Lemonade

Reveling in summer, Day 12

Certain drinks just scream “summer.”  Lemonade is one of them. I know, because it happened to me.

Last night Computer Geek and I were traipsing the aisles of our local Walestial Kingdom when I heard a shriek from an end-cap in the snack section. My immediate reaction was to cover my ears lest the sound came from an uprooted mandrake and I perish.*

Further investigation showed that it was only this bottle of lemonade, loudly proclaiming SUMMER! This was no ordinary bottle of lemonade, though. It was sparkling lemonade which means that it tastes like lemon pop!**

 

When I got home I realized I was sorely lacking in the strawberry garnish and tropical umbrella area, but there's always next summer.

* Cheap Harry Potter reference

** Disclaimer: Normally I like to make lemonade with real lemon juice but given the screaming and all, I chose this aspartame enhanced imitation. I was not compensated in any way by the Walestial Kingdom for showcasing their product. Sometimes I just like stuff without being paid.

Our Walkabout

Summer Enjoyment Mode, Day 11

 

Near our home is a reflection park. I don’t know if that’s what it’s officially called, but since I use it for thinking about things, we’ll go with it.

There are no swings, slides, or basketball hoops. Instead, you will find gravel paths, wildflowers, a mini-amphitheater, benches, a reflecting pool (for the other kind of reflection,) and a monument to the people who settled our valley in the 1800’s.

Computer Geek and I like to do our walking at the park. It’s not very big, so when one of us gets tired, the other one can still keep walking laps. Since we’re old, we don’t like to be too far away from our car when the need to collapse sets in.  We went for a walkabout on Day 11 and took in the views. I’ll even share them with you!

 

Splash Pad!

Grandson Chunk came over on Day 10 of the Summer Shindig. Normally, he’ll dig out the Grandkids’ Toy Box, or sit in front of the TV engrossed in Zig and Sharko (a cross between Road Runner and Little Mermaid.)

Because I had spent Day 9 of my July Summer Extravaganza doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING I decided to spend Day 10 doing ABSOLUTELY SOMETHING.  Facebook told me that the town next to ours has a new splash pad and oh, it’s FREE, so we loaded up the Chunk and drove north.

Between shivering and trying to keep his shorts up (he’s not as Chunky as he used to be) he lasted a whole 15 minutes. In an attempt to alleviate his shivering, we took him out for ice cream. Grandparents are cool like that. Besides, his mom paid. 

 

Roses and Absolutely Nothing

Summer Fest, Days 8 & 9


Day 8
Years before I moved into The Toothpaste House (please see FAQ,) previous tenants lovingly planted two rose-filled beds in my front yard. Every summer I whisper silent thank-yous to those souls for having the foresight to do so. Last year my husband and son bought a new rose bush for me--one that I could add to the collection, possibly for future tenants.

Every once in a while, I literally stop and smell the roses. Sure, I wonder if the neighbors think I'm crazy, all bent over, nose to petal. I care not. There's a reason for that familiar admonition.

These are my favorites. I've named them Peach Sorbet.

I call these Cherry Kool-Aid.

These are the sweetest-smelling ones. I call them I-Don't-Have-Peonies-But-If-I-Close-My-Eyes-And-Inhale, It's-Almost-The-Same.

These are Wedding Cake. Take a bite.

Day 9

Guess what I did today in honor of my month-long summer celebration?

NOTHING!

I would categorize doing nothing as a perfect way to spend a hot summer day, but I have been known to also do nothing on cold winter days.

I didn't plan to do nothing today. It just kind of happened. First thing in the morning, I heard some bad news regarding a family member. Then I heard some more bad news about another family member. By that time, I felt like the day was kind of shot, and trying to do something enjoyable seemed hypocritical in a way. 

So I had a late breakfast. Skipped lunch. Did some laundry. Scrolled endlessly through Facebook. Took a long, long, nap. Made dinner. Watched So You Think You Can Dance. (That was the most energy I expended all day--dancing in my mind.) Yup. That was about it. Nothing. Nada. Squat.

Tomorrow is a new summer day!

Shaved Ice!

Summertime Activities, Day 7

Our small town was recently blessed with a new addition--KZ's Shaved Ice! I've been there several times already and as far as I'm concerned, on a hot summer night, a good shaved ice is the bomb.

These are pretty good-sized cups and we had eaten some before I took the picture. Normally they are $1.50 but if you add ice cream to the mix, you pay an extra $.50. Of course I always add ice cream. Duh. Computer Geek is holding Tiger's Blood and I have Butter Pecan. 

We enjoyed the summer night on the swing, getting brain freeze.

I Get My Jollies By Crushing Eggshells

Summery Activity Log, Day 6

Some people pop packing bubbles. Others crack their knuckles. I crush egg shells.  It's so fun.

