Divine Retribution

Soooo ... ya know those silly Blogthings questionnaires? I found one called "What's Your Beer Personality?" I took it just for kicks and giggles.

As it turns out the giggles are on me!! Ah, well ... turn about is fair play.

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them. When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

What's Your Beer Personality?

A Rant for Emergents

HT to Brother Maynard ... 'twas his post on translations of the Bible which began my convoluted path.

I have to say at the outset I'm not particularly particular about which Bible translation anyone uses. Long ago I came to the conclusion that if indeed I do believe that God is capable of creating the entire universe, then it's just possible that S/He might not necessarily confine Herself to the pages of any one particular translation of a fifth generation copy of the transcription of the oral traditions of generations of stories written down in the non-native tongue. That God might just be capable of revealing Himself through more than one translation; indeed, She might use other books too. So I follow the suggestion of Thomas aKempis: “In things essential, unity; in doubtful, liberty; in all things, charity.”

I do, however, have a strong suggestion to make to the folks who are participating in the conversation known as the Emerging Church. Please, o please, extend your horizons past Guiness! Guiness is the Budwieser of stouts. It is a crass commercially over-produced beer that out-grew itself in the late '80s. There are so very many good, fine stouts out there and ales too. If it takes a chick to raise this issue, then raise it I will.

I think my favorite stout is Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout, although Young's Double Chocolate is too close a second to call. I have used Young's in my venison chili with fine results. They are both deep, rich and absorb light when you slowly pour them into a glass. They are best served luke warm (of course).

I have to say that my favorite beer category is India Pale Ales. I love them ... all of them. If you ever get to Vermont, or a gourmet beer establishment be sure to try Magic Hat's #9. It not only has that great citrus tang, but also has the zing of apricot for a fun surprise. Also from Vermont, Long Trail Brewery's unfiltered India Pale Ale is fabulous. It fills your mouth and sticks to your ribs. Dominion Brewery here in Virginia has a Pale Ale with a fine grapefruit bite.



Here's an ale that's almost a stout and has been a favorite of mine for more than 20 years -- Old Peculier. It's a British beer and wonderful to behold. It's rich and full and has a lot of texture. I discovered this ale during my misspent youth. A favorite haunt of LightHusband's and mine was The BrickSkeller off of Dupont Circle in DC. They serve several hundred different kinds of beers. On our first date, LightHusband (in a vain effort to impress me) ordered a bottle of beer from Scotland which had been numbered by hand with a ballpoint pen!

The larger point I'd like to make here is this. From my vantage point, it seems that a strong value being expressed by the emerging conversation goes something along the lines of "think globally, act locally." That is that while we see the larger issues and problems in the world, we see the solutions beginning with us and with our immediate communities. That we are able to influence and establish change there within our local circles. So, why, I have to wonder, are we not extending this argument to beer? Those engaging in the emerging conversation need to find their local microbrewery or pub and imbibe! Stop feeding the corporate, commercial machine. Raise a glass to your brother, the brewer and support him (or her)! For those of you across "the pond," find the CAMRA pubs and support them. And, for heaven's sake, expand your hoppy horizons. There's a great big beery world out there ... explore it!

Sabbath

It's the last Sunday of the month. Ordinarily we'd be sleeping in and preparing for some sort of community service. My church sets aside the last Sunday of each month to reach out to our neighbors in service. It's the pouring out of our gifts and talents in acts of service to those with less than we have. We've been doing this for about 2 years now. At first we were fairly rigid about doing it on Sunday. Then we eased up on the day. Now we've even eased up on the week. So last weekend (while we were still on vacation) the church helped a single mom move. So, today is a true Sabbath for me. There is no worship service to organize or teach in, and no service worship to participate in. I will rest. I will sew. Hooray!

