Well, after this morning I now know that I am two sandwiches short of a picnic. I knew I was close but now I am really there. Friday is our ritualistic breakfast club day. I have a hard time getting going. I have to leave the house early. I'm tired after a week of work. I can't find my keys. I can't find my glasses. It's always the same "can't get going" routine for me. Today was no exception. I raced around trying to get ready. My blouse was wrinkled. I ironed it. I had to make my lunch. Should have done that the night before. I couldn't find my keys. Finally found them where I always keep them. Just as I'm ready to go out the door I remember that I wanted to return a library book after school. Dash upstairs to get the library book. I'm finally out the door. Ooooopps. I forgot my sweater. It's warm out but it's cold in school so I really need it. I dash back upstairs and grab my sweater and start back down the stairs. I pass the bathroom and as I look in I suddenly realize...OMG OMG OMG.....I forgot to put my "fake-tooth flipper" in this morning. I was just about to race off to school without my tooth. OMG OMG OMG. Would anyone have said anything to me or would they all have been too polite so that I would wander around all day looking like I had a -25 IQ? How would I have felt if I looked in the bathroom mirror at school in the middle of the day and saw the blank spot in my mouth? Just the thought of the horror of being seen like that is too much for me to even think about. I am going to have to start taping a note to the door "Did you remember your tooth". The day that I get my permanent one can't come too soon.


On a happier note: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Sean and Kara.

Five years, two kids, 4 jobs (or is it 5?) and 4 houses. You have survived all that and are still together. That's a good omen! Keep it up.

Welcome back

The first day of school got off to a typical start yesterday. After an uneventful day I was doing my usual afternoon bus duty outside. The purpose of "bus duty" is to simply make sure that the students move to their buses as soon as they exit the building. Mostly for two reasons. One being that the buses have an elementary run to make after the middle school run and we need to get the students loaded quickly so that the buses won't be late for the elementary bus run. The second reason is, of course, a large number of students gathering together after a day of captivity invites trouble, especially in our "diverse" town. So we try to scoot them all to the buses to avoid problems. I noticed two girls idly standing and chatting. I walked over to them and quietly and very nicely (honest.......I was really being VERY nice) said, "Ladies, you really need to move to your buses now". One of the very charming ladies turned to me, curled her lips and snarled, "You P _ _ _ me off"! Yikes. Some things never change. Welcome back to school, Mrs. Cortesi! The world is really changing, I guess. Can you imagine someone talking this way to a school staff member 10 or 15 years ago? The loss of civility, respect and just plain old niceness in the world today is very sad to me. What is happening?

It's that time again.

Well, this was it. My last day of unstructured joy. Tomorrow it is back to the salt mines. Usually I look forward to getting back to school, but for some reason I'm finding it harder than usual this year. Maybe it is because the climate at school is so disorganized this year. Maybe it is because the summer was unusually busy and I still have so many projects left undone. Maybe it just means I'm getting a little closer to retirement. Maybe it 's because I have absolutely enjoyed my porch this summer. Whatever the reason, I am going to miss being home. I have enjoyed my morning ritual of walking up the driveway in the cool and quiet morning to get the paper, my long, drawn-out breakfast on the porch while reading the WHOLE paper SLOWLY, having my breakfast cup of tea while watching the sun and shadows play on the cool green grass outside the porch windows, listening to the sounds of the birds, spending the rest of the day working in the gardens. "These are a few of my favorite things".

Once I get back to school I know I will enjoy my work there. There will be new students and new teachers to get to know. I will enjoy being with my friends and co-workers. I will love getting a paycheck again each week. It will be nice to be busy. It will be a nice change to dress up each day instead of slipping on old blue jeans day after day. It will feel good to get back to a routine. But I can't wait until next summer! How many more days??

The final days

I have only one more day to enjoy my summer and then it is back to school on Wednesday. The summer went much too fast. School usually starts on the Wednesday before Labor Day which means we only have 3 days of school the first week. But those 3 days might as well be 13. The week seems SO long. We are always grateful that the week ends with the Labor Day holdiday so that we have 3 wonderful days off to recover from that first long week at school.


