First update: We’re still in the process of replacing our van. We found a car that might be right, but it had to be brought up from Southern California, so until it arrives we are in a sort of Schrödinger’s Car situation, both having our next car and not having it. In the meantime, we are trying to find a balance between keeping enough gas in the van to be safe, but not enough to regret filling up should we go to sell it.
Library quest update: As many of you know, we are trying to hit all the libraries in Sonoma County this summer, as one item on a very large, very extensive “things to do” list for summer break. Thomas and I have a list on a clipboard, and we bring it with us to each branch for someone to sign off that we were, in fact, there.
So far we’ve visited six – Windsor, Sebastopol, Northwest, Central, Petaluma, and Rohnert Park – with a seventh on the docket for this week – Roseland. After Roseland we’ll have seven more to go, but we’ll also have more time, because summer school ends this week and we won’t be limited to just Mondays.
The library visits have been a blast. Thomas and I have invited Nona (Matt’s mom) to come with us on most of our visits. We make a nice morning or afternoon out of it, going to breakfast at Omelette Express in Railroad Square before checking out the central library, for instance, or planning to stop in at the giant Dollar Store in Roseland after the Roseland trip.
On Saturday, Matt, Thomas, and I took the SMART train down to Petaluma, walked the four or so blocks up to the library and hung out for a bit, then walked back, catching the train north to Rohnert Park. We then walked to Mountain Mike’s and had pizza for lunch (catching the final minutes of the Russia/Croatia soccer match) and then moseyed on over and perused the Rohnert Park library for a bit before catching the train back home.
I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that I am enjoying this quest more than Thomas. He makes a beeline to the DVD sections of each library, but I wander around a bit and talk to the librarians and peek at shelves and architecture and layouts.
We’re both doing the summer reading challenge, and I always seem to end up with a theme; this year it’s Agatha Christie. I’ve read six or seven books so far, and watched several movies, and read a biography.
In the Rohnert Park library I wandered over and found the mother lode of Agatha Christie books, right there on the shelf. I limited myself to three, which I will have read by next Monday’s library visit.
In the Petaluma library I happened to stumble on two interesting books about World War II – one by a local author (which is a square on the library challenge) and one about the American Home Front experience, which I had not seen before. (Browsing and finding a book is another square, if I’m remembering correctly…)
By the way, the World War II book is called “We Didn’t Know We Were Heroes: The True Stories of Three Friends in World War II,” by Ken Ross, Normand Black, and Carl Swendsen.
Further updates: For some reason, my summer sourdough starter batch has been a non-starter. Twice. I was extremely careful in all the measurements, religious in the timing of the feedings, vigilant in protection, but alas, I never got the bubbling, happy, alive starter I was promised.
Instead, I had a jar of carefully tended-to goopy glue – twice – so I finally called it for the season. After I tossed the second batch I bought a nice loaf of sourdough at the bakery and thoroughly enjoyed a piece, slathered with butter. Twice.
I’m trying to decide what to do with all my leftover time now that I don’t have to tend to a jar of flour and water twice a day … maybe I need to get one or two more books at the library?
Juliana LeRoy wears many hats, including wife, mother, paraeducator and writer. She can be spotted around Windsor gathering material, or reached at [email protected].
