though it's hard to get enthused about heading back to work on any given monday --and admittedly i'd rather have stayed in bed this morning-- i've got a spring in my step today that comes from residual warm feelings of a full weekend surrounded by people i love.
friday night i had dinner with two girlfriends from work. if i were a religious person, i'd say that time spent with these women is like going to church. i feel so full of spirit when i am with them, so energized and ready to take on the world... it's an immensely fulfilling experience.
saturday was spent furniture shopping (and wine- and coffee-drinking) with mary. while we were at the wine tasting, we met a young couple who lives in warrenton and are considering moving to durham. they were friendly and hip, and it felt nice to hit it off with someone new.
sunday i caught the matisse/picasso exhibit at the museum... it was the last day of the show and there was a huge crowd (even at 8am) but the art was stunning. it was like church, too, in a way... i need to remember to make more time for art in my life. it was energizing, all that beauty. my favorite work was something simply called "reclining nude" by andre derain... i've been scouring the web for an image of it, but no luck. it was a simple charcoal drawing with only minimal shading and a few light lines, but the mood it evoked was so powerful. i gasped when i saw it.
after the art, ray and i did a lot of yardwork: cleaning the gutters, trimming trees and removing a huge stump from the front yard. it felt good to be physical. i have let excercise drop from my list of priorites and it was nice to actually use my body again.
we stopped with just enough time to get cleaned up before heading to rick & deb's for dinner. charo & tom also came, and we had a long evening full of wine and amazing moroccan food. i laughed a lot and felt happy to have such fun friends.
so although monday morning came too soon (and too early) i still feel energized by a full, productive, and warm weekend.
Posted by xta at January 17, 2005 12:01 PM | TrackBackwell, this stump stuck 2 feet into the air (and was only about a foot or two in diameter), so i'm not sure my shady technique will work well with your stumps: i used a sledgehammer.
that's right! pure, brute force! we pounded at it until we saw the ground around the base start to loosen and move. then we just pushed on it until it toppled over.
some roots were still left in the ground, but that tree has been dead for years so i'm not terribly worried. i'm just glad to have the ugly (and large) stump gone.
Posted by: christa at January 17, 2005 02:29 PMIt sounds so productive, so fulfilling, so fun, so cultured.
We moved all the crap from the office to the basement -- how's that?
ah, that wouldn't work for us because the landscapers cut everything down to the ground. besides, I need to get as many roots out as possible. still, it's a great idea, and two feet in diameter is fricking humongous! I'm amazed that worked on such a big stump.
the only thing I know for sure is, never chain a stump to your car and try to drag it out! you can seriously mess up the car that way.
Posted by: Sarah at January 17, 2005 04:12 PMi forgot to say that we broke the handle of the sledgehammer. it was definitely a dumb idea. i'm amazed it worked at all.
Posted by: christa at January 18, 2005 03:14 AM