Summer Breeze

What a gorgeous, glorious summer's morning! Fresh breezes, blue skies without a hint of haze, mid-80s temperatures, sunshine. What more could a woman ask for on a day in mid-July in Southern New Jersey?

I listened to the American Top 40 as I had Carrot and Zucchini Cake for breakfast. Mid-July 1979 was in the spotlight. Disco reigned supreme, with a little bit of soul and country for good measure - David Naughton's "Makin' It," Sister Sledge's "We are Family," and a two-fer from one of my favorite Donna Summer albums (and the number one album from that week), "Hot Stuff" at number, and the title song of that hit album at Number One, "Bad Girls."

It was a wonderful day for a farm market-yard sale run. The nice day must have encouraged Oaklyn's entrepreneurial streak. There were four yard sales within walking distance of my apartment, and another two in Collingswood near the condo towers. Only one had anything of interest. I found the CD for the original 1977 cast of Annie at a sale on East Ormond.

Next stop after an in-out trip to the bank was the farm market. It's the height of the summer harvest season, and there's plenty out now. I saw the first apples and melons of the season, and blueberries were so plentiful, they cost me a mere $4.00 for two pints. I also picked up peaches, an ear of corn, Boston lettuce, Cuban peppers, mushrooms, a cucumber from the organic booth, two tomatoes, honey peach butter, and the aforementioned apples.

When I got home, I put everything away and went online. I spent the next hour buying myself a TV set. The TV I currently have really belongs to my biological father Bruce...but it's almost exactly like the one I had before that, which started dying somewhere around 2007. Both TVs are big, round sets with huge, heavy, rounded backs that have to be attached to VCRs or cable by thick wires you screw in. They're also about 22 inches, which is really larger than I need...and both are totally outdated analog models.

I should have bought a TV when the first one started to die, but TVs aren't cheap. I never had the money before. Following a suggestion of Lauren's, I bought a nice, simple 15-inch Sylvania set from Amazon.com. Ok, so it's not new-new, but it's newer than my old TVs, and a lot easier to lug around. At $100, it's also a lot cheaper than most TV sets. I don't need anything fancy. I'm not looking for the greatest picture in the world, or the loudest sound. I just want to be able to see my movies and use my VCR and my DVD recorder.

I ran the last of the third season of Danger Mouse while having a Peanut Butter and Blueberry Butter sandwich, a peach, and ratatouille for lunch. The show remains hilarious, if not quite as weird as the first season. Also, the episodes of season 3 and 4 are all done serial-style, with 2 to 5 episodes a serial. Some of the jokes can be very repetitive when watched in succession (including budget-stretching and obvious re-use of animation), and is it really necessary to have the theme song played after every five-minute episode?

Work was, appropriately for one of the nicest Saturdays I've ever seen in July, busy but not overwhelming. Everyone was in a very good mood. It was worse earlier on, but it had calmed down enough by 7 for me to leave with my relief being put elsewhere.

I decided I wasn't really up for much more than either Sonic or Arby's for dinner after work. It was too gosh darn nice to be sitting inside and eating, so I opted for Sonic. I'm not the only one who thought so. For the first time I've seen, the patio was busier than the parking spaces. I had an ok grilled chicken sandwich, a tasty cherry limeade, and those wonderfully crunchy and thick onion rings again.

Went back to the Acme after dinner for this week's grocery shopping. It was mostly restocking after baking and last week's meals - ground chicken, canola oil, mousse mixes, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, peanut butter, chocolate chips, muffin cups, yogurt. I needed some pharmacy items as well, mainly bar and pump soap and toothpaste.