Sunday, July 27, 2008

Eating pop art


An e-mail from my mother:

Today Dad and I were at Føtex, and we saw this fruit, labelled pitahaya from Brazil. Neither of us had ever seen it before, so of course we had to try it. The flesh was soft enough to eat with a spoon, somewhat like a cantaloupe. The taste was tart, but not unpleasantly so. Otherwise there wasn't much flavor. It wasn't bad, but we probably wouldn't buy it again. But look at the appearance: bright pink and green on the outside, tiny black-on-white polkadots on the inside. I felt as if I were eating a piece of pop art!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Let it rain!

Well, it was hot. It was steamy. There were humming crowds of hungry mosquitos. And it rained. It seemed as though it rained every ten minutes.

But we just got filthy and sticky and bug-spray-y and happy anyway. Scott cooked up bratwurst and beans for dinner, even though there was a massive downpour the minute he threw the brats on the fire. We weathered several rainy periods in the tent, which, considering I got it for free from a company gift catalog last year, held up beautifully throughout all that rain. I fell asleep to the rattling of rain on the tent roof, and while there may have been a few stray drops that got in, I woke up dry.

The batteries in the camera, of course, turned out to be dead, as was my phone, almost. But just before the phone died, we managed to get two photos of the very damp but cheerful campers.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Here goes...

Did I say the 15th and 16th? No, I meant this weekend for our camping trip. Just in time for the first truly boiling hot weeekend of the summer, of course, as it turns out.

We'll just have to hydrate. And stock an extra cooler with loads of ice! Maybe I'll end up plunging my steaming head into it.

No, no. It'll be fun. It'll be great!

It'll just be... well, hot.

I can handle it.

I hope.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Finally camping!

Hurray! On the 15th and 16th, Scott and I are going camping. Finally. We keep planning to do it and we keep putting it off. So now we have a plan.

I realize this means I miss the company picnic, but y' know what? I never miss the company picnic, so I think that's jolly well fine.

Later in the summer, we'll venture to the Thumb or up north. For now, we just found a cute little rustic site really nearby, basically near Howell. That'll do for the first camping venture of 2008! Just a stress-free little getaway without a huge gas expenditure.

And we reserved it! And paid already! So no backing out. We're going.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Friends, food, and rosé

Here am I, enjoying the summer with good friends at my picnic table yesterday evening. We had barbeque chicken sandwiches from the ever-miraculous slow cooker, a fabulous vinaigrette potato salad from Barb, a delectable cucumber salad from Andy, and watermelon for dessert. Yum.

Plus Barb shared the discovery she and the gang discovered while in France: rosé is delicious! I'd never had it because I've always assumed it was sweet and cloying, like white zinfandel, but it's not: it's crisp and dry and perfect. Who knew?!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

A parade in Plymouth

The idea of getting up at the crack of dawn for any purpose on a holiday weekend would normally be a laughable one for me... but if that purpose happens to be a parade, I'm there! For some reason, the Independence Day parade in Plymouth, Michigan, is at the unspeakable hour of 7:30 a.m., but that wasn't going to stop us once we got the idea of going.








I was wide awake by the end of this spectacle, I can tell you! It was great. I sort of have a thing about parades.
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This particular Fourth of July represented a little something extra for me: I arrived on July 4, 1988, and have now been a permanent resident of these United States for exactly 20 years!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

O! the suffering...

Dad, as I have mentioned, has recently undergone all manner of suffering and pain while being diagnosed with, and then treated for, spondylodiscitis.

He feels that these pictures truly demonstrate his misery. He says, "They really show my death throes and excruciating pain, don't they?"



Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Happy birthday, Mum!



I was delighted to learn today that Mum was thoroughly pampered for her birthday. She reports that not only did she get all manner of luxurious gifts, but that Dad took her to the Australian Reef 'n' Beef restaurant in Copenhagen for an exotic repast:

We had crocodile satay to start with, then I ordered kangaroo steak, Dad had a bouillabaisse fish soup, with five different kinds of fish. The waiter explained all the different foods, for example that only the tail of the crocodile is used and that kangaroos are considered a pest in Australia. At some point Dad mentioned my birthday, so the waiter brought a Danish flag and placed it on the table. When our dessert came (Aussie Frozen Dream), mine had a sparkler throwing light plus a "Happy Birthday" greeting written in chocolate on the plate. A big surprise, and very sweet of the young man. It reminded me of Ruby's in New York!

Hurray! It sounds like a fun place... and that Aussie Frozen Dream looks delicious.

Note the bottle of Tabasco sauce in one of those pictures. Hee hee! That makes me smile. Either Dad convinced the waiter to bring it, or he brought his own bottle with him. You have to understand: for Dad, dinner is simply not dinner without Tabasco sauce...

In any case... happy birthday, Mum!