We had beautiful weather today. I drove to Glastonbury to take my mother to her doctor's appointment. It's a pleasure for me to do that because I get to sit in the peace and quiet of the waiting room and read my book. A real luxury for me. I told her to tell the doctor to take his time. After the appointment we went on a couple of errands and then back to her apartment and relaxed and talked. A very enjoyable afternoon.

From there I went to Canton for a dinner out with our breakfast club. One of the girls in our group..................................................................................................Pat............................................
has just retired this year so we had a little celebratory dinner for her. We had so much fun talking and laughing that our dinner went on and on. We sat down at 5:30 and didn't get up until 8:30.

I will really miss working with Pat this year. She is very unpretentious, sweet, funny and real. Just the kind of person I enjoy being with. We have had lots of fun together. Things won't be quite the same with her gone. But I know she is going to enjoy her retirement. And I'll still see her at our Friday breakfasts.

I'm reading the BEST book. The Alchemist's Daughter. One of those books you can't put down. I've been looking forward to bedtime all day just so that I can relax with that book.

Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink

There is always something causing a glitch in our lives. Last night Paul got up at 2am to use the bathroom and found that , one of my worst nightmares, we didn't have water. For reasons I still can't seem to understand he had to wake me from a blissful sleep to inform me of this happening. Why? There's nothing I can do at 2am......except toss and turn because I can't get back to sleep.


We are not sure what happened. The well is full of water but the pump is not working. This is the third time this has happened to us. Each time it has happened shortly after the reservoir below us has been drained by the water company. It seems to drop the water table and then causes a collapse of our well wall, resulting in our pump getting filled with sand. The last time this happened we turned on our faucet and were greeted with thick gobs of mud. I know........disgusting.

Paul has temporarily connected us to the old well we used at the house we once lived in on the hill. Unfortunately , it can't go through our filter/softener . We have a high iron content in the water and without the filter the water has a lovely beige tinge to it and smells like metal. I know......disgusting. But at least we can shower (I smell like clean metal) and flush. Those are the two most important things. The pump/well man will be here tomorrow.

Because of a project Paul is doing at the office he rented a dumpster for the week. I thought I better take advantage of this and purge our attic of "stuff' so I could chuck it in the dumpster. I went to town today. It was a hot job but it had to be done. I found so much "stuff" up there. I am perplexed by what I've kept. So many ugly old drinking glasses that I will never use again. EVER. Broken lids to pots. Ugly plastic shelving. Kid's rock collections. Those got thrown in the brook. They will make an interesting addition to the stream bottom.


And this. After 40 years I still don't really know what it is. It was a favor from a college fraternity formal. The plastic fruit didn't come with it. Those were a wedding gift. Before the formal everyone was buzzing about the "neat" favors. "Wait until you see what the favors are. They are really tough. (tough meant cool back in those days)". When I was handed this thing I smiled politely and oohed and aahed appropriately but I really didn't know what it was, and still don't. It looks like a giant brandy snifter or champagne glass. But what does one do with one that large. Does anyone EVER drink that huge amount? This is a BIG glass....almost a foot tall. I thought for awhile I could use it as a unique fish bowl. So up in the attic it went years ago because I really didn't know what it was for. Is there anyone who can enlighten me? Maybe I shouldn't be throwing it away.


And then there was the guinea pig that Kara taxidermied in elementary school. She asked me to unwrap it today to see if she is a good taxidermist. It was rather eerie unwrapping this thing that she had wrapped up so carefully twenty-some years ago. She even used her little pony-tail holder to bind it together. I have to say she did a good job. There is a career there for her. It looked as good as new. Even had nice soft hair. I took a picture for her (she asked) but I think it is just too gross to post here. I'm glad it's out of my attic and in the dumpster.



And this?? What is this stuff?? Jinx Removing Spray. Why is it in my attic and who does it belong to? It has to be something one of my kids had in their teen-age angst years. If they want it they better speak up now because tomorrow it is headed for the same fate as the taxidermied guinea pig.

The word for the day...............H - O - T

Today was really really really hot. I mean HOT and STEAMY. It was too hot to do anything. I hung out a load of laundry and I felt like I was in the middle of a sauna. Paul and I spent the rest of the day just sitting on the porch, reading and gulping cold drinks. There was so much I wanted to do but it was too hot to move. I don't think I have ever had a day like today where I didn't do anything.


