Where've you been?

It's been a long time. Has a lot happened? In Virginia, yes. In Hawkeye, well, yes I guess so. We had a big storm and got 16" of heavy wet (as opposed to dry) snow. The politics of Black Brook (my town) are going hot & heavy as the proposed development down the lake continues to be proposed to the Town Planning Board. I've been working with Jacalyn Lawyer from Albany and went to the Planning Board meeting this week. We've managed to delay the inevitable for quite a while and hope to lessen the number of lots Evil Man can divide this plot into. Issues are roads (he built a road on my cousins' land, not his land), wetlands (the road crosses wetlands: FORBIDDEN in the Adks., plus it's likely that one of the lots is part of the wetlands portion of the property), environmental impact, drainage, and so on. Jacalyn Lawyer has demanded a long, long list of things that will keep Evil Man busy for a very long time. Neither he nor his lawyer showed up at the meeting so Team Silver Lake had a private audience with the Planning Board. That was good and worked out pretty well. We convinced them not to approve his preliminary plan.

I've been suffering from plantar faciitis for months now and finally went to the doctor last month, who referred me to a podiatrist this month. I think people who want to touch other people's feet all day are strange. This doctor was about 17, didn't seem to want to touch my feet, wore latex gloves that were a size too big (honestly, what doctor wears baggy gloves?) and seemed disappointed that I had such an ordinary and boring problem. I already knew that's what it was and that there's not much that can be done for it so wasn't really disappointed or surprised. He gave me a cortisone shot in my heel and had the nurse tape my foot. Told me what kind of inserts to get ("Be sure to get one for each foot so you're legs will be even" duh) and not to walk barefoot. Don't keep tape (which is glued on) on for more than 5 days. Well right now my whole foot hurts incredibly, as opposed to having just my heel really, really hurt. Hurts where the shot was, hurts where it's taped. Hurts when I sit, hurts when I walk, hurts when I stand. I'm sure it will be better soon. No I'm not, I'm just saying that.

It's taking forever for the snow to melt. Forever. It might be down to about 6-8" now, with water-stuff and mud underneath it. I can't drive to the house so have to walk through snow/mud back & forth. This is truly a part of the year I do not care for. We're seeing sun for the first time in probably a week today, and it's supposed to attempt to get near to 70 degrees this weekend. That will be like magic. Once again my deck may be bare of snow. I may get to read in the sun.

Massive fish kill. Wore paper bag on head & bought replacements. Told them I used algicide and all died. Response: "Huh. That shouldn't have happened. Huh. Isn't that strange. Did that happen before?" No--do you think I would have done it again if it had? I don't need chemical help killling my fish, thank you. Anyway, I bought a frisky yellow guppy and an algae eater who is truly the most disgusting thing to pass for a fish. A Plecko. Totally gross, big sucking mouth with tiny beady eyes on the top of its head. Biggest fish in the tank, sucks all the time. Can't tell if it's dead or alive because all it does is sit there and suck. But it should keep the tank clean so I won't have to kill everyone to clean it. It's coming upon algae season, when the sun shines on the tank (spring and summer) and lots of algae grows.

Got my flats ready to plant seeds. My but I move slowly. Meant to plant seeds on Monday, which we had off because of big storm (state of emergency in 2 counties, STAY OFF OF ROADS--Everybody to get from street!). It took longer to soak the soil, though, and now they've been sitting there eagerly awaiting their seeds.

I watched The Departed, which is an excellent film but pretty (very) violent. Leonardo DiCaprio is way cool. I don't need to see Blood Diamond--too much excitement and violence, plus he's got that pretend accent. But he's a really good actor.

And now, though I can't stand the thought of it, I must catalog. It's a rare occurance but I have no desire to catalog ANYTHING. Only other thing I can do is clean my desk but I'm motivated even less to do that. I could look at the book Gardens Adirondack style, which has great color photos, but that won't kill the whole afternoon and I have to work until 5. I can't do anything that involves walking or standing so weeding is out. So is socializing. Man oh man this sucks.