Yesterday I attended the next to last meeting of the quilt guild board. Wait, that doesn't sound right. It's not the next last meeting. It is the next to last meeting that I am required to attend. I've been on the board for quite a long time now. Since 2000 I think ... I can't honestly remember. I was President of the guild in 2002. Since then I've been the editor of the newsletter, webmistress, I'm organizing the Block-of-the-Month activity for the second time now. Now I'm the custodian of the community service stash and my friend, SizzlingEwe, and I put together kits to make quilts for our community service project. LightHusband has been not-so-subtly suggesting that it's time to let others in the guild step forward and let their talents shine, reluctant tho they may be. So it was a pleasant change of pace yesterday to hear my quilting sisters echo his refrain as they politely and firmly encouraged me to follow my own muse in the coming year. It's time, they said, to take a rest. To have a Sabbath.

Many of them will be doing the same. We have all served the guild together for quite some time now. We began as quilters sharing tips and techniques. We have become friends sharing our lives together. We have children at different stages in their lives; one is about to become an untimely grandmother, another is coping with guiding her two teens through the morass of an out-of-control youth ministry, a third has one in college and one about to graduate from high school and her in-laws living with her, a fourth has both children gone and is recently retired from her job of 20+ years, and so on. We struggle together, laugh together, grieve together, cry together, and stitch our lives back together when they have become unraveled. We travel to quilt shows, eat meals, fondle fabric and memories, and through it all remember the timely advice of many quilters gone before us, "If it can pass the 'man on the galloping horse' test, we don't need to worry about it." This means any flaw, blemish or error that cannot be seen by a man on a galloping horse, is too small to worry about. I think I like that standard.

Adventures in Shopping

We're home again. Getting settled back in. I set a new land speed record for getting vacation laundry washed, dryed, folded and put away ... under 24 hours. This has never happened before in our married history. As LightHusband says, "Usually they (the dirty vacation clothes) have to marinate for a week or so, before we're ready to wash them." There is something about doing the vacation laundry that truly changes the mental space I'm in.

I've spent a good portion of the week purging the schoolroom. I've removed a lot of schoolwork from previous years that can be archived. I've stored a lot of books (especially for history) that we'll use when we get to those eras again. We deconstructed the way we use the space in the schoolroom (which is actually the diningroom). We tried to figure out a way to get desks for each of the LightChildren. But then we'd have to get rid of the table, and it serves a number of purposes other than school. It's the "kids" table when we have friends over for dinner. I use it for extra sewing space and cutting space for my quilting. The LightChildren use it for crafts and other projects. So, in the end, we kept the table. But we did decide to get some new bookshelves and a new supply cabinet.

I knew just the bookshelves I wanted. These -- which could be found at Target. I then spent several fruitless hours pouring through websites trying to find a supply cabinet that didn't look like one of those horrible metal closets that you find in the back behind the office manager's desk. The only thing I found was a hutch that came under the heading of bathroom furniture and I was afraid I'd never get past that. Especially after LightHusband took one look at it and said, "Hey, that would look good in our bathroom." Back to Google after that comment; but our search was in vain.


Nonetheless, we scheduled a trip to Target to purchase the bookshelves and take whirl through the furniture and organizing departments to see what they had, up close and personal. Sometimes you miss things when you're on-line. Lo and behold, we had missed something! There, in the closets section, was our grail!! Imagine these pieces with the door portion on top (it has shelves behind the doors) and paper supplies and other flat products on the sliding shelves of the base unit. I'm in heaven. We even got metal baskets to put on the shelves behind the doors. Organization, here we come!! Of course, it came in 2 very heavy boxes and took LightHusband 4 hours to put it together. But it's a thing of beauty awaiting our stuff. And the schoolroom is ready for our school adventures to begin.

But here's the funny thing that happened at Target. Just as we were getting in line to check out, I remembered that I wanted to get special 3-ring binders for each of the LightChildren and I for a project we're doing. So I left LightHusband to check out with the furniture and took LightBoy off in search of special fun binders. In due course we found them. We were then entitled to check out in the "Express Line," with our 3 items or less. There was an older gentleman two people in front of us with a single 1-subject spiral bound notebook that he was purchasing. He already had his dollar bill out to pay for it. The cashier waved it over the laser beam, rang it up, turned to the gentleman and said, "That will be ..... ten cents!" The sudden sucking sound was audible as all of our heads whipped around. How did we all come to be in a penny candy store in the midst of a SuperTarget in MegaLand? TEN CENTS??? I cannot remember the last time I'd heard that as the sum total of a bill at a store. Even the gentleman was dumbfounded. He fumbled for a moment, then said, "Wait, I have a dime!"

