A Grand Day For Biking

This was a fairly quiet morning for a day off. Did the laundry after breakfast. As with last week, Dad was the only one at home. Everyone else was either at work, school, or still on vacation. Dad's in the midst of closing the pool, which means yes, that's the end of swimming for the year. (Not that I was able to do a lot of it, anyway, between cold nights and tons of rain.) It was such a nice day (80 degrees and partly sunny), I didn't feel like sitting inside. I ran to the Oaklyn Library and to WaWa for milk and a soda fountain Coke Zero with the chocolate flavored syrup.

I did do something kind of painful while loading the laundry into the washer. Dad's laundry machine is a top-loading model. I thought I had the lid back all the way, but it flew closed...right when I was holding onto the side while I grabbed a shirt. It slammed right on my left pinky finger. Ouch! Even Dad heard my cry. I was able to keep it on ice while my laundry was in the dryer. Thankfully, I can move it, so I think it's just bruised, but...ow.

I didn't have a very big load of laundry this week, and it didn't take very long to do. I was at home by 12:30. Put the laundry away and ate lunch (a Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Butter Sandwich and a juicy Mollie Delicious apple), then headed back out, this time on the bike for this week's library session.

The library was surprisingly busy for a beautiful day. I put away piles of DVDs and shelved Easy Reader books, but I didn't want to be in the library for too long. It was just too nice. Other people thought it was nice, too. Kids just out of school were walking home in packs or riding their bikes. I saw adults out for walks or on bikes, too. Stopped at Dollar General Plus next to the Westmont Acme and bought two containers of spices, Ground Cloves (which I'm almost out of), and Celery Seed, then headed to the Walgreens on the corner of Cuthbert Road and Haddon Avenue.

Walgreens was busy, too, but not all the customers were as pleasant as the people on the road. A group of grade-school age boys bounced basketballs they were hoping to buy in the large toys section in the back. An old man bawled about some item or the other that hadn't come out to the price he wanted. I didn't find the shampoo I wanted, either. The brands I wanted were on sale...but for some reason, not the ones made for curly hair. I don't know why all the others were part of the sales, but the curl shampoos weren't. I bought a Lil'Kinz Lion and a buy-one, get-one deal on mouth wash.

I left the spice shakers in my bike basket. I figured they'd be fine there. Who would steal spice shakers? Well...I don't know who, but someone did. They were gone when I came outside, and I couldn't find them anywhere. I wasn't going to fuss over dollar-store spice shakers that I should have taken inside with me, but it IS annoying. It could have been anyone, but my money is on the boys with the basketballs or one of the other roving bands of kids on their way home from school I saw this afternoon. Normally, I complain about all the activities kids are given these days to keep them out of trouble...but maybe their parents have a point about that.

Rode straight home after that via the paths along the creek in Newton River Park. I swept the porch (which needed it after the storms last week) after getting in, then read the From College to Career book for about an hour. It would be a lot easier for me to go from College to Career if I had an easier time talking to people. I'm too shy (and broke) to attend things like conferences and conventions. I never feel like I know what other people know. Everyone in the room always seems to know more than I do. I feel so out of place.

Made ratatouille, pecan-crusted flounder, and romaine lettuce and cucumbers with Light Asian Dressing for dinner. Or at least, I tried to. I didn't crush the nuts small enough, and they wouldn't cling to the flounder and got all clumpy.

Watched the 1945 State Fair during dinner. The charming tale of the adventures of an Iowa farming family, the Frakes, at the fair of the title, this is the first of two versions of the only Rogers and Hammerstein musical made directly for the screen. (Actually, it's the second of three versions. There was a non-musical, black and white State Fair in 1933 with Janet Gaynor and Will Rogers.) Mom rented this during my teen years, and my sisters and I all fell in love with it. I've always liked the women especially - Jeanne Crain is lovely as the intelligent Margie. (Good taste in men, too. Dana Andrews, who normally specializes in action and dramas, is her hot newspaper beau.) The Frake parents, hog-obsessed Charles Winninger and mincemeat-making Fay Bainter, are fun, too. I love how believable they are as a couple.

Oh, and meet my new lion! I want to name him after the wonderful old lion at the Cape May County Zoo from it's inception in 1978 to the late 80s - early 90s. That lion was one of their first attractions, and he was a favorite of not only my family, but the entire southern Cape May County area. The lion had apparently been rescued from a circus that mistreated it. He was scrawny and missing fur, and they never were able to mate him with the too-aggressive lionesses who just tended to nick his ears, but he was lovable and had a roar that could be heard for miles. It was major news on all the local TV stations when he finally died. He's buried on the Zoo property and has a headstone near the entrance.