Get Up. Get On Up.

It is officially a week into summer!  Which, when you're a working woman, as I am, means you'll be wearing tank tops to the office, and by that, I mean on the deck, where I work much of the time.   

And bathing suits.  Because I can.  

It has already felt like summer for a few weeks, so the solstice didn't really mean much in terms of transition.  I don't know - this year has been so weird, nothing feels especially remarkable because EVERYTHING seems remarkable.

I still haven't ventured to the Farmers Market, and I really want to.  But... the numbers are up, and I feel like there's no way to keep personal space personal there.

The bird situation in our back yard has settled down - we had a lot of fledglings last week, and Piper was a little too interested in them.  But the beauty of fledglings is that they become fully flighted within a few days, and they can escape a curious terrier with a killer prey drive.  Killer in the literal and figurative sense.

We have been doing a few projects these last few weekends - and by we, I mean primarily Matt.  I do the errand running - picking up things at Home Depot, getting lunch, etc.   But Matt finished painting our front porch, and repainted the glider, and now our happy home has a little "glow-up".  The kids are saying that these days.  It's a thing.

I'm getting ready for July 4th.  This summer is passing like a freight train through a small town.

That was something my old bio teacher in HS used to say.  Well, one of my old bio teachers.  Mr. W.  Word was that he was a perv.  I never got that vibe.  I think he made people uncomfortable because he was heavy-set, constantly sweaty and (whisper) Jewish (/whisper).  I liked him pretty well.  He tested us with essay questions in addition to multiple choice and fill in the blank.  I liked that because it was a way that I could write out all the things I did know, instead of flounder at the hundreds of things I didn't know.  I was not the best student when it came to the maths and sciences.

The other thing he would say is we were going to cover something quickly like "running through hades with turpentine on your underwear".  Maybe he was a perv.  I don't know.  I don't care.  I survived one term with him, two with Mr. M.  Mr. M and I are friends on FB.  He was a UGA grad, and seems like a super nice person.  I'm friends with a handful of old teachers from my HS.  And one from middle school.

I was thinking recently of one of my old teachers from HS.  She was our advisor for Odyssey of the Mind, and we ended up working at her house a LOT.  And she fed us.  I am the age now that she would have been when we were her students, and I think about that.  And I think, I sure as hell wouldn't be inviting a bunch of high schoolers to my house and feeding them.

Now, truth be told, we were good kids.  We worked hard, we were friendly, mostly polite... and she's been important to me.  I dropped by her house before Junior Prom to show off my dress.  She came to my wedding.  She came to the house the day of Dad's funeral.  This is a special person.

And that is how you go off on a tangent.

This weekend, to return to my original point, I have some 4th of July work to do.

The families that have cabins on the same land as ours have decided they want to do the picnic/potluck.  As head of the Social Committee, I need to help facilitate, but truth be told, it makes me nervous.  Even if I'm the only one in a mask, so be it.  I'll be in a mask.  I have some cute ones I bought for my summer wardrobe.  I'll probably need some fall ones, eventually.  

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine.    



So, aside from packing a few clothes and my masks, I need to figure out a dish to take.  I'm thinking something along the lines of a hearty pasta salad.  Tortellini, salami, veggies, pesto... I can pull that off and be done with it.  

Piper and Matt are staying here.  His work is adhering to strict quarantining procedures for people who travel out of state, and he needs to be in good shape for some other events that are coming this summer.  We both need to go see our families, and that makes for some interesting logistics.  So that said, I'm happy that Piper won't get kenneled, and both of us will have a little alone time.  Mostly, that means I will be taking the "alternate route" to get to the mountains - it adds a little time, but allows me to avoid switchbacks, which make me carsick.   It is inadvisable to take Dramamine and drive.

So, while I am a little wary of leaving the state, I'm going to do it, and I'm going to enjoy it, dammit. I do plan to eat at the Dawsonville Varsity, because I can, and because it will be delicious.  Drive-thru, but hey - we do what we can, right?  

But before any of that, next week, I have training to facilitate.  It won't be pretty.  It never is.  But that's OK - we'll get there.  Eventually.


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