A dime. He paid for his total purchase with a dime. Even LightBoy was astonished.

The non-plussed cashier just kept telling us to go get spiral bound notebooks while they were on sale; we really shouldn't miss it.

Back-To-School Friday Five

From the RevGals ... Friday Five Meme

My late mother-in-law thought of September as the “real” New Year because of the number of programs and classes starting. By Labor Day, school is back in session for most of us in the U.S., although there is great variation by region (my children don't return until Sept. 7th!). To mark this, we bring you the Back to School Friday Five.

Aside ... I think this is very appropriate for me this week as I've spent the week purging our school room of old books and papers and getting it ready for our new year to begin next week. I've got a couple more hours to put in over the weekend and all will be ready for LightGirl and LightBoy on Monday morning (imagine dreary organ music here)!!!

1. What is your earliest memory of school?

I went to what used to be referred to as nursery school. Now it's called pre-school. I think I went a couple of mornings or afternoons a week. I remember that we had nap time. After nap time was snacks and it was highly sought after to be chosen to be the snack or drink assistant. My best memory of that school tho was that in the playground there was an old car that had had the tires and windows removed. We would swarm on the car and "go on trips." We were all good about taking turns "driving." Kids rode on the roof and on the hood and everywhere. Playing on that car was the most fun ever.

2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education?

My first and second grade teacher, Mrs. Metakos. I thought she was beautiful, smart and wonderful.

3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now?

The way they teach children to read was much different. I learned using phonics (using the infamous "Dick & Jane" books). Now they teach using whole language or some combination of the two (and can use just about anything!).

4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned.

I think I did. But I don't remember ... isn't that terrible??

5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share?

The only time I ever got into trouble was for something I didn't actually do, it was for something I was pretending to do. I went to school in a very old 2 room school house with horsehair plaster on the walls. Someone was mysteriously chipping out a large hole in the plaster at the top of the stairs when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. One day I was standing in line waiting to go outside for something and I turned to my friend, picked a tiny piece of plaster out and said, "I bet this is how that guy is getting away with it," and a teacher saw me!! I don't remember my punishment ... I just remember the injustice of it all. And that no one would believe that I was NOT the perpetrator.

Out With A Bang!

Here are two very happy young men! LightBoy and +OneFriend enjoyed a serendipitous ride in an antique Hacker Craft with a neighbor here on the Point. The neighbor was young when I was young and known for his exploits in the community. He and his brothers were some of Opie's favorites. I remember one famous story involved a homemade diving suit and an excursion to the bottom of the cove that ended perhaps ingloriously. LightBoy and +OneFriend are in danger of pulling their cheek muscles!

Sunday Morning

Another week has come and gone. It's Sunday again. How different this day is from last. It's gloomy, threatening to rain, an ever-so-slight chill in the air. It did rain last night and the remnants of drips are wending their way through the leaves on the trees, pit-patting as they go.

I'm up early this morning, having my coffee and cruller on the porch. LightHusband was here briefly, but he's out in the boat fishing now. As I know from our years together, this is perfect fishing weather. All the children and grandparents are still sleeping.

The LightChildren +One Friend have had a ball this vacation. The two boys have spent hours fishing (but rarely catching). There have been a few catches which LightGirl protests. The fish get thrown back so they might live long and prosper, get married or something silly like that. She's too old for such nonsense, but she has a tender heart so we indulge her. There have been tubing runs, snorkeling classes, blueberry pies (2), corn on the cob (countless), running and jumping off the float, swimming, kayaking, friends, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, sleeping in, running around, playing and goofing off. It's been a good vacation.

We return home tomorrow and take up the reins of our regular lives. I think we're ready now.