Even the cats were feeling it. They are usually annoyingly frisky but today they spent their time passed out on the porch window sill.

All we had for dinner was a cold macaroni salad, watermelon and iced tea. It was too hot to cook and too hot to eat. After dinner we went for our walk.....a hot walk.


I took a look at the setting sun while we were walking and knew that tomorrow would be another hot day. The sun looks yellow in this picture but it was actually fiery red.

We came back from our walk and sat on the cool and breezy porch for the rest of the evening, reading and listening to the katy-dids singing their summer song.

Sizzling

Summer is back, really back. It is hot hot hot. And tomorrow will be even hotter. It may reach 100. My kind of weather. I spent some time sitting on the porch tonight with the windows wide open, reading and enjoying the sweet smelling evening breeze and the katy-dids. Heaven on earth.

My tomatoes are really doing well this year. For a couple of years I've had a problem with that nasty business where the tomatoes all develop a black spot on the bottom which quickly progresses to rot. A few years ago we had an invasion of the creepy horned tomato worm. The green of my plants isn't as lush as usual this year but the fruit is great. Good size. Blemish free. Real tasty. Tonight I went out, picked a couple of pounds and made this delicious recipe for Light Summer Pasta. It is so good (and easy) on a hot summer evening. The only thing you have to cook is the water for the pasta. You MUST try it! I didn't read the whole recipe before I started it and when I got to the end I saw that they asked for a whole pound of spaghetti. WOW. Even when the kids were home I didn't cook a whole box of spaghetti. I cut it down to 3/4 of a box and it was fine. And I'm sure if I cut it down even more it would work very well.

The recipe I used came from our local paper and asked for one cup of olive oil. When I put it in I looked at it and said, "Whoa, back up the truck. That is one heck of alot of olive oil". Later I found the above link for the same recipe and saw that they only asked for 1/3 cup. That seems much more like what I would expect. It was very good but I noticed a bit of an oil slick!

Summer is fading fast. Four more days of freedom until school starts and I still have so many things I need/want to do. Maybe next year.

Digging away

Lauri has been expressing a desire for a while now to do an "archaeological dig" at the farm. There is an old stage coach road, so we've been told, that runs through the property. There is also the remnant of an old charcoal pit. You can still scrape bits of charcoal from the ground. Since she was in the area this week Henry, Lauri, Ellen and I decided to get together and dig. Lauri was going to bring Sarah's metal detector so we could scope out spots that looked promising. Unfortunately she couldn't find the metal detector so we had to do with pot luck.

Upon arrival at the farm I made a visit to the outhouse. When I stepped in I saw something on the wall that at first glance looked like a large spider. Looking more closely I discovered that it was a VERY LARGE cricket-type of insect.The largest gol-dang cricket I have ever seen. I sensed more movement around me. Looking around I saw that the wall, and seat (uh oh) were covered with these things. Their antennae were at least 3-4 inches long. That was a very quick trip to the out-house.

Without a metal detector it was hard to decide where to do our digging. We decided to work a little bit away from the charcoal pit. Aside from a few interesting stones we didn't turn up very much. I thing that next time I would do a dig right in the charcoal pit. I think there would be a greater chance of finding some interesting artifacts.

We took a break for a nice picnic lunch. I brought some good medicinal dark chocolate which I shared with everyone (for health reasons, of course).

After lunch Henry contemplated where to dig next...............................

while Lauri contemplated whether or not to venture into the Giant Cricket House again.

Since artifacts can sometimes be found near stonewalls we moved to one of the many stonewalls on the farm. But working without a metal detector is like the porverbial "looking for a needle in a haystack". So we moved on to the spring. Not much luck there either.

There was one place where we knew we would find SOMETHING. Every old farm has a spot where unwanted junk was dumped and we have one too. For years the people before us had dumped their flotsam there and we had done the same thing too. So we headed to the "dump".

The woods are thick and walking through them was like doing a jungle walk. The floor of the woods resembled a poison ivy farm. That noxious weed was everywhere.

