A heavy rain

How nice to stand outside for a few minutes, covered on a balcony, during a brief, intense downpour.

You're never fully dressed

You know, I din't go very far these days. So the temptation to work in pajamas wins out ... quite a bit. I think I do feel better when I'm wearing real clothes, but that doesn't stop me from not doing it.

Today, I took a mid-afternoon hot shower (which was also pretty wonderful) and then pulled a dress from the back of my closet. It's not the fanciest dress -- it's the kind that I'd wear to a casual brunch wedding (and have!) but haven't put on recently. Maybe it's out of fashion. Maybe it's not the most flattering. Maybe my style has changed. At home, it's the right outfit for the occasion!

I'm going to a (Zoom) birthday party tonight, too. So I'll look a little fancier that my PJs.

Downpour

I'm enjoying lying in bed, listening to the rain. It sounds like a rainstick in the middle section, when everything is going at full force and you wonder how it manages to make that much noise.

Keys

Do you see this?

This is a tiny piece of paradise.

I spent the early part of the week in the Florida Keys on the invitation of a friend who I love to pieces, and hadn't seen in too many years. Being there made me smile, of course -- I mean, that was the back porch. Look. It's gorgeous. -- but it was the invitation that made me happiest. It's so nice to know that connections are kept, through distance and time.

We swam, and swam, and swam. We talked. We explored. We ate delicious things. And, I like to think, we refueled a friendship that I hope will last a long, long time.

Also, she shared this with me.

That's a book recommendation by Judy Blume. Who owns the bookstore. That we were standing in. (I've read the book and loved it. Judy and I are essentially BFFs now.)

We missed seeing her there, but being in her space was pretty awesome, too.

Saturday

On the road

Three vehicles worth noting:

• An open-backed truck, like the ones people use for landscaping equipment, stuffed with helium tanks of various sizes;
• At a construction site near my office, a truck that says WATER TRUCK and underneath it, in smaller letter, NON POTABLE WATER;
• A truck with a trailer full of donkeys (the sides were down, so I could see the donkeys) with what looked to be a handmade, carved bumper decoration that said, "HAULING ASS."

Water, water everywhere

In case you haven't heard, it's pretty wet in Atlanta these days.

I came across this picture (tweeted by a friend who's now living in Philadelphia) and was amazed by how beautiful it was. This, actually, is my favorite spot in Atlanta -- it's a bridge that's always covered in the most beautiful graffiti. In addition to just being a gorgeous scene, I'm jealous that these guys were able to take such a leisurely trip through it.

Lovely.

I think I can

It wasn't The Little Engine That Could, but I think the transportation story can be extended to boats.

While having lunch at the river today, I saw a tugboat pushing a barge (we'll pretend that I know the different names of water-faring vessels and that I got that one right -- which, if Wikipedia is to be believed, is a possibility). The barge (for lack of better knowledge) was rust-colored, low and long, while the tugboat was bright red and looked just like a bathtub toy.

It was groovy. And it was totally this boat. Which, for the record, is also the one shown above.