Four Days-O-Fun

I love a four-day weekend.

Over the 4th, we had mostly perfect weather and managed to take advantage of just about every waking minute of sunshine.


We went kayaking with Roland and Amy and on our own a couple of times, partook in a couple of picnics (one by boat, one by bike) enjoyed the Elgin 4th of July parade (two hours long!), took several 20-mile (or so) bike rides and got front-row seats for fireworks (it pays to party with the village president!). Fireworks followed a "death by chocolate" party, which I’m still vibrating from. Lenore made her famous fudge, and I brought chocolate bran muffins (hey, they were good!). Steph, our host, made the most fabulous wheat beer flavored with lemon zest…I’m still craving it. Beer and chocolate – who knew. Some of us from said party met for a post celebration bike ride the next morning, and all but one of us had the breakfast of champions (leftover chocolate food items).

Lenore took this picture of a great blue heron in flight (after ticking it off by drifting too close -- it took off with an indignant squawwwwk).



Here's Roland and Amy with the same blue heron in the background sitting on a duck blind.



On a different paddling day, Lenore and I loaded up our boats with provisions and floated down to a park in West Dundee for a picnic.



Roland sporting his patriotic 4th of July hat.


Lenore was the only one who remembered to bring a camera. The parade was rather long, so it's hard to pick the best entry. I liked the dragons, Mexican dancers and the Jesse White Tumblers... though it was nice to see Johnny Depp/Capt. Jack Sparrow in Elgin too.



We also took in a Chicago Bandits game, which was a benefit for breast cancer research, so the players and most of the fans wore PINK. Even my dad. The game was actually a little slow, but we did almost get killed by a home run, so that was kind of exciting. I always thought that I would bravely (one handed even) catch a ball careening at my head in a situation like that, but when push came to shove, I practically flattened Lenore by screaming and diving out of the way. Watch for the replay on the cable softball channel. My dad, still chewing his cookie, just calmly sort of leaned aside and let the ball smack into the billboard behind us in the bleachers. 'Course, he used to get shot at in airplanes, so a bright yellow softball is probably no big deal. Damn, that was one well-hit ball. Lenore was kind of miffed at me for not catching it, cuz it was hit by one of her favorite players (but it’s not a crush). This is not the first time I’ve almost been maimed by a homer, so I may have to dig out my ball glove and risk being mistaken for a pre-teen fan.

The only downside to the weekend was the longer-than-expected rain on Saturday, which pretty much squelched the farmer’s market; the lack of weeding and hosta planting I got done (it rained during the "yard chores" time slot, and the agenda could NOT be adjusted); and the pump in my ejector pit died, resulting in a flooded laundry room and much swearing. However, I now have a clean floor and a somewhat shampooed rug. Come to think of it, that’s pretty much the only way my basement floor gets washed, is via flooding events. That stupid pump was just over a year old, so of course out of warranty. $260 down the drain, quite literally. But after being almost knee deep in sewage, oddly enough, these water incidents don’t faze me quite as much as they used to. I just find myself being thankful it's not worse and get out the squeegee. Well, I call Lenore first, then I get out the squeegee! She works for hugs and coffee, and a mere Starbucks grande at that. Can't say the same for my plumber, though he came over within 15 minutes and lent an air of calm to the situation. That can be priceless sometimes. If you need a good, honest plumber, give Lee a call, and tell him Paula sent you.

In cherry news, there is none. I think the birds and bugs are going to win the rest of the crop. My friend Nina gave me some of her rhubarb, though, so I may try making some rhubarb bounce. Could be interesting, though maybe not quite as good on pancakes.