Oh, and people, you pretty much convinced me to visit more of the East Coast. Especially after a friend reminded me that the Library of Congress is there. I'll get back to planning as soon as I can

Sweet!

a lovely, delicious, chai tea powder that is so good -- just the tea and spices, no sweetener, and it tastes so freaking good.

Yum. I love chai but often it is so sweet.

Just some additional info on the hair shedding: I was at my hairdresser's not long after my first (and so far only, touch wood) Covid infection and she told me to prepare for some shedding. Apparently they see it all the time; after Covid your hair falls out. In my case it was nuts, really heavy hair loss for about four months, but it has settled down now, fortunately.

So sometimes it might not be perimenopause that's to blame, for once.

My hair didn’t shed with menopause, but the white hairs have started coming in. For most of my life my hair was dead straight, but the white hairs are wavy. My inner 80s teenager is delighted.

I had one shedding in my late 20s due to stress, then the induced shedding of chemo (and forced menopause, I suppose) in my late 30s, then weirdness that was the 2019-20 hospitalization... I am lucky that I started with so damn much, let's just say.

I do love my Cruella DeVille-like gray streak. More than one youngling has asked me if I put it there myself. I mean, I suppose, in a way... but not with dye.

Speaking of gray, that's the weather here today, and a little rainy. Enjoying a chai, while catching up here, with a pup snuggled up on my left, and a still-snoozing spouse upstairs. It's a whole mood.

My hair has gotten wavier as it’s gotten more silver and I’m digging it.

I wish mine were. No such luck.

Yeah, my greys are straight and wiry and stand out quite a bit against the rest of my hair, which is much curlier. I don't mind the grey streaks, but I do wish they'd curl more.

So, yesterday got a little exciting.

I'll start off with the good news: I'm fine, no one is hurt.

The bad news: I was sideswiped on the way to Safeway, and the car's front axle is broken. It's a 2009, so the insurance will probably total it.

Not how I wanted to spend my Saturday afternoon/evening.

I have now been sideswiped or rear-ended three times in the past five years. Each time, I was in the proper lane and not moving, waiting for a traffic light or at a stop sign.

This fucking year, man. 2020 just goes on and on and on.

Oh, Karl, what a bummer. I’m glad you are okay physically, at least.