Word of the Day

PASTORALE - The beverage to drink in the country when listening to Beethoven with a member of the clergy.

I picked lettuce this morning as soon as it dried off a bit. We got a smidge of rain in the morning. A smidge is anything that measures less than 1/4". We got .18 inches of rain. Electronic gadgets fascinate me. I bought one of those wireless rain gauges to put out on our deck.

We lost our electricity this afternoon at around lunchtime. I have no idea why because it wasn't storming. Our generator kicked in (it's always nice to know that it really does work automatically) but our burglar alarm got all upset and the people who monitor our alarm system were a bit upset too. Our alarm system one of the necessary household appliances that we felt needed to be running on our backup generator. Anyway, apparently we disappeared from the monitor company's radar screens. I assured them that we were still here, safe and sound. HTP called the electric company and after talking to one of the computer generated voices for a while he hung up in disgust. He called them back and refused to answer or respond to any of the computer generated voice's queries. In total frustration, the computer turned him over to a real person who told HTP that we were in good company. 500 households were without power and with us 501. HTP was told that our power would be restored by 5 PM. Our power came back on at 1:47. I know this because I had to run around and reset all the clocks in the house that didn't have battery backup. It's truly amazing how many clocks we have in this house. We have the clocks on our two coffee-makers, the clocks on our two microwave ovens, the clock on the VCR. The clock on the DVD player. The clock on our answering machine. I won't even go downstairs to check the clock in the guest room. #1 son can fix the clocks down in the basement. That's HIS territory...except for the laundry room. That's mine.

We're going to take the boat out tonight onto the big lake...just through the channel from our own lake. They're going to shoot off fireworks over the big lake from the golf course. I know it's not 4th of July as yet but this is a resort area and it worked out best this year to set off the fireworks tonight. We'll head out as soon as #1 son gets back from work. It's going to be interesting to see if we can find a place close enough to anchor this year. Last year there were more pontoon boats then I'd ever seen before. It was weird. After dark they have headlights that make them look like cars driving on the lake. We used to watch the fireworks from a boat when the kids were young. HTP's folks had a place on a lake (different lake) and we'd all go over there to celebrate 4th of July. We'd take their little boat out and watch the fireworks as they exploded over our heads. Front row seats for everyone. The nice thing about viewing fireworks from a boat is that you don't have to worry about blocking anyone's view. And the mosquitoes and gnats aren't quite so bad either. The bad part? Well...after dark it's a real traffic jam with all the pontoons and boats all trying to maneuver on home without hitting each other. It gets a bit interesting navigating the channel after dark. HTP is pretty good at it. I'm pretty good at holding the spotlight so that we don't run into boats that forget to put on their running lights or stray trees and deadheads which don't have running lights.

We'll celebrate the 4th of July again tomorrow night. I'm willing to bet that #1 son won't let a year go by without setting off a few artillery shells from our dock. I won't let him buy the big ones but the ones he has seem huge and make a wonderful display over the lake. I sure will miss it when he's all grown and flown. I love sitting on our deck, watching the firework displays that he puts on. I guess I'll have to settle for setting off fountains in the driveway...maybe as soon as next year. Artillery shells are a bit beyond my expertise. I mean...you could blow your fingers off.

Murphyism of the Day

Disraeli's Dictum

Error is often more earnest than truth.