We found the dump. I was able to bring home an interesting little bottle to use for a vase. Lauri uncovered her old quilt that she used in her room when she was a freshman in college. It was pretty nasty.

Unleashing my creativity, I hung some of the items I found (milking machine parts, bottles, comb and a piece of metal) on a tree and created a unique tree sculpture! Hmmm. I wonder how much I could get for this on e-bay.

By the time we trooped back to the car we were hot, dirty and felt like we were crawling with ticks and dripping with poison ivy oils. A hot shower was the first thing I headed for when I got home.

It was a fun thing to do with siblings. I want to do it again but next time we'll have one of those metal detectors.

Shifting seasons.

Today was the first day this month that I have been able to sense the shift in seasons. The dark comes faster each night. The katy-dids are singing more slowly. The days are getting cooler. The sun is less intense. A few of the trees on the hill are starting to show a little red. It's almost time for the Goshen Fair. My vegetable garden is slowly falling apart, although the annual flowers that I planted around the edge of my garden are coming into full bloom and are good pickings for great bouquets.

The summer to fall shift is the most melancholy one for me. It has always signaled so many changes. New grade, new teachers, new friends when I was little. When I got older there were good-byes as college beckoned for me or for my friends. Years later college was snatching my children from me. It seemed I was always saying goodbye to people I cared for. Special friendships ended. New relationships were formed and bloomed. Fall has always been a time for endings and beginnings.

I often feel a sudden push to finish the undone. Today was no exception. Last year I started clearing the brush from the stream bank. It came to an early end when I broke my rib. Having finished (sort-of) most of the planting that I wanted to do this summer I turned my attention to last year's unfinished project. For 30 years we have used the bank of the stream to jettison that which we didn't know where to put such as Christmas wreaths, leaves raked from the lawn, branches blown from trees, the trees themselves, stones, weeds, dead annuals, dead chipmunks and birds left on the lawn by our attack cats. Today I started removing all that debris, along with our usual lethal tangle of wild rose bushes and bittersweet.


I started a short time before dinner and worked until dark. Not a very long time but I was able to haul up quite a tangle of junk. The cats thought I was doing it just for their pleasure. I have a long long way to go. I have lots of pachysandra that I would like to transplant along the stream bank as ground cover. I have heard that snakes like this stuff which makes me a little uncomfortable but I'm hoping they will like it so much that they will stay there and never venture onto my lawn.

I'm hoping that removing all this ground clutter will cut down on the mosquito population. By clearing out this mess I'm hoping to create a calmer, more serene view from my porch. Sort-of outdoor Feng Shui.

I think it is all mostly just a weeding fetish that I have. Whenever I see something that needs weeding..........I just can't help myself. I HAVE TO WEED. Just ask Damon. When we were visiting him last week I tried relaxing on his deck, but as I looked around his garden that awful urge came over me and before I knew it, I was down on my hands and knees pulling any little weed I could find. I believe there are enough weeds around here to satisfy my urges for the rest of my life.

Picnic come and gone.

It was a busy weekend but full of family and fun. Our house felt like a revolving B&B. The towels in my linen closet were depleted. We played musical beds this weekend with all the comings and goings and my washing machine has earned it's keep today. I am as tired as I have ever been tonight and have been fantasizing about sleeping in my bed all day long but it was such a good weekend. We missed mother and Damon and Katie and Abby. Hopefully they can enjoy these few images I was able to take.


Paul and Hank start the annual Barbecue Brigade. They had to work pretty fast to keep up with the demand.

From one end of the family table..............

to the other everyone was happy filling their stomachs.


The overflow crowd........or are they the ones that no one wants??!!

After the eating part there was volley ball and horse-shoes. Some people even braved the coolish weather to go swimming. Kara even donned her wet suit to keep herself warm in the water.


Cousins Kara and Sarah enjoy some technical recreation.


Cousin Chloe, happy as usual.


Little Elizabeth mugging for the camera.


Continuing with my father's tradition, Henry made some delicious home-made ice-cream; Cherry Garcia and Peach. Here he is in a state of ecstasy just thinking about what he is about to indulge in.


Feeding time for the twins.


Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.