I crush eggshells only during gardening season. Otherwise, I rinse them, toss them in a box (or ice cream pail as above,) and let them dry out until gardening season. 

Why would anyone crush dried-out eggshells?

I am one of those people who cannot seem to keep plants alive. Bugs eat them. Cats uproot them while going potty. They get blossom end rot. 

Eggshells, it turns out, help with all of those problems. By drying them out and crushing them you can:

1. Put them in the hole when you transplant your tomato plants from the container to the garden. The calcium from the shells keeps the tomatoes from getting blossom end rot. Nothing sadder than thinking you're picking a ripe, juicy tomato, only to poke your thumb into the rotted bottom. 

2. Sprinkle them around plants that are susceptible to snails and slugs. I guess those soft-bellied pests don't like the feel of eggshell slicing open their innards. 

3. Cats supposedly don't like the feel of eggshells on their feet or on their tushies. The jury is still out on this one. Either I don't sprinkle enough eggshells, or it's a cat-lie because I still find cat butt-prints in my garden in the morning.

4. Eggshells sprinkled on your soil or in your compost help enrich the soil.

My summery activity for Day 6 was crushing the shells I had on hand and sprinkling them over my garden. Try it. It's therapeutic.

What looks like white rocks are actually the shells.

Rain, A Concert, Fireworks and Maybe Some Potato Salad

In an effort to keep from getting to August 31 and saying, "Where did my summer go?" I've been trying to engage in authentic summer activities each day. I left off on Day 2 when I read a beach novel.

Day 3

Mid-afternoon, rain started to pour. I persuaded Computer Geek to follow me outside. We sat in our camp chairs under the shelter by the back door. Computer Geek said to me, "So this qualifies as a summer activity?"  I said, "If not, then this would be snow. Sheesh. "  I think he saw my point.

He said, "I think the temperature has dropped 20 degrees in the last few minutes."  At that point my Iowa genetics kicked in and I said, "Hmm...dropping temps...rain...high winds..." to which Computer Geek replied, "Relax. This is Utah. There will not be a tornado." 

Later that night we headed to a small town near ours. Every year their festivities take place the day before the 4th of July. I guess that would be called "July 3rd." We were entertained at an outdoor concert by a local rock nostalgia group called The Phat Old Professors. Most of these gentlemen are profs at the local college, hence the name. We've heard these guys before and they always do a swell job of interpreting the classics from the 60's and 70's. The highlight was listening to the sax player wail in a perfect rendition of Baker Street.

Outdoor music. Gentle breeze. Glow-in-the-dark children running about. Summer.

Oh yeah. Fireworks.

Day 4

Computer Geek had to work for a friend in another town making delicious tropical beverages for the parade crowd. Weston headed to the lake for a birthday party. That left me to figure out something summery to do on my own. Luckily, daughter Em invited me to hang out with her family at the park where all kinds of patriotic shenanigans were taking place--vocal entertainment, races, a candy toss, a money hunt, food booths, face painting, country-honoring, and the like. 

The manly Bauer, star athlete and father of my gorgeous grandchildren. He missed--hee hee hee!

 Avatar with some summery mango concoction

Money-miser Chunk, master of the coin hunt mosh pit

Miss Baby Elephant, all dolled-up in red, white, blue, and uh, purple.

Later that night, after Computer Geek and Weston got home, we headed to a friend's house for a barbeque and some volleyball.

Weston and cohorts making plans against the other team.  Or not.

The gorgeous Pinque, modeling her festive BBQ attire

Being tired old people, Computer Geek and I went home when the others dispersed to go watch fireworks from a local hill.  Overall, a great day to remember our freedoms and think of those who sacrificed so that we could spend nice times with our families.

Day 5

Okay, this will seem like kind of a let-down after all the fun we had for the holiday, but my day 5 summer activity was....wait for it....making potato salad.

Potato salad is a summer-time food, right?  Computer Geek lamented that he hadn't had potato salad for a while. Being the selfish cook that I am, if I don't like it, I don't make it.  Nope. Especially when it calls for onions. Ain't happenin'. 

Oh just kidding. I finally convinced CG that I would be ever so happy to make him some potato salad even though:

1. Except for when I worked in a restaurant I had never made potato salad before.

2. He would be the only one eating it.

3. Did I mention it has onions?

So here you have it folks--evidence that I am a good wife who will boldly try to make something new even if it means touching an onion.

Potato Salad garnished with dill

If you would like to try this recipe you can find it HERE   

[Now the government says that I must tell you that even though I am a blogger of note, who blogs mainly for my family and even then only every few months when I feel like it, I must disclose that I in no way will be paid for giving you that recipe.No cash, no free potatoes, nada.]

And thanks to Em who allowed me to steal some of her 4th of July pictures.

Beach Novels

Day 2 of trying to hold on to every last aspect of summer before it slips through my fingers. 

Today's summery activity was reading a beach novel. That's kind of misleading because I read beach novels all year long. This one I happened to get for free, as an Advance Reader's Edition. Since I didn't have a beach handy, I flopped back on the couch, hoping to finish this book today.

On The Rocks by Erin Duffy was perfect, light, summertime fare. The main character, Abby, gets dumped by her fiance, on Facebook, no less. She spends summer at the beach, largely in escape mode, trying to reconcile what happened in her relationship. By summer's end, she has corrected some of her faulty paradigms.The author takes us on a humorous ride as Abby reconnects with her fiance, works on dysfunctional family relationships, gets a summer job at the beach, and meets new men.  I liked that the book addressed relationship issues without being smutty, though there were the ubiquitous swear words that didn't seem out of line given the volatile issues Abby is trying to conquer. One downside-- I chose how I wanted Abby's story to end, but Abby picked her own ending. Oh well. There are always sequels!

[A nap may or may not have occurred during the reading of this book today, but that has nothing to do with the author's ability to engage her audience.]

Sprinklers

When I worked outside my home, I suffered from what I called "Mid-weekend Dread."  It happened about 8:50 on Saturday night when I realized that my weekend was half over. Previous to 8:50, I was happily enjoying my weekend, but as soon as I saw that it was almost nine o'clock, the impending doom of Monday morning set in.

I get that same feeling on July 1st every year. I wake up realizing that May and June are gone so it's a downhill slide right into September. I feel melancholy, that perhaps I wasted those two "summertime" months by not doing "summery" things. Of course it's hard to do summery things when your May looks like this:

That's right. May 11, 2014

So every July first I enter an it'salmostwintersoIhavetohurryanddoeverythingsummerythatIcanpossiblyfitintothemonthofJuly phase.

That officially started today. I wanted to do something summery so I got up early to water the yard.

I sat on the front steps and listened to the sound of irrigation water being sprayed all over my front lawn. It's a soothing sound really, when not accompanied by the loud caw of the neighborhood peacock. 

Sprinklers remind me of my childhood--humid Iowa summers spent dashing barefoot across the lawn, halfheartedly avoiding the sting of the jetted water.  Now, I just sit and watch because I am aware that what looks like nice clean water is actually run-off from the mountain which may or may not contain cow urine. Adulthood spoils things sometimes.

So for my first day of July, I reminisced about more innocent, cleaner, times. Days like this, back in July of 1965:

I know it looks like I am topless, but I assure you, I am not. My one-piece swimsuit was tri-colored in tan, white, and red. My little brother behind me was also tan, white, and red, depending on whether you were looking at his forearms, his belly, or his freckled cheeks.

Learning to Slow Down

I have an eating disorder. No, not one of the biggies like binging and purging or anorexia. In fact, it may be more like an eating eccentricity. My food fetish is this: I pretty much consider eating a waste of time, and will only eat if I can combine it with another activity.

On days that Computer Geek and Weston are off doing their own things, sometimes I don't even eat. Why?  Because the pain of making and cleaning up after food costs more than the pleasure derived from eating it.
When I eat, I usually have a book or computer screen in front of me. At night, we eat dinner while watching Jeopardy. I think I feel that the only way I can justify taking time to eat is if I am doing something productive at the same time.

There's an inherent problem in eating this way. I am not conscious that I am eating. Then to justify that I am sitting down and doing something pleasurable, i.e. reading and resting, I keep eating. When I stop eating, then I can no longer justify relaxing.  I know, it's a twisted game I play.

Today for lunch I made corn on the cob. I looked around for a book to read so I could be "productive" while eating. Unfortunately, God didn't make book-reading and corn-eating things that you could do simultaneously, not unless you have one hand to hold the book and two hands to hold the corn cob. Aha! I would go get caught up on my emails!

That didn't work either. My plate didn't fit on my desk, unless I wanted to remove my keyboard or have corn juice splashing on my screen.  I was kind of frantic, trying to figure out something I could do while eating, when suddenly it was as if I heard a voice in my head...

Just sit down and eat and enjoy your corn.

Like without a book?

Yes. Just enjoy the corn.

Wow, it was a novel concept, but I thought I could give it a try. I buttered and salted and peppered my corn and sat down at the table to eat it. Without a book. Without Alex Trebeck. Without having a conversation with family or Facebook. Just me and the corn.

It was good. And when I was finished, I stopped. I didn't go get more food so that I could justify reading a little bit more. It was kind of nice. I may have to enjoy my food more often instead of mindlessly eating while engrossed in other things.

I may have to just stop and enjoy the little things.