin haven't even happened yet!  Yippee!).

Extreme heat is keeping me inside a lot, but as you can see from Wednesday's post, I did manage to get out with the dawn (and with the hubs) for making pictures in fields of sunflowers.  That was an effort, the getting up part, but what a delight when we were out there.  We finished up with a hearty breakfast at a place I cannot mention without going red in the face:  Denny's.  We were home by 9 a.m., and we even managed to do a little grocery shopping.  Boy, when you get up early, it's amazing what can be accomplished before noon. 

I was happy with 2 or 3 images, which statistically is pretty good.  Especially since it was my first outing to shoot photos in a few months.  I go through cycles with photography, and sometimes I become visually burnt out and stop altogether for awhile.  I'm keeping my eye on autumn, when our community has its annual photographic exhibit. Of course I'd like to see several of my images in there.  We'll see.  I think it's just a matter of piping up, and of available wall space.  I know we have many talented photographers here, so competition for the limited wall space may be fierce.

Yesterday Steve and I (mostly Steve) assembled this adjustable height desk for my workspace.  I've been working on a small glass computer table about half the size of this new one.  Adequate, but very limiting.  The new one has a lovely bamboo work surface and fits nicely into the alcove in the guest bedroom/Tara's office.  I stood on the cushy pad and working standing up for awhile until my back screamed to sit.
The project took us 3 or 4 hours, as we carefully viewed the instructions, written and video, then went through the assembly step by step.  There were errors that had to be corrected.  There were holes for screws that required a lot of effort and bad language.  There was a lot of necessary kneeling on the floor which then required getting up from the floor.  There was bending over while holding heavy metal pieces.  My back was hurting. At the end we were so exhausted we were laughing uncontrollably!  I mean, trippin' on LSD laughing.  Gut wrenching.  Fun.  Whew.  That's over.   I am extremely happy with the results.  If you're interested, it's by a company called UpLift.  These types of desks are being made by many outfits, including Scandinavia Design.

We managed to get our aching bodies upstairs for dinner, and brought a bottle of French Rose with us.  One of the most clean, crisp and subtle roses I've ever had.  Courtesy of our wine club buyer.  She's a genius.  Perfect with vegetable risotto and summer squash medley (roasted to perfection).

After dinner we attended a concert in our very own auditorium of the Sacramento Youth Symphony, Chamber Music Summer workshop students.  What a thrill: they began with Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, moved into Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Mozart.  Then some exquisite Romanian folk music.  Their final piece was West Side Story's "A Time for Us," played in tribute to a former regular at their summer program.  Dreylan Mason was a 17 year old extremely gifted musician who lived in Austin, TX.  He was killed by a package bomb left on his mother's doorstep last March.  I was a mess during the song, which is so bittersweet anyway, but with this knowledge of Drey's senseless death, my tears stared rolling in the first 3 notes.  So. Yeah. Fuck.  People are brilliant and people are evil.  I made a donation to the scholarship fund in his name.  It'll ensure that more brilliant kids from Austin can come to Sacramento each summer for this excellent educational opportunity.  And it honors this shining light of a young man.

These young musicians have been studying their instrument(s) for the majority of their lives.  They excel, and their dedication and love of music is paying big dividends.  I hope they understand how lucky they are to be involved in music -- no doubt they do.  In my own limited experience I got bored easily with learning piano and soon gave it up.  I did better, years later, with guitar, but still, never became masterful.  I think it was sheer laziness.  I wasn't on fire.  I hope these kids are.  They sure seem like it.

Monday, with permission, I'll post an excellent piece written by an author that I know through Facebook.  Stay tuned.

Find some peace and love this weekend, will you?  We've got to stay sane and strong for the work ahead.

Post Script:  When I attempted to raise the desk this morning (Saturday), the power would not work.  I checked all connections, plus my own electrical wall source.  Everything seems to be connected.  It should work.  It doesn't.  I've written to the company.