Foiled or Banjo Open Season

I'll start with the bottomline: I took the day off. My plan was to do the laundry, wash the dog, wash my floors, go for a long run and take a long bath, in that order. I awoke at 6 a.m. in a bone-chillingly cold apartment. No heat or hot water. That was not part of my plan.

Got the laundry sorted out by 12:30. I had to adjust things slightly since it was actually colder inside my apartment than outside. I didn't like the idea of a long run followed by a trip to the gym for a shower or over to a friend's house. My mood was too foul to shlep around looking for warm water.

But the day was not a total loss. The sun was shining on the stoop, so I took the opportunity to haul out Beulah* and welcome Spring by playing some of the greatest hits and exercises for a few hours with my trusty hound snoozing by my side. A little bit of "Boil Dem Cabbage Down" and "Cripple Creek" goes a long way. No one seemed to mind. Children with Easter baskets stopped to listen. A few people yelled out of their cars "Banjo!" in the same joyous way that they'll yell "hot dog" or "hound dog" when they see Dooley.

While I was noodling around, I met a gal who lives on the next block and plays bluegrass. She showed me how to make a D chord, so the day was not a total loss. She said The Baggott Inn, an old pub in the Village and site of a weekly jam, is closing in May. I've got to hightail it over there on Wednesday night. I'm going to join the banjo meetup that just got started. They're pickers, not frailers, but I reckon we can all play in the sandbox together.

Here's the problem with all of that glorious music making: By the time I got done, my knees were horribly swollen. I had forgotten about just how bad sitting on the stoop for an extended period can be for my legs. So now, if I was going to run, I would have to lie down with my legs up for a good long while. Now I was back in the house all bundled up, trying not to fall asleep.

Heat-wise, I called the super again, then hung around to see if the boiler guy would show up to fix it. The super said a few different things about ETA, but that the guy had to pick up stuff to fix the boiler. Turns out there was only 4 inches of oil. Happy Easter!

Today's exercise consisted of schlepping my laundry and walking Dooley. As I write this, I can hear the pipes knocking and groaning. Heat is on the way. After my run tomorrow morning, come hell or high water, I will take a nice long, hot bath.

* Beulah is a big old girl with a resonator. Yesterday I tried to change the strings on Lil, the open-back traveling banjo that John gave me, but it all went horribly wrong. I removed the tailpiece completely and now I can't put it back together.