The twins getting ready for their trip back to Rhode Island this afternoon. Everyone is gone. The house is quiet and empty. I have enough happy memories to last me until we get together again next year.

Tomorrow we're having our annual family picnic. Twenty-four of us, including munchkins. I wish everyone could come. But we will have fun with what we've got. And we are not going to be digging up dog-final-resting-places this year. Paul spent the day getting the volley ball court in playable shape. I mowed the lawn and tried to catch up on my weeding, an impossibility.

The Maddens arrived on Friday night. Last night we took Eamon and Elizabeth. with their Big Wheels in tow, to the parking lot at the UCONN campus. There are no classes on Friday night so the parking lot is theirs to wheel around. Eamon was in Big Wheel heaven. All that space.


I think every man between the ages of 20 and 40 remembers the sound of his Big Wheel as it rumbled down the sidewalk. It was such a great invention. It was so popular. It's light enough that you can dump it into the back of your car to transport to new riding venues. My boys used to zoom down the driveway hill, through the grass and into the meadow, laughing and shreiking with glee. I can't understand why it isn't available in stores any more. I bought one for Eamon but I had to buy it on-line. It is really baffling why something that is so much fun and so popular is so difficult to find.


We strolled across the parking lot to check out Jonathan, the UCONN Husky dog. Eamon and Elizabeth thought he was the perfect size for hitching a ride.

I'm falling asleep as I write this. I think that means I should be in bed.

For your viewing pleasure!

I could go on and on and on and on in detail about our wonderful trip to the other side of this country but it would be so terribly boring after about the first paragraph so I posted some pictures in my gallery that will give you a quick summary of what we did. We packed a LOT of stuff into 4 days. We didn't do everything we wanted to do but that just means we have to go back. Lucky Damon!

You can go to my Gallery and then click on Our Travels and then click on Our Seattle Trip or you can just click here: http://mosquitopath.com/gallery/Our-SeattleTrip

If you click on the individual picture it will make it larger and much easier to see. It's pretty hard to look at it when it's so small.

Good-bye Seattle...Good-bye Damon

We're home! This was my parting view of Seattle today from the plane. Mt. Rainier. So beautiful. It's hard to believe that my little boy was standing at the top of this mountain last summer. And will be doing so again soon (but I don't want to know when because then I will worry. I just want to know when he is back to sea level).

We had a superb time. We're tired but full of happy memories. Now it's off to bed. The clock says it's 12:30 am but my west coast time body says it's only 9:30 pm. Feels pretty good. Unfortunately tomorrow morning at 8, when my west coast time is telling me it's only 5, it's not going to feel so good. I'll post some pictures of our trip soon.

Heading Home

Tonight was our last night here with Damon. Tomorrow we'll be flying back home and are hoping we are as lucky avoiding flight delays as we were on our trip out here. We'll miss being so close to Damon. It's been really nice to be able to see him every day. Here are a couple of pictures from our first day in Seattle.


We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast late in the afternoon and were really really tired after getting up at 3 am and spending 7 hours in a tiny airplane seat. We drove up to the B&B and were faced with these loooong, steep, Psycho type steps leading to our B&B. This was the only entrance.............no driveway leading to the front door. Just these steps up a looong, steep hill. EVERYTHING in Seattle is on a hill. Having packed enough for a month's stay (it might rain, it might be cold, it might be hot...always have to be prepared) rather than a 5 days stay my suitcase was so heavy. I managed to drag it up this hurdle with much grunting and a few rest stops along the way. A very pitiful sight.


But my fatigue and distress were soon eased later that evening after Damon took us to the best restaurant ever. It was just what I needed. It wasn't fancy. Maybe that's why I liked it so much. The waitress must have liked Damon because she led us to a perfect table next to a huge window overlooking the lake. We could see the Space Needle in the background and the area where Tom Hanks had his houseboat in Sleepless in Seattle. I settled down and relaxed with a glass of wine and the most delicious grilled salmon ever to tickle my palate. We watched the Space Needle slowly light up as the sky turned dark. A steady stream of boats with lights twinkling dreamily passed by our window. Those loooong, steep steps seemed very far away and insignificant. I had everything I wanted.

