Shelby G.
Ugh. What time is it. Friggy, one of my cats, is pawing at my face. I pick her up, carry her to the doorway, and unceremoniously shoo her into the hall before closing the door behind her. I double-check that the latch caught so that Fred, another cat of mine, can’t shove his way in. Despite the blackout curtains, I can tell the sun has risen. Eyes barely open, I check the time on my phone. 8 am. Have to be somewhere at 10. Can I sleep another hour?
9 am. It takes a few minutes of grumbling but I get out of bed eventually. Wash my face, brush my teeth, and ponder what to wear when it’s sunny and unseasonably warm but also there’s a dry breeze that’s chilly in the shade, and I’m about to help plant some trees at the park. Tee shirt, jeans, and a hoodie it is, like every day. I walk downstairs and Tom tells me he’s already fed the cats - I love that! I ask if he’s hungry, and we split a banana because we know there will be donuts at the tree planting. The park is right up the street and we have another 10 minutes to kill. I sit on the couch, watching my cats as they give themselves a post-breakfast wash. I decide to go eat a granola bar to kill time (not a healthy reason to eat food, actually), and notice Citrine (third cat mentioned) run up to the back window. I peer outside and see Bubba, a neighborhood cat, walking along our back fence before jumping into my neighbor's yard. Almost 10 am, I walk to the front door and grab a trash grabber before stepping outside, Tom following right behind me.
The park is a stone’s throw away so we’re there in under a minute. It’s pretty windy and for a second I wonder if just a hoodie was the right move, but as soon as it’s time to grab a shovel and start moving dirt around, I’m glad I dressed light. My favorite tree in the park, a maple, has finally turned its signature autumn red, but with the drought we’ve been having, the colors are muted. I hope it rains soon. As folks start to dig, dust fills the air from the loose soil. These trees are gonna be thirsty.
Some neighborhood friends, new and old, showed up for the tree planting. I grab a strawberry frosted donut from Dunkin off the sign-in table. Tom grabs a chocolate frosted donut and a cup of coffee. A red-tailed(?) hawk flew by overhead. We see them sometimes, eating smaller birds or flying in pairs.
We got our first tree, a honey locust, into the ground. My mom texted that she needs to talk, but said I can call her after. I hope it’s nothing worrisome. Around 11:30, I overheard some folks debating if these were the ideal tree species to plant. I’m torn between feeling happy that some quick-growing, leafy trees are being planted, but also agreeing that prioritizing natives would have been cool. Our honey locust is native although its range didn’t originally spread up to Philadelphia. The swamp oaks others are planting would have been native to the area, unlike the Norway maples, which aren’t from the continent at all. I googled all of this in the moment. I’m also fascinated by the June bug grubs folks keep finding in the mulch. Not the best attention span. Overall, I think the group planted nearly 25 new trees in Norris Square Park. Tom did most of the digging on our behalf, but I helped pick rocks out of the dirt, carry water, spread mulch, and tie trees to stakes.
We finish up around 1 PM and we are HUNGRY. Once we get home, I spring into action. I toast some whole grain bread and make turkey sandwiches with pepper jack, mustard, mayo, cucumber, heirloom tomato, and onion, plus a glass of apple cider each. As soon as we sat down to eat, my mom called. She couldn’t wait for me to call, but I don’t blame her. She received some bad news about her eldest brother who is in the hospital. The topic shifts and we talk about our suspected neurodivergence and our holiday plans (with each other). By the time we get off the phone, my toasted bread was cold, but the sandwich was great. Tom finished a while ago and was feeding scraps of turkey cold cuts to Fred who was by our feet begging.
By the time we were done, it was around 2 PM. We got in bed to warm up and rest after our busy morning. I was going to play Mario & Luigi: Brothership for a bit but immediately got tired and decided to nap instead.
5:30 PM. Oops, we were supposed to be somewhere at 5. Not a big deal, we rushed over to Keystone Bicycle Co. Our friend hosted a bicycle race/food drive event and we wanted to congratulate him for a successful event. Turnout was great, I feel proud on his behalf. We say good-bye and go to check out the new pet food store that opened up recently in the same building. Then we do a quick walk through the Resource Exchange and Tom buys a tiny little canvas for 25 cents. Our final stop in the building was Sor Ynez, one of our restaurants. Neither of us was hungry, so we got drinks (Mexican coke for me) and watched Mr. Deeds on their bar TV for a while, chatting with the staff occasionally. Afterward we make our final stop at Grocery Outlet across the street. We grab some cat dry food and pumpkin shaped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
We finally get back home around 7 PM and immediately plop down on the couch to watch anime (Black Clover) and play more Mario. The cats are being annoying but it’s a little too early to feed them. Preston (4th cat) snuggles up on Tom’s lap. An hour later, Tom got up to make us a frozen pizza and feed the cats. Some friends of mine were trying to go to an Indie Sleeze dance party at Brooklyn Bowl but I needed to stay in. By 11 PM, Tom was starting to nod off, so we went upstairs. I played Mario a bit more but fell asleep shortly after. Glad it’s only Saturday.
Shelby is a GIS analyst living in Norris Square with her partner and 4 cats.