New Generation

My brother and his family arrived the other day.

But the biggest news right now is that ...

...

... there's a new Sniper in town!

+OneFriend took this, as well as many other good photos. He's proving himself quite handy with a camera. +OneFriend's mother is not going to be happy about this development. Not happy at all.

This is LightUncle1, the oldest of my two younger brothers. I should note this was taken right after a series of games during which LightBoy and +OneFriend challenged LightUncle1. Mostly it was thumb wrestling and the slap your hands game. LightUncle1 won But there was much laughter, giggling and general silliness had by all. Someday, they will challenge the older men and win, but for now they lose and giggle and everyone has fun.

Porch Musings

It's later in the morning than I usually awaken. +OneFriend has a cold and is struggling with quite a cough in the night, so LightHusband and I were up with him a good bit last night. It is one of the miracles of this place that I am able to sleep in a bit when necessary.

We probably should not have gone out for creemees (as softserve icecream is called up in these parts) last night. The ride home required that we have the windows open to air out the fumes from the gas can we had filled for the boat rides taken during the day (tubing in the afternoon and fishing after dinner). The cool pollen filled air started +OneFriend's coughing jag and he just couldn't get past it.

So it's been later than usual for me to come out to the porch and sit with my coffee and cruller. The clouds are puffy as a fresh snowbank over the ridge across the bay and the boats are lolling in no particular direction, at ease awaiting their next orders from the currents and winds. Children and parents are playing at various camps around the cove, and LightBoy is fishing.

I've been musing about the various pillars which support human relationships this morning. Mostly I've been thinking about trust. I've been remembering how +OneFriend came in the dark of night, trusting that when I told him to awaken me if he needed to, I would respond. Of course I did. LightHusband and I sat with him for the hour it took to quieten his cough and relax and go back to sleep. For the most part, children trust very easily. They believe the things that they are told by adults. Their minds do not have the ability to question or challenge. They do not bother with the things that are beneath the surface. There are no icebergs. It is only when we become adults that we begin searching for hidden meanings, the lines between the lines, the hurts and betrayals.

There are two things that Jesus said that I've been musing about this morning. The first is that we (all of us ... especially the adults) should come to Him with faith like children. The second is that we should be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. Now before you begin taking me to task for taking those verses out of context, I know I did that! Those are some fairly standard teachings of Jesus and I'm musing on my porch about trust and I don't have my Bible/concordance/commentary open next to me. I merely think that in regards to trust issues, those two teachings put us in a place of tension. It is difficult to hold faith with child-like trust, yet be wise as a serpent. I think it requires that we overlook an awful lot of hurts done to us. Perhaps it even puts us in the place where we forgive others seventy times seven. I think it requires that we sometimes conciously not look for lines between lines or hidden meanings. I wonder, if, perhaps, that tension isn't a most difficult aspect of my faith.

My Lack

Update - 11:40 p.m.: the following is meant to be very tongue-in-cheek. Especially please understand that I mean the last paragraph in terms of the title of the post ... it is "My Lack" of generosity and love that I am mocking.

My friend, Golden Girl, has a nice post today reflecting on how Jesus talked to people. She makes you think about how we might want to talk to people. I've been thinking about that this afternoon as I cut out pieces for some quilt blocks I'm working on.

In many respects, I'm a fairly easy going person. If I were more outgoing I'd probably talk to more people. But I'm uncomfortable talking to strangers of any stripe, so I have a hard time talking to new people whether they are rich or homeless ... both are just as scary to me. I'd like to think there isn't anyone I'd have dinner with under the right circumstances.

I have, however, decided that there is a group of people who are untouchables in my world. People that I will not invite to dinner. I'm aware that Jesus does not like this behavior on my part. He and I will have to work on this together. But here goes ... they are the people who own barking dogs and do nothing to shut them up. In fact, they go so far as to allow the barking dogs to bark uninhibited while the rest of us suffer. People with barking dogs should suffer an eternity with their barking dogs ... but I should get to go to heaven without them. I have suffered enough right here.