Welcome from the Land of the Liberals

Greetings from Seattle!

We made it here safe and sound and have been having a great time. The weather has been good to us. Damon has been a wonderful (and very patient) tour guide. My favorite thing so far has been the grilled salmon that I had for dinner the first night here. I can't stop thinking about it. It was, of course, VERY fresh. Almost still breathing. So moist, so tender, so absolutely perfect. THE BEST salmon I have ever had. It will be very hard to go back to supermarket salmon again.

We have been to Pikes Market Place, we have seen the stool Tom Hanks sat on in "Sleepless in Seattle", we relaxed in the beautiful Japanese Gardens, we visited the Sculpture Park, we took a crazy cool tour of underground Seattle, we have seen breathtaking views and the loveliest homes ever. We were able to watch one of Damon's dance classes. We have seen some of the strangest and oddest specimens of humanity that have ever been conceived. And NO............we haven't been up in the Space Needle yet. That is the first thing everyone wants to know. We tried today but the line was too long. We'll try again on Monday.

Tomorrow is Damon's "Arthur Murray Summer Showcase". It will be an all day affair from 9-9. It will be nice to see all the dancing that Damon has been working so long on.

We've been taking lots of pictures and will put them in my gallery when I get home.

We're off.

Off to Seattle for a few days. We'll be back soon!!!

Day interrrupted

I tried to get things done today. I really did. But sometimes no matter what you do you fall behind.

I went to the grocery store this morning and bought a couple of books to read on the plane to Seattle. Mayflower and Blood Orange. STICKER SHOCK! I couldn't believe what paper backs cost now. Oh man. I didn't look at the price when I brought them to the checkout counter. When she told me the total I thought for sure she added something in wrong. Unfortunately she didn't. I must be very out of touch with the real world. I thought paper backs were still along the line of $8.95. Oh no. One was $14.00 and the other was $16.00. Holy Mackeral. This is why I get my books at the library.

Went to the bank and then to my most unfavorite store, Wal-Mart, because I need new shorts and no other store had them. I went to the ladies fitting room to try them on and there was a man managing the ladies fitting room. That felt rather weird. He unlocked the little door for me. That felt rather weird. As I was trying on my clothes I could hear his masculine voice talking to someone outside my door. That felt rather weird. One of his friends stopped by to tell him a dirty joke. That felt even weirder.

The schedule I had in my brain said I would be home by 11:30 so I could get a start on mowing the lawn and still have time to trim it with the hand mower and THEN still have time to do some garden clean up. The real life schedule had me home at 12:45. Oh dear. Ate a quick lunch and jumped on the mower. I had done two turns around the lawn and was feeling that I could still do what I wanted when I saw the little Grasshopper lawn man zipping down the driveway on his little fertilizer cart. Uh oh. I didn't know he was coming today. He said he could come back another day if I really wanted to continue with my mowing. But no, I thought it best for him to do it today since it is going to rain tomorrow and that is exactly what you want to happen after the lawn is fertilized.

Forty five minutes later he is gone and I hope back on my mower. An hour later I am halfway through the lawn and I notice little black things shooting out of my mower. I smell rubber burning. This is not a good sign. The belt has come off the mower. This is a job for Super-Paul, not for me. So I have to put the lawn mowing on hold until Paul gets home from work. Mr. Fix-it fixes it just like I knew he would and after dinner we mow our little hearts out, me on the rider and he using the trimmer. I finish just as it is almost dark enough to not see a foot in front of your face.

I saw one of those awful snake things in the lawn yesterday. I almost grabbed it when I was weeding. I saw another one today. That is two snakes in two days. The odds are not very good here. I think the problem is that we don't have our rodent killing cat anymore and there is plenty of food to keep the snakes alive. We have to get our little twin kittens interested in being mice killers, soon.

And now I'm going to relax on my porch and listen to the katy-dids.

Another Wild Weekend

The end of another busy busy weekend. Yesterday Brett and Megan drove up for a visit. The little boys look different every time I see them. It is so much fun to have them around. They have these great little personalities now. Each of them is so different from the other.



