Monday, October 25, 2010

A Wet & Larghetto Monday

Monday has arrived.  Like the Bruce Cockburn tune, Wondering Where the Lions Are, "Sun's up, uh-huh, looks ok, world survives into another day."  Except the sun's not up (yet) and not likely to show itself if the windy, stormy forecast for the day is correct.  Otherwise, though, the world has apparently survived into another day.

This weekend's mini-vacation for M & I provided a nice respite from the usual routine and responsibilities and I can now say that I think the train is an excellent option for getting to and from Portland.  The Edmonds station is certainly easier to navigate than larger stations like Seattle or Portland (large, of course, being relative), and I heartily recommend splurging a few extra dollars on business class.  The seating is much better, boarding is much faster, and service is a tad better.  For less than the cost of a lunch, well worth it for any journey on which you'll be sitting for several hours. The conductors were amusing.

Lots of leaves on the sodden ground and roadways this morning.  This early fall storm seems to have shaken the clinging resolve of a lot of leaves a bit earlier in the season than I would have expected.  Then again, by Halloween we normally have most of our leaves dropped and we're only a few days in front of that holiday.  Not that you could tell this from the month-long Halloween advertising season, which makes the holiday seem like it's already been and gone as most of the decorations are now as thoroughly tired and spent as the leaves on the ground.  There can't me much surprise left for the neighborhood kids who come calling Halloween night if the decorations have been up as they walked to and from school all month. When did Halloween become a "season" instead of a holiday?

The playlist must have been operating on some hidden era-based setting again this morning; with only three tunes to pick, it kept strictly to tracks recorded between 1970 and 1974:
  • Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia: Someday Baby
  • Bruce Cockburn: Burn
  • George Harrison: Isn't It a Pity (Version Two)
PS to Gerry: a beautiful Mozart Larghetto popped up on my iPod this morning, just after I got into the office.  See, I really do have some of the older pop music rattling around in my playlist.  An appropriate tempo for a Monday morning, me thinks.

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