Weekly recap

It's been an odd day, waiting for Hurricane Sandy to really really really hit us. Sandy is sort of here already, but so far it's just rather heavy rain and wind -- and waiting, and listening to newscasters warn us all of impending doom. My workplace is closed today and tomorrow, so I spent the day working from home, which is nice.

I may or may not have storm photos later, but for now I'll just catch up on what has been happening over the past week.

Neil and I saw Verdi's Requiem at the Kimmel Center last Sunday.

The scheduled soprano was out due to allergies, so there was a substitute, Angela Meade, who was fantastic. At the end of the concert the conductor knelt before her on one knee while the audience went wild with cheers.

After the concert, we headed to our old haunt, the Perch Pub, for food and drink (and thanks to a gift card from a thoughtful friend in Illinois!).

Isn't that drink pretty? It's the Saint Nick of Port Richmond, described in the drinks menu behind the glass.

Our bartender/server was very nice. He asked us, after we had exchanged just a few words, "Where are you from?" I replied, "Willow Grove," and he followed up with, "But you didn't grow up there, did you?"

"No, we both grew up in the midwest, in the Chicago area."

"I could tell by the way you pronounce your vowels."

This surprised me, since I don't detect any accent when I speak. It turns out he is a recent graduate of acting school, and had studied American dialects. He's currently working in a small indie production. You can see him reflected in the bar mirror below.

So that was the weekend. Last week we had wonderful fall weather, just beautiful. As always, I appreciate the gardening and landscaping in the city.

As well as the skies and the breeze.

My morning walks with Mr. Bean begin in darkness this time of year.

Last Tuesday I took a group of physicians out to dinner after work. On my way to the restaurant, I walked through Macy's, where the enormous organ (largest working organ in the world, I believe) was being played.

And the shoes and boots were impressive.

And the mannequins were exhausted.

We ate at Varalli, which is located directly underneath the Perch Pub, and is owned by the same people.

Great food, great conversation.

The days leading up to the Big Storm were gorgeous. Bean enjoyed the leaf piles.

And we both admired the neighbors' ingenuity in constructing Halloween decorations as we ambled round the 'hood.

So that was my week. Busy today moving stuff from the lower level (which could flood) to a higher level of the house, and watching and waiting . . . .

Rambutan

My son brought some home to try. (I'm very happy that he is an adventurous cook.)

It's okay. I wouldn't go out of my way to find some, but perhaps there are recipes that use this ingredient well.

Of course, you wouldn't want to eat it unpeeled.

Autumn begins

Today was a bit of this and that, which describes most Saturdays.

Neil biked at the park, but I walked Beanie, who occasionally sat down (but not for long).

I'm glad I took pictures of the corn last weekend, because today the fields were shorn to the ground.

This reminded me that these fields are not just there for photo ops - they represent hours and hours of hard work and the investment of lots of money on someone's part.

The plants that remain are looking quite autumn-ish now, and still quite beautiful.

Grades for the two online classes I teach have to be turned in by midnight on Tuesday, so after the walk in the park I hurried home to sit in front of the computer for several hours.

I cooked, of course. What might these ingredients make?

Hmm . . . fennel, sausage, tomatoes, fennel seed, vermouth, olive oil, and broth.

Soup, of course.

And it was delicious. This recipe is a keeper.

Dinner was very autumnal. Chili on rice with sour cream and fritos, and a glass of dark beer.

Aaaah. Good Saturday. And there is still another day of this weekend to enjoy.

Autumn 2012

It's fall, it's fall, it's fall!

Cool, comfortable mornings.

Straggly tomato plants on the patio producing the last few tomatoes.

Yesterday I made red pepper soup with a balsamic reduction.

Beanie sat on the kitchen floor and watched me cook. He likes to watch any kind of food preparation, even if it is something he probably won't eat (although he did like the soup).

 And so it goes.

Dewey Beach, part two

We walked to the beach after dark on the Fourth of July, where a happy crowd was enjoying fireworks, both in the sky . . .

And on the sand . . .

I liked these fireworks - not very showy and not very loud (unlike the fireworks behind the apartment complex where we lived in New Jersey, which were much too loud and spectacular and booming). These fireworks were simpler, but the crowd seemed to enjoy them, with lots of kids and parents cheering after each one went off. This was also the first time I've been among a crowd that spontaneously chanted "USA, USA" every so often, and to me this seemed sweet, not jingoistic (is that a word?).

The moon was so big and orange that it almost competed with the fireworks.

On July 5th, we drove over to Cape Henlopen State Park. Beautiful.

They have a program at the park where you borrow a bicycle and ride around the bike paths for a few hours, and then return the bike. We tried this, and Neil loved it (although he wanted a bike with gears), whereas I felt as though it was insane to be riding around in 100-degree weather when you could be in the ocean. We made plans to pursue our own preferred methods of relaxation on the morrow.

Back to Nalu for lunch. Cobb salad for Neil and a pulled pork sandwich for me.

Yummy and inexpensive.

Then we decided to escape the heat in a movie theater, and saw Moonrise Kingdom. I loved, loved, loved this movie.

Back to the hotel. Neil decided to go looking for a bike shop where he could rent something with gears, and I headed for the beach.

Aaaah. The water is cold for the first minute, and then wonderful. One of those surprising currents - you think you're just standing in the surf, look toward shore, and realize that you have drifted about twenty feet from where you started, in just a couple of minutes. I could swim against the current and get nowhere - great exercise.

