My first day off in seven weeks!

I slept until nearly 9am, ate a bowl of muesli in the sun on the roof terrace, and picked Justin up for another trip to the garden center. We left two hours later with so many roses, honeysuckle, and clematis that I literally had to return a few things before we could squeeze Justin into the back seat.

After schlepping the plants up to the roof, we pulled our bikes out of storage and, after pumping up the tires and letting Justin do a few spins in the cul-de-sac to figure out his new clipless pedals, set out on an hour’s ride to Ballard and back. It was the first 80-degree weather of the season and it was glorious to be outdoors.

Once back and cleaned up, we headed south to the airport to extend my car rental—and while we were down there, met up with Amy and her mother, Carol, for a socially distant picnic in Carol’s back yard. Amy’s move from DC to Olympia is one of the best things that happened while I was in London and went a long way toward making me happy to come back. It was so good to see her again. And also Carol made her apple pie with Gravensteins apples, which is just so delicious.

And now to bed. I feel a bit of the “Sunday night blues” (even though it’s only Saturday) because tomorrow it’s back into the trenches at work. But mostly I’m grateful to have had this time to regenerate and connect.