I dread the return of colder weather. Just as we have an "Indian Summer" in the later weeks of Autumn, I submit to you - dear readers, that we also have a Spring equivalent. What do we call our dreaded cold snap in the early weeks of Spring?
"Cleveland Winter" is the term I'd expect from most anyone I'd ask.
Just as the frost kills the early blooms and causes the forsythias to recoil in horror, it seems to do the same to you and I. When it's warm and sunny, we peek our heads out from our turtle-necked sweaters and peacoats to smell the air and gaze at the clear blue skies. The cold transforms us once again, like the idealistic forsythia - except that we retreat to the comforts of our coats and scarves, only looking up enough to make eye contact with the crosswalks and entryways we shuffle so expeditiously into to escape the snow and wind.
I cannot wait until we bloom once again.
Jeff participated in the Fools 25k Trail Run at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Sunday. He handily won the race with a respectable time of 1:45:22. Running may not be too fascinating a sport for most people, but I really do love going to races that he's in. I'll stop fawning over him here before I turn into a puddle of treacle - but it is pretty darn awesome to see him run.
To celebrate, Jeff and I went to Mekong River off of Lee - a place we've been to a few times before. Jeff seems to be a great fan of Thai/Cambodian food, since we do cook those sorts of things quite frequently. I won't lie, I sometimes think he's cheating on me with Sriracha. (a burning love - literally)
I ordered Paradise Shrimp (a dish in a yellow curry with pineapple, shrimp and too many green things I didn't care for) and Jeff got the Cambodian Curry (a beef stew-like dish with potato and yam). After having a few bites of Jeff's dish I was instantly jealous. We decided immediately that we had to try and duplicate this at some point.
Later in the evening, Jeff brought Eponine over to meet Onyx since we're moving in together at the end of May. (Did I forget to mention that?) I really wish my batteries would have been charged, because some of their encounters were so funny. They didn't fight, but they did hiss at each other a few times. Onyx hissed loudly and Eponine mostly sounded like she was deflating. It was cute. They were mostly scared of each other and should be fine once we're all settled in here together. Onyx still has to meet Francesca. Fran is a fairly laid back kitty, so we'll see what happens.
And now, it's time to expand your minds and musical tastes. I present to you... Elvis Perkins.
His debut album, Ash Wednesday has a somber and soulful timbre - Perkins himself admitted that a large part of the album was shaped by the passing of his mother - a passenger on the ill-fated American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles on September 11, 2001. Elvis Perkins' father passed away in 1992 due to complications of AIDS. (via Wikipedia)
Don't listen to him because doing so gives you a particularly sad story to tell your friends when asked - listen because the music is rich and meaningful.
Perkins et al recently released a new album (titled Elvis Perkins in Dearland) that seems to have a sunnier disposition, not that there was anything wrong with the previous album. Amazon has samples of all of the tracks, so check them out!
Jeff bought the album, but I haven't listened to much of it yet. We discovered Elvis Perkins when seeing Okkervil River perform in Columbus about 2 1/2 years ago. He was one of the openers and I instantly decided that I liked him a lot. Perkins grew on Jeff a little slower, I think.
