A Weekendy Weekend

I had a pretty full and varied weekend. Friday night, there was a wine-tasting party, where I felt so very grown-up and sophisticated as I sipped wine and talked about wine, food, travel and books. Saturday was a work day. Or, it was supposed to be a work day. I got about four pages written before I realized that while I knew the setting of the scene and how it would end, I didn't actually know the events of the scene. Then for some strange reason I got it into my head that I needed to knit a cozy for my new cell phone. Mind you, I'm not a knitter. My grand total of lifetime knitting output has been five scarves. It took me three tries to remember how to cast on. The result was kind of sad. I overestimated the size of the phone (you'd think I would have thought about actually getting it out to look at it before knitting for it, but no), plus I forgot that the first row of stitches looks a lot smaller than the finished item will be, so I ended something that wraps around the phone a couple of times (I guess it's extra cushiony), and then it's too long, as well, but that's because I also forgot how to bind off, and I kept panicking and knitting one more row, sure I'd figure it out the next time. I finally used the phone to look up knitting instructions online so I could end. The finished cozy is kind of like that sweater your aunt lovingly hand-knit for you that would fit perfectly if only your wrists came down to your knees. I'm picturing my poor phone encountering a bunch of iPhones wearing slick, store-bought leather cases and feeling all embarrassed because of his badly fitting, weirdly knit case. I did do another one last night that looks better, but I think the ugly one might actually be more protective.

I guess the reason I thought about making a case for the phone was that I'd planned on going hiking Sunday, and while my purses have nice little cell phone pockets inside, my backpack doesn't, and with that smartphone screen, I was worried about it just rattling around in there. Now my phone is all snug and safe. We did make a brief hiking trip on Sunday afternoon. There's a lake about fifteen minutes from my house that has some good hiking trails around it, and the weather was perfect -- warm enough for short sleeves while we were hiking, but with a hint of a chill. It felt great to be outdoors and moving. It reminded me of when I was a kid. When we lived in Germany, we lived on the edge of a forest, and there were all these walking trails leading through the woods. Just about every weekend, we'd load up a backpack with drinks and sandwiches and spend the day walking. Those were fairly even paths, though, while this was a little more rugged (it's also a popular trail with mountain bikers). My knees are a little creaky this morning, and my thighs are grumbly, but it was so worth it, and I should do that sort of thing more often. I could happily spend all my fall weekends hiking. Or even weekdays, but the problem is that it's not entirely safe for a woman alone when the trails aren't as busy, so I need to walk during busy times or drag friends with me. I guess I could get a dog to walk with me, but I'm limited in the size of dog I can have where I live now (theoretically, since my neighbor is on the board of directors of the HOA and has a big dog), and the little yappy things aren't necessarily great hiking companions nor good for much protection other than making a racket.

But since I had a weekend that actually felt like a weekend (aside from a couple of hours working on Saturday), I have a Monday that feels like a Monday, with a lot of work to get done.

But first, one more memory from Sunday's hike: