I have been way too busy these last few days enjoying the perfect summer weather we're having to sit and write anything. Plus, my friends keep telling me horrible, hilarious tales and then saying "Don't write about that."
Fine.
Damn, stupid friends.
I know that Iowa, Illinois and parts of Minnesota are under thirty feet of water, but here in the metro area of Mpls/St.Paul, it's absolutely gorgeous. We've had a bit of rain this month, but only enough to fill the creek and the lakes and make our yards lush. All the water has so far stayed within it's banks and nobody up here is being bothered.
Sorry about Iowa, though. I mean, cereal is already more expensive than gasoline and now that the midwest crops have been completely swept away, it's only gonna get worse.
I will watch with interest to see whether Iowa has as hard a time getting back on it's feet as Louisiana has had. The truth is, if you're going to live on the Mighty Miss, it's going to make you it's bitch every few years. Here we all are, worried about "wrecking" the planet, when it seems obvious to me that the planet can and does wreck us whenever the mood hits.
Mother Nature?
Try Mommy Nature Dearest.
My favorite way to get in touch with nature is to lie by the pool for a few hours.
Oh, I guess that's not exactly true. This morning I made Josie ride her bike around the lake with me. It was wonderful. I like riding. I don't put on bike clothes and I don't have a light weight ultra cool racer or anything. I just have a comfy bike that I like to cruise around on. I want to get a basket for it so I can start biking to the grocery store. I live six blocks from two stores and it seems nuts to be driving there with gas at $4.00. At least until winter, when biking six blocks will seem like the definition of insanity, I think I should do it. The problem of course, is that I never just go to the grocery store. It's always one stop on a long list of errands.
But today we just biked down to the lake and around it. I love that so many people are able to take advantage of a beautiful Wednesday morning to go hang out at the lake. Harriet was packed with bikers, walkers, runners, painters, picnickers, rollerbladers and swimmers. And the best part of Minneapolis is that there's another lake just over the hill (every hill) and it's all happening there too. Sometimes there's live music.
When we got back home, I worked for a bit and then we went to the pool. We hung out til it was time for Zack to get ready for work. When we got home we discovered that my favorite person, who turned 53 years old today, had bought himself a birthday present. The deck was covered with new, all-weather furniture!
Which had to be assembled.
So, Jay and I spent the next hour or so reading directions, lining up bolts and slots and slowly screwing everything together.
It looks great!
I love it when Jay buys himself presents.