A Prayer ...

... for a fellow RevGal who is going through a rough stretch with her community. You can read about it here and then click on "next entry" four or five times to get the whole story. It's a terrible tragedy.

May God shed the light of His grace and mercy and compassion on Cheesehead and all of her people during this time of tragedy and trial. We pray you gracious God to send your peace which passes all understanding to all of the family members of the victim; that they might know Your redeeming love in ways deeper and wider than ever. That they might experience redemption in such a way that their relationships might be redeemed at some point in the future. Father we especially hold Cheesehead up to you during this time and ask for extra helpings of strength and grace for her as she tends to your flock, binding up the brokenhearted, and tending to her own wounds as well. Lord, it is not enough for us to know that the world is full of evil, we beseech you for reminders that You are good. That it is in You we will find our strength and our joy regardless of the situation. We thank you for your steady right hand supporting Cheesehead and your loving left arm that is embracing her as she goes. It is in the name of your precious Son, given that we might live, that we pray this night ... Amen.

Vacation Morning

LightBoy and Sam playing.

I was catching up on my sleep.

We're going to Circus Smirkus this afternoon.

Jump!

My dog Sam loves to chase tennis balls.

Sabbath

I took Sabbath today in an odd way. I did not rest and yet I feel refreshed in many parts of my spirit that I have not felt in years.

I worshipped with my father. We discussed weather forecasting and the fact that my old wive's tales are correct a greater percentage of the time than the media professionals. We got warm in the sun on the edge of the lake and wondered about the state of a rope which had soaked itself for the summer and how long it would take to dry out sufficiently to be tied off and melted.

LightHusband and I did laundry at our traditional laundrymat. Usually we do laundry during the week up here. This year we did it on a Sunday. What a treat. There was laundry comedy and laundry philosophy. A lady came in who announced to us that she had some new jokes for us this week. Here is one:

What do Winnie the Pooh and John the Baptist have in common? (answer at the end)

She had some other jokes, but they were a little off-color. She wore a very large brimmed floppy hat. She said she told jokes because she hated doing laundry so much that this made it fun. I thought that was a very good coping strategy.

Another man came in with about 8 small laundry baskets full of laundry. He clearly had a complicated system. I wondered about his system. He asked, of no one in particular, "Why is it that today all the dryers are full, but the washers are empty? How did that happen?" Laundry mat philosophy at it's finest.

Oh, you want the answer: They both have the middle name "the" ... we cracked up!

Sign seen on a local church: Spiritual Progressivism. It made me wish I'd gone to that service.

We went grocery shopping while the clothes dried in the full dryers at a small local grocery store where the checkout clerk was fast and helpful, and she smiled at us while she checked our groceries (even tho she was a "sullen" teenager). And I made a blueberry pie when I came home.

In all, a good Sabbath rest. The clothes are clean, the larder is full and the week is ready to begin.

Summer Fruit ...

I guess I can still do Friday Five on Saturday morning! I looked and looked all day yesterday, but didn't see the post til this morning. What was up with that??!! Internet weirdness ...

Galatians 5 describes the fruit of the Spirit. With all the sadness and despair out there, we certainly need it! So, the Friday Five is simple. Pick any five of the following attributes and go wherever the Spirit leads you... your choice!

Love is a tomato (the love apple from colonial days); it has a sharp bite to begin but then goes down sweet.
Joy is warm raspberries with cold cream on a summer's evening; it resonates down to your toes.
Peace is olives (yes, they are a fruit) borne on a branch.
Patience is a pomegranate (for the obvious reasons) and I always struggle with this one.
Kindness is an apple glossy and sweet.
Generosity is strawberries in a great big shortcake (with real whipped cream).
Faithfulness is a banana; always there when you need them.
Gentleness is a watermelon with the juices dribbling down your chin. It should overwhelm all who indulge in it.
Self-control is blueberries; who can eat just one?

Weather Forecast

Tonight's weather: partly cloudy, full moon, chance of rain ... temps in the lower 50's!

