Of Bears and Pools

Today was farm market-yard sale day. It was the same as yesterday - hot, sunny, and breezy. The bank was busy, with a long line of people at the drive-in, probably on their way to the Shore. I had to wait a few minutes inside to deposit my (much-needed) paycheck.

The farm market was elbow-to-elbow busy, too. I really had to elbow my way around all the people stocking up for barbecues and graduation and birthday parties. I eventually grabbed honey, corn, cherries, blueberries, organic cucumbers (2 for $1.00 - they're 79 cents at the Acme!), 9-Grain Bread, mushrooms from the mushroom sellers, a soft pretzel from a donation booth, and the first New Jersey peaches and tomatoes of the year.

I rode around for a little while after that. I only found three yard sales. The first two had nothing of interest (even the huge multi-family one at the house with the big side yard on Linwood in Collingswood). The third on Kendall Boulevard near the school yielded a huge brown teddy bear with movable limbs and an untied red ribbon. The woman in charge of the sale said he was a mint-condition Gund bear. Her girls just aren't into stuffed animals. I bought him for 50 cents.

Once I got home, I put the bear on my bed, had lunch, and worked online for a while. Around 2, I jumped into my bathing suit and headed over to Dad's for a swim. No one was home, but that meant there was more pool for me. The water felt great. According to the thermometer, it was in the mid-80s, which meant it was neither bath water nor so cold you get shocked the moment you jump in. I spent a pleasant half-hour swimming, then another pleasant half-hour reading The Tale of Hawthorn House Beatrix Potter Cottage mystery on the pool patio.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at home. I really needed to get the dusting (and this month's cleaning) done. I didn't do a really thorough job like I did in the last two months, but I'm not planning on having any visitors right now, either.

After I finished cleaning, I made chicken drumsticks poached in white wine sauce, a cucumber-tomato salad, and honey-glazed carrots for dinner while watching The Golden Compass. A fantasy tale on the lines of Harry Potter, this asks the question...what if there was a parallel Earth in another dimension somewhere, where magic is commonplace and people's souls walk around next to them as companions and are called daemons? And what if a little girl was the only one who held the key to figuring out this world?

I ended up generally enjoying it, despite feeling a bit cold towards the characters (and not just because of the snowy settings) and getting lost in the complicated backstory. The steampunk terminology didn't really interest me. Plus, the whole thing lacked humor, and (in the opposite problem from the too-lengthy Star Wars movies) it felt too short. Plus, it ended with an assumption that there will be more...and since the movie didn't do that well at the box office, that doesn't look like that'll happen.

On the other hand, I can't resist a movie with bears as main characters. The polar bears' world is a side plot, but a wonderful one. The kid was sensational, tough and yet tender enough to take the cast-off polar bear into her heart. The cast was great, too. There wasn't enough of Daniel Craig as the girl's guardian, but Nicole Kidman was fine as the nasty Mrs. Coulter, and Sam Shepard was nice in the second half as what was essentially a flying cowboy.