It was the perfect day for a swim so Brett and Megan took them each for a few laps around the pool. Albion seemed to think the water was pretty cool. Elliot made it quite clear that he didn't agree with his brother. After pool time they had their dinner of carrots and rice cereal, which they ate with true gusto. After the kiddies were finished with their gourmet dinner we enjoyed the summer evening's breeze and grilled steak on our porch. We NEVER eat anywhere else anymore.

This morning we had to leave Brett and Megan bright and early to trot trot back to Boston again to help Kara and Sean move the last of their things out of their rental house. The "last of their things" was not a few odds and ends. If we had rented a U-Haul moving truck it would have filled it up. But instead of a U-Haul, Paul and I drove up in Paul's monster truck.




Driving for 5 hours in one day in THIS thing is not on the top of my list of fun things to do. Especially when chauffeured by Paul. The noise, the roar, the jouncing and bouncing. It made me long for my comfy bed all the way home. Paul, Sean, Kara and a friend of Sean's worked from 10 to 3 and got the old house cleared of all the leftover stuff. I think they made at least 5 trips in the truck. I had the fun job.......baby-sitting. Now all the "stuff" is in Kara and Sean's basement. Oh my. You have never seen a basement so packed with "stuff". I don't think they will want to move again for a loooooooooong time. Kara's project for the coming weeks is to "minimize". Good luck.



We left the little Madden family with smiles on their faces now that they are completely out of their old house and into their new.

And I have a smile on my face because I am on my way to BED and I'm NOT setting my alarm.

S-s-s-s-s-s-steam heat

It's hot and steamy. Really hot and steamy. Hotter than Dutch love, as my mother used to say. I tried to find the derivation of that phrase on Google but didn't meet with much success. All I found is that there is a little more to it..."hotter than Dutch love in a hay mow". But it's summer and this is the way it should be. Five months from now when we are shivering in 20 below wind chills we will look back on these days with longing. I like when it's hot because everything moves at a slower, more relaxed pace. People linger in parking lots after dark talking and laughing with friends. In the winter they nod to each other, scurry to their cars and race to their warm homes.


It's easy to cool off on a day like today. Go shopping!! That's just what I did. After I cleaned the house ( a real sweat producing activity) I jumped in the car and headed out to do some shopping in a wonderfully cool, air-conditioned store. I was looking for some new shorts. Can you believe that in the middle of this tropical heat wave there was not a pair of shorts to be found in the store? Fall clothes yes. Shorts no. I was so cold in the store that I was actually getting goose bumps. I found myself drooling in anticipation for that hot humid air outside.

Last night when we went for a walk I spied a HUGE wasp's nest in a tree by the driveway. It's hard to believe that we haven't noticed this nest all summer. It was really big. A work of art. It's the same kind of nest that Brett saw lying on the ground when he was a little tyke. He thought it was a rock and picked it up. The wasps weren't too crazy about him moving their home and let him know. Ouch. Poor little Bretterino.

Still so much to do and the summer is slipping away so fast.

My favorite plastic card

I have a plastic card in my wallet that I love. It isn't my ATM card. It isn't my Master Card or my Visa or my American Express. This card didn't cost me anything to get and it doesn't cost me anything to use and everything that I get with this card is free. It's my library card.



I visited the library this afternoon. I love to go to the library, almost more than anywhere else. I blame my mother for this. She was always taking me to the library. Always. It was the highlight of my week. There is such a feeling of anticiaption in bringing home a new pile of books to read. Books that you don't have to pay to read. You can rent videos and DVDs for free at the library. You can get passes for free admission to most state museums at the library. What a deal.

I especially love librarys that are in old buildings with big old shade trees surrounding them. There is an old-fashioned smell about them that makes me feel like I am "the little Frueh girl" again. I love the silence of the library. It's almost like going to church. The quiet of the library demands politeness and respect. Browsing through the quiet stacks is almost a spiritual experience. Unlike the halls of school, you never hear anyone shouting obscenities in the library.

When we lived in Ithaca the town library was quite large. My modus operendi when I went was to start in alphabetical order when choosing a book. After four years I had only gotten through the B's. What a wonderful world when you have a seemingly unending supply of free books to read.

We have a large number of students in the middle school who do not have a library card. Shame on their parents. How can they deny them the best card in the world??