I may believe in the negative ion theory about sea air.

For dinner we took advantage of happy hour specials again, this time at a restaurant named Nage. Neil had the cucumber gazpacho, followed by baked brie with a small arugula salad.

I chose the summer vegetable lavash (baby squash, cherry tomatoes, cremini, and garlic mascarpone - no photo, unfortunately), followed by the goat cheese, cracker, and honeyed almond plate.

So we made a dinner out of four half-price appetizers, and it was just great. The couple next to us at the bar were celebrating an anniversary, and they ordered champagne for everyone, so there was that, too.

A second wonderful day of vacation. One more to go.

Dewey Beach, Delaware

Oh my. I'm so far behind on posting that I'm not sure what to do.

Since I lasted posted (two weeks ago!) I have dipped my toes (or my whole body) in both the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, and have started teaching two online classes.

And other stuff, of course. It's amazing how much two weeks can contain. I know that many people do much more, but it seems like it has been enough for me.

So here is a little bit of catching up.

Neil has a new job, and he gets no vacation time for the first six months or so. I'm not complaining - after enduring two years of unemployment, we are both very happy that he has a job at all, and we are digging ourselves out of the financial hole you fall into when one wage earner becomes unemployed.

BUT - I like vacations. I really do. So I was happy to learn that his workplace would be closed July 4-6, and we could take a quick two- or three-day vacation. Unpaid on his end, but paid on mine.

In all the years we have lived on the east coast, we have never been to the Jersey or Maryland or Delaware shore in the summer. Going "down the shore" is an iconic summer experience for lifelong easterners, but it never seemed like such a big deal to us. But now, now with a quick three-day vacation possible, we opted for going down the shore. We found a motel just a block from the ocean in Dewey Beach, Delaware.

I now understand why people feel deprived if they don't go down the shore at least once during the summer (and many, many people do it every single weekend - in fact, when I worked as a medical editor at Lippincott, they had summer hours for the whole company - longer days Monday through Thursday, half a day on Fridays - so that employees could get to the beach by Friday night).

Mr. Bean seemed to suspect that something was up, and he was about to be left behind. I took a picture of him watching me pack the suitcase.

Well, too bad for you, Mr. Bean. Don't worry - it's only for three days. I had found a Best Western hotel only a block from the beach. An ordinary American hotel, but for some reason I love hotels - especially the row of pillows on the bed that someone else has made, standing at attention.

This was the first time I've had a room with a shower with no door. You could roll a wheelchair into the room and just sit on the bench and shower, if you wanted to. Perhaps this is becoming more common, but it was the first time I've seen this kind of set-up. It seems sensible, what with the aging of America and the need for accessible facilities.

Right across the street from the hotel, a Hawaiian-themed restaurant/bar, Nalu, which featured great happy hour specials.  Here is Neil holding Hawaiian iced tea (pineapple juice and alcohol of some sort - I don't remember now if it's vodka or something else). I should mention that this was in the midst of a horrible heat wave, so we didn't want to walk much farther than across the street).

The happy hour food specials included these great mango buffalo wings and Hawaiian pizza. All very, very, incredibly low-priced. This was our first hint that we could spend the entire vacation living on happy hour specials.

To be continued . . . .

A week in June of 2012

A summary of the recent week, in no particular order:

I bought a bike.

I contracted a horrible case of contact dermatitis.

I planted tomatoes and flowers and herbs.

Old friends stopped by on their travels between Florida and Vermont, and were able to spend the night - a fantastic evening!

I walked and walked with good old Mr. Bean. We worked on Drop It, Fetch, and Instant Come Here in class on Saturday.

My son Chris spent a night, on his way to Bulgaria and Greece for a couple of weeks.

I finished grading JUST about everything for the online class - grade are due to be turned in Tuesday night. A week off, and then begins a quarter in which I will teach TWO sections online. I like this.

I had dinner with Jay and Janet in Philadelphia, and we saw Kinky Friedman smoking a big cigar outside World Cafe Live, where he and his band were scheduled to play that night.

And a few photos related to the above statements, and to other things:

My new bike, Woody, in the butterfly garden at the park. It's a no-gears, no-hand-brakes, reconditioned bike that we bought used for $95, and it is just my style! This is the kind of bike I rode all through grade school and high school. Here's another shot, showing off the handsome wicker basket:

I had a tuna sandwich at Tria Wine Room with Jay and Janet. Didn't stop to think about taking a photo until I had taken bites of the sandwich, and had emptied my first glass of wine, so this is not a very good shot - but I did suddenly realize that it was such a lovely evening for dining outdoors, and I wanted to take some sort of photo.

The front garden. Still lots to be done, but it's coming along.

Cinnamon basil:

The hydrangea by the side of the house, where I pruned and weeded this weekend and last:

See that innocent-looking little vine sneaking up the side of the house in the back of the photo above?

It's not innocent. It's evil.

This photo was taken on the sixth day of a 12-day course of prednisone, so it doesn't look as bad as it did six days ago. Suffice it to say that my hands and face looked as though someone had thrown acid on them. On the task list for next weekend:

The artist-decorated pianos on the streets of Philadelphia were still being played by various folks, one of whom was kind enough to allow me to snap a photo on Friday morning, as I walked to work from the train station:

Did I mention that the weather has been stunningly gorgeous? The entire week was cool and comfortable at night, and pleasantly warm (but not too hot) during the day.

And so I arrive at this quiet point on Sunday evening - whew. The weeks they fly by.