i couldn't fall asleep again last night, didn't go to bed until after 5am. i woke up at 9:30am, didn't feel all that tired, but now in the evening i can feel myself running out of energy. so i'm going to bed early, wake up tomorrow to finish this blog post.

since my father was going to stop by the cafe anyway to pick up his replacement credit card, i called him this morning asking if i could get a ride to belmont. with unexpected rains expected for much of the day, i didn't want to risk riding and getting caught in a sudden downpour. i also had things to bring to belmont, including a watermelon i bought on friday and the craftsman collapsing lawn chair i picked up. plus, i would be able to help him pick up the new mattress from fresh pond that my parents purchased yesterday.

my father came by around 10am. after loading up the car, we went to fresh pond, navigating the new "local only" pedestrian pathway designation of garden street. since cars are still allowed on the street, pedestrians for the most part are still reluctant to walk on the road instead of the sidewalk. it's one of those, "good in theory, bad in practice" ideas. i hope the city of cambridge get rid of it soon. now that the state is slowly reopening, people don't need more barriers to get to where they want to go.

there was nobody at the mattress firm store, we thought maybe they weren't opened yet. a guy came out finally to greet us. my father already paid for the mattress, it was just a matter of picking it up. it fit perfectly in the car (i wasn't sure if it would), we made it to my parents' house before it started to rain.

we replaced my mother's mattress as soon as we got home. the mattress she was using was from the early 1980's, the mattress from my sister's and my twin bunk beds. it slept like a rectangular piece of foam. this new mattress - thick, firmer - was a whole different experience for the better. mattresses are surprisingly expensive for some strange reason, i believe this was the cheapest one, but even that cost around $1000.

instead of running away from the rain, i run towards it, especially given how little rain we've had. rain adds a touch of drama to backyard photography. wasn't like we needed the rain, we had more than enough to fill the rain barrels yesterday. rain and sunshine, that's all the plants need to thrive. my mother made some avocado toast for lunch: crushed avocado, chopped garlic, oil, and some salt. i washed it down with a glass of orange juice.

the rain had stopped by the afternoon. the sun even came out.

we ate some purslane for dinner. combined with some garlic and additional sauces, it wasn't bad. texture-wise it can get a little slimy, but it also has some crunch. we also grilled some spiderwort stalks after i found out they were edible too. texture-wise, they're a bit like asparagus. finally, we grilled some shishito peppers on the skillet. they weren't anything special, every once in a while you'd eat one that was kind of spicy, but most of the time they were mild.

when i got back home i found a letter addressed to me, hand written in cursive. turns out it was a card from maureen, along with a packet of toothache plant seeds. she'd asked for my address a week ago, i thought it was because she was updating her contact list, but turns out she was sending out cards. there were also some nice orchid forever stamps.