Some updates…
1. We’re back from a family wedding and reunion on the Jersey Shore – which is a beautiful place. Forget about the reality TV show. (Although those palms, above, aren’t native, admittedly). The wedding was beautiful. And that’s me under the gazebo, officiating over my cousin’s nuptials. Thank goodness the sound system was good and people could hear our little voices over the surf.
2. Unfortunately, after my cousin took off for his honeymoon, we family who stayed behind for Haverkamp Reunion 2012 all came down with a flu virus! Not the stomach kind, but the kind that gives you fever, chills, aching joints and head, and a raspy awful cough. Over half of us came down with it and were in bed for most of the week, in the beach houses my aunt had found for everyone to enjoy. A view of the ocean, lovely weather, and picturesque old neighborhoods, wasted on a bunch of sickies! My cousin called it HaverPlague 2012.
3. The whole week, we passed around a single digital thermometer, which we’d dip in a bottle of alcohol between patients. Not sure why we never quite got around to buying one or two more, but it became a bit of a ritual: “Who has the thermometer?”
4. Ten days later, I can still feel the dregs of this thing. My head’s still fuzzy and I’ve just gotten my appetite back. Although I’ve figured out a terrific flu diet, meanwhile: lemonade, low sodium chicken soup doused with cayenne, ginger, and garlic, V8, toasted green tea (hot), and popsicles. Sushi and miso soup went down well, too.
5. For all this flu talk, I did sit on the beach for 15 blissful minutes one evening last week, and splashed in the ocean with my nephew Harry the last morning we were there. That was fantastic.
6. It’s beastly hot today. Thunder keeps teasing us… but I’ve seen only about a half dozen splashy drops. The neighborhood lawns are blond as Barbie doll hair and dry as tinder. I’m a little nervous about fireworks on the 4th next week. I’m so thankful for central air conditioning, although sitting inside, you might never know it was pushing 100 degree here this afternoon. There’s a definite disconnect between climate control and the outdoors. What did the folks who farmed this land for so many decades do in heat like this? Sleep outdoors? Eat watermelon for dinner? Keep working? Just suffer?
Platinum blonde grass
Please, rain? Please?
7. Put out pillows out on the patio this afternoon, per the advice of Apartment Therapy, to air out in the sun. I’ll let you know if I notice a difference, but if nothing else, it makes me feel good on the inside to have sun-bathed bed pillows.
8. While we were gone, Odo the Beagle stayed at our local PetSmart, where, apparently, they had a “Wild West” party at some point. The staff wrote us a note that he “had a great time at the party!” and enclosed this hilarious picture of our dog, looking like he’s not exactly sure what he’s supposed to be doing. I love the homemade “Wild West” look — stuffed pony, boots and cowboy hat, lasso, the bandanna around his neck. (I’m sorry for the photo-of-a-photo quality, here!) But it just makes me laugh out loud whenever I look at it:
