Another of those hot, humid, almost sunless days. The sun rose with a
watery countenance then disappeared. The air was thick and sticky, tiny bugs
hovering, biting and stinging if given half a chance. Why do they always manage
to bite no matter how much you cover up and spray what have to be near-lethal
chemicals? They always find a spot to attack!
Sometimes they cling to your tee shirt (which we all seem to wear these days),
and come into the house. If you sit still they make that awful buzz in your ear.
You scream "mosquito" knowing you'll never squish it before it finds a spot and
takes your blood!
This is the best type of food for August in these parts. Little cooking (grilling
outside preferable), plenty of tomatoes around, olives and goat cheese in the fridge,
oil on the shelf. . . . . just pick up a deep purple eggplant (aubergine), and grill,
add a crusty artisan loaf.
With a glass of chilled rosé - this weekend I'm enjoying a bottle of an old California
standby, Dark Horse, just $8.00 - hard to beat. . . . . .
. . . . . . though I may toss together a simple pasta also.
Surroundings can change. Mine have these past weeks.
No longer circled by long time friends, my neighborhood is different now . . . .
. . . . . . . and this particular weekend, sooooo quiet!
Seven houses make up our cul-de-sac. Our immediate neighbors to the left
are brand new owners with plans to raze this now empty house (above) and
build a bigger house which will use much more of the lot . . . . . some old
trees will have to go.
The house directly across the street is empty and up for sale.
Three current neighbors are away traveling leaving just one
neighbor, the newest homeowner, plus Bob and I, the only people
here. . . . . . at least for this weekend!
It seems odd, strange, almost otherworldly, the quietness of the street.
Even the birds seem fewer in the fig tree - perhaps even they are
sick of eating figs now the insects have taken over.
The house next door - sadly soon to be gone at less than 40 years old.
Weekend reading - my first Anna Quindlen novel which
I'm enjoying.
"Quindlen's astute observations. . . are the sorts
of details every writer and reader lives for."
---Chicago Tribune
"A wise tale about second chances, starting over, and going after
what is most important in life."
---Minneapolis Star Tribune
Someone did find a new neighbor for the nest! Now who could that have been.
Note: I just came back after a break to complete this post.
If you're trying to create a new post this afternoon you may, like me,
suddenly find everything is double spacing and photos are posting in
a very large format.
A lot of fiddling is going on - please Blogger cut to the chase and get the problems sorted!
Make sizing, centering, line spacing, adding labels etc., simple again.
Bring back spellcheck - and definitely do something ASAP to rid us of the
disgusting comments being left on our posts by a person(s) despite our settings
supposedly denying them access!
Something is horribly wrong here.
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