spring lake panorama

Still on vacation ... at least mentally ...

only one more day ...

... and then ...



No more teachers, but actually lots of books. I think the kid is going to do a lot of reading over the break.

bicycle race

Chalk up one summer goal — the kid learned to ride a bike! This is pretty big stuff for a (until recently) city kid. We fumbled around for a few weeks after we took off the training wheels and then, over the past few days, she just got better and better. Today was the first day she went solo, without anyone spotting her. Her faithful dachshund Angel sat patiently on the sidelines. Hooray and congrats!

nancy drew and the case of the summer library

The kid has fallen head over heels in love with reading this summer — yay! No big surprise, as books always would trump any other sort of purchase that I tend to make, and our house is full of them, but a lot of it she has done on her own. She loves the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series and has been flying through those, as well as a series of books featuring Judy Moody. We have been paying a lot of visits to our fabulous local library — he kid for the latest in her book series, and me for another book about Marilyn Monroe, my summer research project.

$5 for some classics — what a bargain!

To both of our delights, the library is holding a summer-long book sale, hard backs are $1 each and paperbacks are 25 cents. I managed to restrain myself with the grown-up books, but on the children's library floor the "for sale" bin was chock-full of books she wanted and could buy with her own allowance. She got the first Wimpy Kid in paperback and a bunch of books featuring animals, mostly dogs and cats. How surprised and excited was I to find a bunch of Nancy Drew books there too. I grabbed a bunch of them, ostensibly for her, but were they, really?

The first of very many Nancy Drews that I read in my youth

What immediately caught my eye was the slightly faded cover of The Spider Sapphire Mystery — #45. I remember my dad bought this book for me for my birthday when I was in third grade. Sapphire is my birthstone, and it was my introduction to Nancy, Bess, George, and Ned and their adventures. I got a few more Nancy Drews over the years, but most of the books I read in the series were from the library.

The illustrations were always fun, and Nancy managed to get herself into trouble on a pretty regular basis. Who's that guy in the suit and fedora running away through the bushes? Hmmm ...

When we got home with our treasures  the kid plunged into one of the Judy Moody books, but I was happy to see her later reading the first chapter of The Whispering Statue — #14. Nancy Drew, the next generation ...

hot sands, cool kite

There was actually a warning at the beach yesterday: HOT SAND. And the lifeguard wasn't kidding. Even at 4:30pm I had to put my flip flops back on to walk across the sand to take this photo of the kid flying her kite.

We didn't stay out too long, because it was so hot and hard for her to see where the kite was, but I think she still had a good time trying out her new kite. We'll be back again, I'm sure, for another try tomorrow, but maybe a bit later in the day.

rainy season

We're in the midst of rainy season, but there are still interesting things to see in between the showers.

No sea gulls to be seen, but some crows on the beach.

Until it rains, it's going to be hot, folks.

I love the intricate Z-stitch in this spiderweb.

no more pencils, no more books ...

Today is the kid's last day of school. There is an award assembly in the morning and then she will probably have a pretty easy rest of the day, topped off by a pizza party.

School's out for summer!

how did that happen?

There are only 21 school days left in this year. I've picked a few weeks of "camp" to entertain the kid, but that means the rest of the summer she is going to be around. A lot.

Some of my fondest memories of summer are being bored out of my mind, wondering what to do with a whole day off. But the sooner we got to having to go back to school the more I missed those lazy days.

I'm lucky, and I hope my daughter will feel so, that I don't have to keep her scheduled every waking moment. Boredom breeds creativity. At least I hope so. But I also I think it might be time for me to take up meditation, to prepare ...

i stay to the shadows

i creep along the wall
maybe catching a cool breeze
or just trying to avoid the unrelenting glare
of the punishing sun

ice cream truck

This video perfectly captures the crazy happy silly nostalgic sound, as well as the underlying unrelenting creepiness, of the ice cream truck jingle.

I remember the music-box tune from my childhood at the Jersey Shore, and then later as I lived in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and now D.C.

Hey, is this guy following me?

Happy first day of summer!

Related articles by Zemanta

• 10 Ice Cream Truck Frozen Treats Under 200 Calories (blisstree.com)

smart birds

Starlings, actually - drinking from a natural water fountain - rainwater in a curling tree root - outside the Museum of Natural History - on a very hot day.

a drink by any other name...

...would taste as sweet. In my quest to reduce sugar intake (and the expense of a Starbucks ice grande soy chai) my official drink of summer has been the Arnold Palmer. Of course, that's my daytime beverage indulgence. After hours a margarootie is all any girl needs, in summer or any season.

blue toenails

As I was standing on line waiting to get a pseudo-Arnold Palmer, I looked down and discovered that my "unconventional" nail polish color is actually right in sync with this summer's styles.

Two gals in front of me each sported some pretty fancy toenails - one with a royal purple color and the other with a dark emerald green.

Vive la difference!

kids in a blanket

Just one of many ways to enjoy the Friday music at the National Gallery Sculpture Garden.

market fair

We spent yesterday afternoon at the Claude Moore Colonial Farm market fair. it was interesting, with lots of local folks who spend their weekends stepping back in time to provide some fun for themselves and for visitors. Not on the grand scale of a Renaissance fair, but the same idea. My daughter's favorite things were the animals, of course, and the stall with the handmade soaps - she probably smelled every single one...


The sheep go home with him to his farm in the evening.


Pigs love peanuts.


They were still grilling tons of chickens as we were leaving.

Great music.


"I like this one!" (said after smelling each bar.)


La Signora Bella on the slack rope.

hot child in the city

It feels like an oven here in D.C. When you step outside, the heat surrounds you from every direction. This is exactly how Florida felt to me when I first visited my grandmother there many years ago at age fourteen. My first time on a plane all by myself, but I digress. Is this global waming (what's that?) or is typical D.C. humidity right around the corner?


Ice cream vendors everywhere


Hot summer sun on Archives relief sculpture


Crape Myrtle, which seems to have been blooming forever already by my favorite Starbucks

the best flower of summer

Black-eyed Susans somehow always bring me back to my childhood at the Jersey Shore and just speak of sunshine and long, hot days. I love summer.

temperance charity hope faith

A seedy (unfortunately) square only a few blocks from the National Gallery has this pretty neat statue with a crane (I think?) on top and (really unfortunately) loads of trash below...

lightening bugs

My daughter caught her first fireflies, or lightening bugs, as I used to call them...


In Virginia, the Fourth of July comes early...