2023-06-11: keeping busy

company coming later this week. it's summer; the dogs are shedding; there's hair everywhere.

the weekend so far devoted to tidying, of various kinds. two hours yesterday morning, pulling weeds from the vegetable garden. vacuuming most of the house (leaving the main floor until a few hours before company gets here). do the sheets, clean the bathrooms.

in between: a long walk with the dogs (2 hrs+), the youngest rushing into the ponds up to his chest, trying to decide if he wants to swim after the ducks. steeping tea for iced tea on the stove. a few minutes for practice: renaissance lute music, played on guitar. tune the g string to f#, the low e to d. capo at 2 or 3. it's not a lute, but it works. the sound's a little wrong — too muscular, missing the delicate trebles —

oh, and: i got word friday that a project i worked on earlier this year is winning some big award, the kind that goes on the cv. this was very unexpected. i'm a small part of a larger team, and blessed to work with such brilliant, and kind, people. how else to put this: for most of my career, when awards have been given out, executives would go to collect them. the people actually doing the work would hear about it later, or maybe not. i'm glad that chapter of my life is done. i'm done with ego, toxicity, and their normalization. i'm glad my days are devoted to the public good.

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