Before the Rains Came

It was actually sunny when I awoke this morning. Though I was up late last night, I'm really kind of glad I got up when I did. I got quite a bit done today, starting with editing the Bowery Boys stories Lauren and I have been working on over the past few weeks.

I ran into trouble when I came downstairs. My back bike tire was flat. It seemed rather odd. It was perfectly fine last night. I thought I'd change it, but the nuts were screwed on the wheels so tightly, I couldn't get them loose! I was working on getting them off when I noticed the cap from inner tube was missing. I have no idea how that happened. It was on when I came home last night. Oh well, I've been meaning to pump the tires anyway. I took the cap off one of the other inner tubes I have, pumped both of them, put the tools inside, and went on my way.

I stopped at Dollar Tree first for sponges. They've only had the really light, foamy ones for the past few weeks. I like the thicker ones better. I desperately needed them. I had to dig around a bit, but I did find a bag of two. I would have preferred a bag with more of them, but I'll take what I can get for now.

Headed to the Haddon Township Library next. They weren't that busy, as I could tell from the smaller-than-usual stack of DVDs. I put those away and did some of the children's books. I took out a book on crocheting stuffed animals, a book of dessert recipes, a fantasy novel, and four DVDs - The Toast of New Orleans, Sahara, The Piglet Movie, and the most recent Backyardigans set, Operation Elephant Drop.

My tire felt a little less full as I was riding home. I'm not sure what happened there. I might have just been in such a hurry to leave that I didn't fill it right. I pumped it again when I got home, and it seemed fine later.

I had a meatball sandwich for lunch on the roll I'd bought from Doria's Deli on my way home. After lunch, I went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was getting cloudier and a bit more humid, but nothing intolerable. There were lots of people out and about. Kids were heading home from school. Their parents and grandparents swept porches, cleaned yards, and prepared for the upcoming storms.

(Incidentally, it rained a little bit while I was riding home from work, but hasn't done anything but look gloomy since. It must be waiting for early morning.)

Incidentally, something else I saw a lot of on this walk was fall decorations. A lot of people didn't decorate last year. Maybe they're feeling more festive now. Some people even have their Halloween decorations up already.

I spent the rest of the evening when I got in at home. I swept the porch. I cleaned the bathroom, which needed it badly, especially the tub. It's been a while since I've refilled my cookie tin, so I made Stir-and-Drop Oatmeal Cookies, one of the easiest and lowest-fat recipes in The Betty Crocker Cooky Book. Since the oven had already been on and I had the cookie sheets out, I make Oven-Fried Eggplant to go with my tilapia and zucchini for dinner.

Watched The Backyardigans while I cleaned and had lunch and The Toast of New Orleans during dinner. Superheroics of all kinds was the theme of this Backyardigans set. Tyrone and Pablo play Backyardigans In Black in an attempt to deliver an elephant to an Indian sanctuary (and teach Uniqua that elephants do NOT make good pets) in "Operation Elephant Drop." "The Magic Skateboard" was a solo story for Tyrone, with Uniqua doing the teaching this time, as she reminds the moose boy that practice, not magic, makes for totally radical skateboarding.

The two superhero-oriented stories were the best on the set. Tyrone once again does the teaching as he shows typhoon-blowing Pirate Pablo, animal-imitating Jungle Girl Tasha, and tough Princess Strong Blossom Uniqua how to get along as they rush down a cavern to stop a boulder from blocking a lava geyser and break the world in half!

My favorite was "The Flipper." In this take on both The Incredible Hulk and Pablo's tendency to go into tizzies, Pablo and the girls are "Meteor Trackers." They discover a meteor heading straight for Earth! Pablo has an amazing invention that might be able to head it off...but he runs into a shelf during one of his panic attacks and knocks a jar of space gunk on him. It turns him into an Incredible Hulk-like green monster whenever he hears the word "meteor." Only holding his teddy bear can bring him back. Tasha and Uniqua do their best to try to stop the meteor...and stop Pablo from showing the world what he's like when he's mad, too!

The Toast of New Orleans was the second Kathryn Grayson-Mario Lanza starring vehicle after That Midnight Kiss. It's basically the "discover Lanza and turn him into a gentleman" story again...this time with the twist of being set in New Orleans and the Louisiana bayous during the Edwardian era. The change of settings and more elaborate sets and costume helps tremendously. I enjoyed Toast far more than the bland Midnight Kiss. So did a zesty cast that includes David Niven as Grayson's fiancee, Rita Moreno as Lanza's girl in the bayou, J. Carrol Naish as his uncle who would rather be back in the bayou fishing, and James Mitchell as Lanza's best friend. The music's better, too. In addition to the operatic sequences, we have some songs written directly for the film, including the oft-reprised "Be My Love."