phraseology

Scenes from a weekend: I rented a car after work Thursday and caught a ferry to the coast. Friday morning picked up an electric lawnmower at Sears and drove through a sudden downpour out to Ram Hill. I had big plans to work outside all day but using an electric mower in the rain didn't seem like a great idea. The sun returned and by then I had assembled the mower--a super easy snap-n-tighten task thanks to Remington--plugged it in and I was mowing.
Call me melodramatic but it hurts me to cut grass, especially this grass, knee-high and lush and billowy and deeply green, dotted with daisies and some dandelions and wildflowers. But, in the interest of crowd control I flipped the lever to the highest setting and mowed away. I pulled weeds, swept the patio, used the push mower on the driveway, cleared branches, and when I was done, the air smelled rich and sweet, and didn't have that heavy petroleum tinge a gas mower leaves behind, fart-like.
I built a fire Friday evening, sat on the patio with beer and snacks and read and looked up at the sky, listened to the wind in the trees and birds chattering and wet wood crackling.
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Yesterday was a friend's birthday and a bunch of us gathered at her place to celebrate with tacos and a pinata stuffed with candy and lil nippers. Later I had long island iced teas at sunset on the deck at Pony with a charming friend. When I mentioned how sexy his confidence was, he lowered his sunglasses and said, well thank you but is anyone confident? we're all faking it, right? I had to agree. The night ended with whiskey at another friend's, and a belligerent guy ranting at a Ballard bus stop at 1 a.m., screaming about Africa and injustice until a vet, just back from Afghanistan, regulated.