And the view cannot be beat ... it makes up for the Manu-Aire that wafts up the lake occasionally.

Manu-Aire

Ahhh ... the fresh scent. Breath in deep. You only get it out in the country; that distinct aroma of freshly spread "fertilizer." When the south wind blows up the "Point," we get it from the farms down the lake. Manu-Aire ... we decided to give it it's own name. The LightChildren +OneFriend don't quite understand and roll their eyes. LightHusband and I think it's perhaps too funny. We chortle with glee at our own joke as our eyes water and our noses clear out.

The minor joys of vacation.

Antipode

Seen on the newsstand as I walked into a drugstore. Then I realized that the piped in music was the chorus to "Jeremiah was a bullfrog." The lyrics I heard ("joy to the world, all the boys and girls, singin' joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me) as I read the headline:

Soldier from Sharon Killed in Baghdad Blast

and looked at the photo of a bright young man cut down before he began a half a world away.

I've never understood this war and I've looked at it from many sides now. But the one thing that makes my bones angry, that leaves me with the taste of mara in my mouth is that there are not enough bumperstickers in the world to support our troops. It is not support when their bodies come home in secrecy. It is not support when we cannot get a proper accounting of who has been injured, who has died, and who will never be the same again.

Magnets are cheap. Grieving is hard. But that's one way to support our troops and their families. I wonder when we'll get around to doing that? Or will we just keep whistling "joy to the world" in the dark?

Our Own Private ...

... Island. Here's how we spent the day on Sunday (with LightHusband's parents, sister and her family). And now I'm recuperating from spectacular sunburn, despite many reiterations of 45 proof sunblock!

Traffic is stuck, we're not moving anywhere.

Lawns in the center, surrounded by international waters ... in the middle of Lake Champlain!

Jump! You might as well jump ...

Splish, splash I'm a takin' a bath ...

Thought you'd found a friend, take you out of this place, lend a helping hand ...

Mothers and daughters enjoy a rare moment.

Day Three

We made our annual pilgrimage to Shelburne Museum yesterday. This has become a tradition that the LightChildren love. We even have a traditional exhibit that must be seen first. I'd tell you why the LightChildren are so fascinated, but first you have to click on the link to see what it is.

I got to see the temporary Georgia O'Keefe exhibit. I've only ever seen her more well known flowers and some of her southwestern inspired pieces with the bones in them. This exhibit really spanned her entire career. There was a timeline as well that gave clues to her life. She was fascinating. Her art was inspiring. Some of it was quite crudely done and I wondered why it was so sought after. Other pieces were breathtaking. In the morning, I'd read this bit by Christy at Dry Bones Dance and so I had echoes of thoughts about setting appropriate boundaries running in my head as I walked through this exhibit. I wondered about Georgia's life and times. I thought about her ability to set boundaries and follow her muse despite what must have been enormous pressure to be a feminine woman, have a husband, and children. I didn't come to any conclusions, but I think I'd like to read a biography and find out more about her.

I also got to see the Kaleidoscope Quilts exhibit. I'll have to come clean here and say that it was the primary impetus behind my desire to go to the museum. But the LightChildren do love it and OneFriend likes museums too. I enjoyed the quilts and my conversation with the quilter (president of the state guild as she was sure to inform me) who was there to talk to visitors.

In the same building with the quilts were other displays of antique needlearts. Of particular interest to me are the samplers; needlework done by young women about LightGirl's age to highlight the skills they had learned throughout their youth. That they were now ready to take on the larger tasks of womanhood. One sampler in particular stood out to me, the saying on it was thus: "In God We Hope." The difference of one word and it makes all the difference.

We went on to visit the old schoolhouse, the displays of antique woodcarving (cigarstore fronts, weathervanes, ship figureheads, etc.), the blacksmith shop and the smithy. The blacksmith was calm and wonderful to speak with. He talked to the LightChildren +OneFriend about the joys and dangers of smithing. They (all four) had quite a philosophical conversation about whether or not having wealth was good or bad. It was interesting to be a bystander to that and hear the children wrestle through some of what they've heard us talk about.

