Clara's Window

Bad blogger!

And not the product, Blogger, but the person. Moi.

I'm currently being held captive at the mechanic in Bangor getting my catalytic converter replaced and I forgot my knitting.

(I'll pause to let that sink in.)

But I did bring my laptop, because of course I'm supposed to be working. And they happen to have free wireless. So here we are. The only problem is that I've been forced to listen to bad TV news programs all morning and am starting to fear that our civilization is teetering on the verge of collapse. A new refrigerator that throws you a can of beer. A 7% increase in cosmetic surgeries in 2006 (top 3 procedures: boob jobs, nose jobs, and liposuction). A new Jailhouse "Idol" contest in Arizona that features actual prison inmates competing on video. (Which I've been told about six times this morning, and still counting.)

What is happening to us?!?

Speaking of Arizona, I was there earlier this month to visit my mother. I missed the singing convicts, but I did get a little of this.

Mexican food! I mean real, edible Mexican food. Any West Coast expat living in the East will understand how much this means to me.

Sunshine and relaxation, a change of scenery, a little warmth.

And of course, a little knitting.

I discovered a new (to me) yarn store called KiwiKnitting Company. This really was a delightful example of what a yarn store could be, and proof that you don't have to have wall-to-wall multi-million-dollar yarn inventory to be special. They had just enough of everything, thoughtfully selected and presented in a way that makes sense. Well managed by people who care. And they even had a kid-friendly yarn room and spinning supplies. Very nice!

So, of course, I was morally obliged to purchase yarn for a project. Some Noro for a Falling Leaves shawl. I wasn't entirely crazy about the Noro. At some points it felt like they'd taken the floor sweepings from various clothes manufacturers and tossed them in a giant drum carder with some fibers. I spotted no short curly black hairs, although you know I was thinking about it.

Thanks to the seemingly perpetual delays of air travel these days (including sitting in a sealed, unventilated aircraft for three hours until the flight attendant "timed out" and needed to be replaced), I was on my last pattern repeat as the plane finally landed back in Portland.

Spring is showing faint signs of returning to Maine. Unfortunately this tends to be a pretty ugly period where pretty puffy white snow gives way to brown mud everywhere. But if you look closely, you can see a pink tinge to the tree landscape. And the birds! Ah, the birds have returned in full force. Their song gives me renewed hope.

Now if we can only do something about the crappy daytime news programs...