More Summer Fun

It was a busy but wonderful summer day and if the rest of the vacation goes like the past two weeks or so it's going to be just the summer I didn't get for the past five years and desperately needed.  I got up early to get the tires rotated on the Impala and traded the car for the scooter as soon as I got back from the tire place.

I scootered downtown to an optical place to order a pair of computer glasses.  I've needed them for years but didn't realize just how much till I tried my sister's a while back.  As soon as I walked into the place and handed the prescription to the owner he took one glance at it and asked, "Was John your dad?"  I said that he had been and the guy's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "He was a great guy!"  I was really touched and tickled as he went on and reminisced a little about Dad's visits to his shop.  I'll never fill my Daddy's shoes, but it does feel good to slip my little feet into them now and then, and to be known as his son.

On the way back I circled the square where the annual summer Farmer's Market was set up.  I'd never noticed before but the city actually has a few motorcycle parking spaces!  Okay, they're metered, but still, they're there for the exclusive use of us "bikers."  Makes me wonder...  If there are two bikes in the space and the meter is expired, do both bikes get parking tickets?  Around here, I'd guess that they probably would.  It was a moot point today, however, because I took advantage of the free parking around the perimeter of the square and squeezed the scooter into an available space after I'd decided that I would spend a little time walking around.

Although I often plant hot peppers I didn't this year because I still have so many dried peppers from years past.  When I saw the healthy plants set out at four for a dollar, though, I just couldn't pass them by.  I got a tray of habaneros, one of Thai hots, and another of cherry peppers.  I popped them into the garden as soon as I got back.  If they produce as well as my hot peppers have in years past I should have a nice crop of them without the overabundance I'm famous for growing.

After all that strenuous farming it was time for lunch!  I got a serving of "grape leaves" at the Farmer's Market.  A Syrian neighbor used to make them years ago and I affectionately named them "Syrian piggies" because of their resemblance to holupky - pigs in the blanket, or "stuffed cabbage" for those with no Slavic roots.  With just the perfect combination of sour and spicy rice and ground lamb wrapped inside a taut grape leaf, each one was a decided treat for these old taste buds.  A cold glass of Navigator Golden Ale from the Barley Creek Brewing Company complemented the grape leaves delightfully and made for a terrific lunch!

One more thing to do before my nap and that was to mount on the scooter the bumper sticker one of my students gave to me as an end of the school year present. It's not so much religious to me as it is a reminder for the person who might be following me a bit too close to BACK OFF!  I toyed with the idea of putting, If I hit a bump and fall over, could you stop in time? on the back of the bike, but it would have been too wordy and nowhere near as clever as this...

I did other things too like take the Impala for an oil change, got my hair cut, and joined my sister at our uncle's for a beer.  Nothing earth shattering or out of this world, but it was just as perfect a day as I hope for every summer day to be.