That's right: while most of North America has seared under the kind of heat that raises casual comparisons to the core temperature of hell, Washington State slept right through whatever alarm clock was supposed to wake it up to summer. (Again.) Highs of 53 degrees, the sort of cloud cover that makes the whole world feel like a shabby, florescent-lit basement office, and raaaaaaaaaaaaiiiin.
Yes, I'm glad we haven't had to deal with 120 degrees all at once. But oh, I'm glad to see the sun.
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| Oddly enough, I didn't think to include it in that picture. |
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Lou took the first half of the week off work, and as I'd incautiously volunteered to host my book club's barbecue this month, we bought our first propane grill. An acquaintance spotted us in the hardware store with the big box and laughed. "I remember the first time my husband and I got one of those," she told me. "I think we almost got a divorce while trying to assemble it."
Lou spent a rainy Monday afternoon in the garage, putting together the grill. I spent a rainy Monday afternoon in the living room, writing my book. It all worked out quite amicably, though that may be only because I married such a generous and patient man.
On Wednesday, we combined efforts—me in preparation, him at the grill with tongs and spatula—and I have to say that the bratwursts and vegetables turned out awesome.
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It's hard to get photos of our gratuitous cat when she is completely anti-social in warm weather.
The clematis, however, doesn't seem inclined to waste the summer in hiding. I love this vine already.
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Writers' link of the week: doubling up again, with things you can learn from Hemingway, and things you can learn from Lewis. (Thanks to George for the latter link.)
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Music of the week: For the first time ever, on the Fourth I saw flying lanterns. Just a few, but it was mesmerizing. And it got me humming this song (this cover seems to outrage copyright at least a little less violently than the ripped sections of the movie available on YouTube do.)
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Random amusement of the week: internet memes, as described by Chaucer. My favorite is "Of the Doublede Rainbowe", I think. H/T Egotist's Club.
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It's funny, but even though I know that standard American practice is to put all punctuation inside quotation marks, I cannot seem to help going British in this regard. The UK system is less straightforward, but ah, it just makes so much more sense.
But never fear, I found other reasons to celebrate Independence Day. :) Hope all you Americans had a great one...
Happy weekend!
So, I've had this post kept unread in my Google Reader all weekend so I could come over today and say...
ReplyDelete"It's funny, but even though I know that standard American practice is to put all punctuation inside quotation marks, I cannot seem to help going British in this regard. The UK system is less straightforward, but ah, it just makes so much more sense."
Yep, I am in 100% agreement with you on this. For instance, whenever I am quoting a phrase someone else has coined, it feels very wrong to include punctuation mark (such as a comma or period) within the quotation marks for the phrase. Wanted you to know you're not alone in this. ;)
Haha, I don't doubt it. :) The example you used is one of the moments when American usage is particularly difficult for me, too!
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