In God we hope.

Scene on Vacation

The view from of the lake our 6th floor hotel room ... when we checked in last night.

We began with a jaunt down to camp, to drop off the extras that we don't need for the weekend and to say hello to the LightParents (and give my mother her much belated Mother's Day gift - I didn't want to ship it). To my delight, my two friends on either side are here and will be here for the duration of our stay. We reconnected briefly with promises of more and longer conversations on one another's porches later on. Such is the vibe of camp. We watch our children grow in delight and amazement, all the while supporting each other along the way. It is a unique and nourishing community.

Somewhat later, I had what was possibly the best lunch of my entire life. It consisted of curried chicken salad with cranberry chutney and roasted cashews. We ate on the patio of Pauline's. LightHusband was worried it was the luncheon spot for old ladies. It was. We looked around ... all older ladies lunching in twos. In any case, I savored every single bite of that lunch. Every one. I didn't even mind that my lemonade was powdered.

Then we walked around Church Street in Burlington and had coffee served to us ala Shakespeare at Uncommon Grounds (with apple pie). Then we walked and shopped and looked and daydreamed. Mostly we people watched. The people here are ... um ... interesting. Very few shop at the same store. One might wear anything (and I do mean that quite literally) one wishes.

A leisurely two hour dinner at a sidewalk bistro ... pan seared scallops, if you please with a pint of microbrewed, unfiltered India Pale Ale. Why yes, this is the life to which I am accustomed. Our seats allowed for a fine mix of people watching and conversation. The perfect end to a lovely day.

Scene on the Road

Bumpersticker: Not One Millionaire Left Behind

Lots of vanity plates including this one: HCKYMAN surrounded by a Capitals plate holder.

Large sign spanning all lanes just before the Delaware Memorial Bridge reminding us that we can call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline if we need to. Fear everyone, trust no one. I cannot abide this. I will not participate in this national campaign of fear.

Gas prices holding steady, even on the Jersey Turnpike, at $3.03 for regular. Interestingly enough, Exxon-Mobil's profits are rising by ever larger proportions. Who knew that profitting on war and death could be so easy? Pirates are popular these days.

Blues and jazz being played at McDonald's on the Garden State Parkway. I was almost knocked over with a feather.

Going, Going, ...

... gone! Well. We're off. Today we leave for our vacation. Sunday we pick up the LightChildren + OneFriend and head for camp.

The house is pretty clean. We relaxed some here and got ready on our own time. This was fairly novel. I really enjoyed it.

This morning I checked the weather, as I sipped my coffee. For last few of you not convinced that global warming isn't happening, WeatherUnderground read like a Monty Python skit this morning. For some reason, I just couldn't stop laughing. In the North Atlantic, (my pet) Tropical Storm Chris. In the Pacific, Tropical Depression Faabbbio. Temperature - 73 ... humidity 94%. The air is nine and half months pregnant with water; the molecular miniscus cannot hold.

It's supposed to be cooler and dryer in Vermont; I hope so. My sewing is packed. My books are packed. My clothes. LightHusband has his fishing and photography equipment to document our adventure. So ... we're on our way. Here's a photo of the quilt top I finished and sent out to be quilted yesterday. My big accomplishment before leaving.

Things to Celebrate

Friends who can finally relax because they are recognized for doing well in their jobs.

Friends who are bringing new babies into the world.

Friends who have finally brought their babies home for awhile.

Wonderful women who write, create and express the beauty of God for the rest of us. And especially the Holly who did the remarkable work of pulling it all together. My copy came in the mail yesterday on a day when I was feeling like I just could not possibly put one foot in front of the other one more time. Then the mailman put Effloresce in my hands and I realized I could.

Being on vacation in my own house. Anticipating vacation in New England and seeing the LightChildren again. I'm beginning to miss those two rascals.

My parents and LightHusband's parents who have graciously taken their grandchilren for a week so that we could have two weeks alone.

Good banana yogurt smoothies for breakfast.