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June 11,1998
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I had an appointment for the Auntmobile at the Honda Barn at 8:00 AM for an oil change, 4-wheel alignment, and air conditioner service. I figured I'd be out of there in an hour or two max. I'm trying to cut back on car rentals, so I planned to wait for it. Having finished Notes from the Shore (most of which I read at Midas when I got the new tires), I brought along A Naturalist Along the Jersey Shore by Joanna Burger. Yes, there's a coastal theme developing. Margins, Notes from the Shore, and A Naturalist Along the Jersey Shore all deal with beaches, salt marshes, tidal flats, estuaries... and the life forms that inhabit them. Margins covers the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound. Notes from the Shore covers the Delaware shore across from Cape May, NJ. So we've got Connecticut, Delaware, and New Jersey. I should start arranging my books geographically. But what do I do with The Coast, The Winter Beach, and The Atlantic Shore, which cover the whole east coast? I like the idea of taking a map and marking the areas covered by all the coastal books I've read and finding the places least written about. So I can write about them. There's no book about Plum Island (the novel doesn't count and it's not about Plum Island, Massachusetts anyway) and most of the "whole Atlantic coast" books barely mention it. Rhode Island has spotty coverage. I can see potential in this idea. Anyway, I sat at the Honda Barn from 8:00 to 12:17 during which time I read half of A Naturalist Along the Jersey Shore , ate breakfast, meditated, did stretching exercises, and eavesdropped on people buying parts in the parts department. The service manager came up and explained what was wrong with my air conditioner. It didn't just need to be recharged. The hot water valve for the heat was stuck open and the temperature knob was stuck too. They needed to be replaced. Of course I authorized it. I can handle being a little hot in the car. I just open the window. But the kids complain bitterly if it's the tiniest bit hot. You never know when we might have a heat wave either. After all morning at the Honda Barn reading, I felt curiously energized instead of tired and logy like I've been feeling. Back at home I sprayed bugs with renewed vigor and put more tape around where I thought they were coming from. I started cleaning the house too. Even though the cleaning lady is due tomorrow. I was deep into cleaning when I realized I was supposed to meet a friend for dinner at 6:00 in Cambridge, so I head on out still full of energy and bursting with plans for tomorrow. Call exterminators, wash the bathroom floor, call somebody to clean the basement, finish the IDRI web page, redesign my own web page, reconstruct my life list (destroyed by ureliable listing software)... |
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