This and That

[pameladean]

The new medication seems to be settling down. I did take it separately from the blood pressure medications, but now of course I don't know if it would have settled down anyway or whether I need to continue to eat two small breakfasts half an hour apart. Oh, well.

I went over to arkuat's to look after Toliman. He was very purry. He sniffed the air when I opened the window, but didn't want to go out on the porch. The neighbors' dog was barking in a desultory way, so maybe that was why. I unpacked some books, with a lot of underfoot supervision.

I am having terrific difficulty getting the direction and timing of the 9 bus right, so after missing one and having the next one drive right by me as if I were invisible, I just walked up to Lake Street and waited for a 21. It is probably just as well, because the transfer point between the 9 and the 23 is at the same intersection as Mother Earth Gardens. I wouldn't buy plants on the way over to cat-sit because it would be too cumbersome, but on the way home I would have no such defenses. The fact that I haven't cleaned the hairy bellflower and motherwort out of the places that I might plant things is no deterrent.

The stop I use to get the 21 is right across the street from Merlin's Rest. The sidewalk outside the pub was full of Morris dancers, people in kilts, people in fancy dress of other sorts, and a leavening of people in jeans and T-shirts. As I crossed 36th Avenue I saw half the Morris dancers staring at me, or maybe over my shoulder, so when I gained the curb, I looked back. A young man dressed like Prince (purple coat, frothy white shirt, the right hair) was just crossing Lake Street.

While I waited for my bus, one of the men in kilts played three tunes on the bagpipes, and some of the other people danced line dances. The bus was full of congenial people doing Saturday things. But when I got off to transfer to the 18, there was a police van parked just beyond the intersection, a man lying in one of the shrubbery beds belonging to the White Castle, and two police officers. Eventually an ambulance came and they put him into it and took him away. My thoughts of what might have happened were perhaps somewhat biased by many recent events.

The Norway maples are still blooming, but the silver ones have small leaves. I heard house finches singing extempore every time I listened hard.

ETA: I checked Merlin's Rest's website. April 23rd is their ninth anniversary, and that is why they had Morris dancers and bagpipers. It is also, they informed me, St. George's Day.

Pamela

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I would like a ticket into the alternate universe where one's automatic thought is, "That person must have had a medical emergency in the shrubbery, and the police discovered him and summoned an ambulance." But that's not our current universe, alas.

[pameladean]

That would be a fine ticket to have.

In fact, he probably did. I think the people at the bus stop would have been reacting differently if something else had happened. But my first thought, still, was not that he had had a medical emergency.

P.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Just so; it is entirely possible in this universe. It's just not one's first thought.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Norway maple flowers are one of my favorite flowers from trees we don't usually think of as flowering. They're so *fancy*.

Morris dancers are magical. Anywhere they are instantly has a storybook feel to it. (But what do you think happened with the man they took away by ambulance?)

I'm glad the meds aren't having so much of a woogly effect anymore.

[pameladean]

They are extremely fancy. They surprise me every year.

I was so happy to have Morris dancers and bagpipers to look at while the bus was being late.

I actually think the man had a medical emergency of some kind. But my first thought was that the police had hurt him for no reason because they decided that they felt threatened. Because this is increasingly the way they roll.

P.

[clindau.livejournal.com]

We have just returned from Merlin's Rest; missed the Morris dancers dancing, but several of them were having a post-performance pint. We had the Pie of the Week (Bacon, Kale and Tomato). T had a Fuller's, and I had my first Pimm's Cup ever. Very tasty, but spendy. I will probably drink many of them at home this summer, it seems like a fine summer drink.

Wouldn't it have been a hoot to see you at the bus stop! The 9 has many tricksy zigs and zags. I would hate to be a rookie driver on that route.

[pameladean]

I used to drink PImm's Cup when I was a student in London. Yum.

I wonder if we did overlap. I was very much tempted to go in and get some fish and chips to go, but I heroically resisted.

Yes, the 9 is tricksy. It and the 21 seem to be among comparatively few very long routes left.

P.

[pameladean]

I edited the entry to reflect this -- Merlin's Rest was celebrating its ninth anniversary, and also St. George's Day.

P.

[clindau.livejournal.com]

St. George's Day was the reason we went there--but being weekend dawdlers, didn't make it in time for the dancing. We did score two nice Fuller's pint glasses in the giveaway.

Did you know that Merlin's Rest will be having a block party in June?

[arkuat]

A block party in June? Hmm!

[clindau.livejournal.com]

Two block parties, actually. May 29 is a celebration of Morris Dancers, and June 12 is the annual Merlin's Rest block party. Maybe we'll see you at one of those?

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Morris dancers! Bagpipes! Spring magic.

[pameladean]

Yes, it went perfectly with the warm hazy day and all the new green on the little street trees.

P.

[inlaterdays.livejournal.com]

How wonderful to see Morris dancers, bagpipes, and people in costume!

But how scary about the man lying in the shrubbery. I hope he was all right.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

My friend Nat was one of the Morris dancers you saw, I'm pretty sure.