3/30

It's been a quiet day.  Except for my daily trip to the gym, I've stayed in, knitting and surfing the web. 

I'm progressing on the NaKniSweMo project.  I've finished the first skein of nine and have started the second.  I have nearly four inches completed on the body.  Interestingly the waist decreases started almost immediately after the ribbing on the bottom was complete.  This seems premature to me, but I've decided to trust the pattern.  I didn't take a photo before the sun went down so my faithful fans will have to wait until tomorrow for a visual.

Today I listened to a podcast interview (Terry Gross on NPR) with the author and read an NY Times review of Joan Didion's new book, Blue Nights.  I found her previous memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, to be very moving.  I'm debating about Blue Nights because it's about adoption and motherhood.  Didion's daughter was adopted and now that she's dead, Didion seems to regret and/or second guess her parenting.  Books with that theme often affect me deeply, sometimes negatively, and I'm not eager to experience those feelings right now.  On the other hand, Didion is an amazingly skilled writer.  She read a short excerpt during the interview and it made me long to read more.  I'm going to think about this one for a bit.

What I am reading right now is Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy.  It's entertaining, but it's not literature and the characters are not fully drawn.  

Today's gym visit was the stair climbing machine.  I think it's good training for hiking particularly when there is elevation gain.  Today I climbed 103 stories in 41 minutes.  Coincidentally that's the height of the Empire State Building.  Everything they say about exercise releasing endorphins is so true.  I occasionally have to push myself to get to the gym but I always leave feeling exhilarated.

The sushi chef at ShopRite, who now knows DH by name, makes wonderful tuna and salmon rolls.  They are so reasonably priced that we have them about once a week, including tonight.  What a treat!