Went for a walk in Morven Park this morning and enjoyed the sweeping views of the northern Virginia countryside. We came across some big tree limbs that came down during the wind storm the other day. The innards were still damp, and had to run my hand across the exposed inside (the bark sloughed off from the force of hitting the ground). This particular one was a tulip popular, a tree that grows massive here and has beautiful flowers, almost ready to burst. Also saw poison ivy growing in the hole of a forked tree. Talked to Mom while we walked and describe the scenery to her, which made her happy. On the way home, we stopped in the nearby town and I ran into a little restaurant to order gluten-free buckwheat pancakes with fresh fruit for carryout. I was so hungry from not eating much yesterday because of the aching jaw (it’s much better today). While waiting for the food, we strolled around town and noticed a LOT of new restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, wine bars, and other shops that weren’t there when we first moved to this area 20 years ago.

I discovered two more benefits to wearing a mask (besides keeping your face warm in winter, protecting from pollen allergens in spring, and protecting year-round from deadly viruses). These new benefits are: 1) No one can see you talking to yourself (which I do this a lot in public) and 2) No one can see you swearing under your breath at people in line ahead of you at the Kohl’s return desk when they’re returning 7 pairs of jeans and then buying them back at a lower price that was advertised the day after they bought them and then not having their Kohl’s card and requesting the customer service people to bend over backwards to accommodate them.

Had planned to do more work in the garden this afternoon, but I was so exhausted (from god knows what) that I only pretended to work. This involved harvesting fresh greens for our weekly green drinks (and blending those), then later chatting with a few different friends who stopped by for salad greens, kale, chard, green onions, oregano, lemon balm, and radishes. It was fun to visit and catch up.

Yesterday the 4^th edition of my very first book came out. If anyone is interested in a driving tour of Montana, this is the book for you: Scenic Driving Montana. Shout out to my friend Kelly who did most of the work ensuring it was updated for the 2021 release.