t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g



elodea growing in 7 minibow
aperture priority f5.6 1/20sec 240mm
-0.7 exposure compensation ISO 1600

although i went to bed early, i have a notoriously difficult time falling asleep on sunday nights. thinking about the week to come, my mind was suddenly firing on all cylinders, crackling awake with crystal clarity. surrendering to consciousness, i turned on the light and started reading (final chapters of romance of the three kingdoms), hoping the numbing power of 600 year old chinese text would put me in the slumbering mood. i didn't fall asleep until 6am.

9:21 my phone rang. "hello?" i said, just barely awake. no answer, lost signal. i put the phone down, a little bit peeved that somebody would be calling me so early in the morning. on a monday no less! who could it be? i didn't recognize the number. slowly falling back asleep, it suddenly hit me: could it be the audubon people calling me about the salamander migration? i bolted out of bed and *69 the number. "hello, you've reached the mass audubon blue hill trailside museum in milton..." OH CRAP. every spring they have limited spots to take 12 people to see the salamanders migrating on the first warm rainy night of spring. it's on a first come first serve basis, and if you're not there when they call, they move on to the next person. even though i called back, there was nobody answering, just a machine. OH NO! I MISSED MY OPPORTUNITY! this is the 3rd year of trying to see the annual salamander migration, and if i miss it again, i'll have to wait yet another year. i left a message but i felt like maybe i fumbled my chance, all because of a dropped call. i sat in front of the computer, trying to search online for a different number i could call.

20 minutes later my phone rang again. "hello?" i answered. it was the audubon people again, they did get my message. "right now, you're the 12th person." trying hard to contain my excitement, i thanked the woman on the other end and hung up. the way it works is on the day before the migration, they're going to call me back to confirm. if i don't get in touch with them, they move on to somebody else on their list. so until they call me back, i'm pretty much a hostage to my phone and the weather: they will only call on a rainy, warm day, so as long as the weather stays cold and dry, i'm safe. the forecast for this wednesday looks like warm rain though, so maybe as early as wednesday. i'm just really afraid that client B is going to send me out west next week (originally i thought it was a great idea, but i rather see salamanders migrating, i have my priorities).

since i was up there was no point in going back to bed so i started working. a real hard day's worth of coding (mostly for client S), so focused that i almost forgot to eat and use the bathroom. i finished at 4pm, with still plenty of daylight to spare.

i was surprised when i got a phone call from the post office. apparently they wanted to personally apologize for the complaint i registered. i felt bad, because i only did it on the "advice" of my neighbor. i have no qualms with my postal carrier, and whenever i see him i wave hello and occasionally ask about the weather. now i feel like i've hurt his feelings, because he's really done a good job. sure, every once in a while a magazine fails to arrive, but it's not a big deal. thanks to my neighbor, my mail man probably hates me now.

i watched last night's episode of rome (antony and cleopatra reunited!) before taking a shower. i got a phone call from the neighborhood gardening association. "we tried calling you a few times during the summer, but you never called back," the woman told me. "your garden was such a mess, we were wondering if you even want it anymore." "yeah, i was away in china for the second half of the season," i informed her. "well, you have to let us know about these things, so we can give the plot to somebody else. do you still want it?" i was lucky to get a spot last year since there's apparently a wait list, so of course i still wanted it. i get the feeling there's a lot of politics involved with neighborhood gardening, that there's a bit of nepotism involved, all about who you know. even the plot i have, it's one of the worst, underneath a shady mulberry tree, far away from any water hose. i figured since i paid my membership fee, who's tell to me what i can or can't grow? but i guess having a dirt garden with weeds and wildflowers growing haphazardly isn't up to the gardening code. even in the republic of cambridge you have to toe the line. it almost makes me want to go totally crazy this summer (i don't think i'm doing any traveling), plant the most beautiful and luxuriant flowers and vegetables i can find, just to prove to them that i'm serious about gardening.