alexist

1) I spent a lot of time stuck in horrible traffic today. Aliza was a darling and so well behaved, I couldn't believe it. NO crying even though her lunch was severely delayed (I couldn't get off or anything and at one point it took me half an hour to go a mile down the LIE service road). She got half a chocolate chip cookie because I felt so bad for her and thought she deserved a treat.

2) I am coming down with a virus. I am hot and achy and have a temp of 38.5.

3) The glass on the front of my watch dial has cracked. I was hoping to put off a repair but the crack has really worsened and I can feel it with my fingers. Off to the jewelers for an estimate. I'd put it off, but I have issues when I don't have my watch and being without it while it's repaired is going to be traumatic enough. (I have worn the same watch every day, barring illness and hospital stays, since I was 16.) Anyway, they won't charge me just to tell me how much it will cost and then I can decide.

One earpiece is still half bent but they're wearable, so I'll wait to replace them.

Oh, and the opticians didn't charge me! Which was sweet.

She is obsessed with riding in the car. If I go towards the door with my bag, she comes running. "Cah! cah!" If she doesn't come with me, she cries.

Today my dad took her for a walk and when she passed the car she said "cah! cah!" and grabbed the door handle.

too cute!

when you return to the US after an extended absence, you start noticing things that used to be normal. In this case, the American obsession with lawns.

England has grass. It has ground cover. Outside of golf courses, it's sprinkled with little daisies and clover. People cut it because it's not English to be untidy, but they don't fixate on it. The occasional bald patch is overlooked.

Not Americans, especially not on Long Island. We have lawns. Now, the local climate (45" of rain a year) ensures that without any intervention you're pretty much guaranteed various species of green ground cover and plenty of it, and means that from a water-use perspective a lawn isn't that wasteful, but that's not sufficient. An American lawn is nothing but grass. No daisies, no clover, and No Goddamn Crabgrass. It is a monoculture. It shines green and is carefully trimmed. The borders are planted (the non-gardeners use annuals, either impatiens or these alternating white and red ones that have become popular) and usually there is a neat row of shrubbery. In better off areas, this is largely handled by armies of Central Americans, aside from the block eccentric who has prize rosebushes.

Failure to adhere to these regulations is a guarantee of social ostracism. Perhaps in some towns, no doubt inhabited by xeriscaping hippies, a lawn free atmosphere is possible. Not here. The quality of a neighborhood, and of an individual homeowner, is instantly judged by the landscaping.

I know all this, I remember it, and yet I'm blinded when I actually see these golf-course-perfect lawns in front of every house.