Hot and Bothered

I slept in a little bit, not quite as much as usual on a Sunday. I was making Strawberry Multi-Grain Buttermilk Pancakes by 10AM. It was still hot and humid. The sun showed hazily into my windows as I switched on Brunch With the Beatles. The boys' final US-only album Hey Jude - the only one they sanctioned - was in the spotlight. That meant a lot of rarities and songs that, up to that point, had only been heard as singles on this side of the Atlantic, including "Old Brown Shoe," "Lady Madonna," "The Ballad of John and Yoko," "All You Need Is Love" and the title song. I tried calling Mom while the show was on, but I ended up leaving a message.

Spent a couple of hours mucking around online after that. It was about quarter of 2 when I tried calling Mom again. Apparently, she spent most of the morning working in her garden. Lucky woman went to a big concert at the new Cape May Convention Center last night. Peter Nero and the Pops were playing for the new Convention Center's grand opening. Mom said the concert was awesome, and the tickets had been expensive but well worth it. Apparently, it they cost so much, Mom's fellow concert-goers were local dignitaries, landowners, teachers, lawmakers, and other folks who actually have year-round jobs in Cape May County. She said she saw a lot of people she knew, and even got a complimentary glass of champagne. It sounds like she's going to look for similar events in the area, too, and take more walks in Cape May. I'm glad. It'll be good for her to get out of the house more often, especially now that her last child has moved away and she's an official "empty nest" mom.

Speaking of getting out of the house, I broke down and went for a walk after finishing with Mom. I headed to WaWa first for a pretzel and a bottle of water, then strolled to the steep cobblestone steps on the end of East Collingswood Avenue that are a back way into Newton River Park. Despite the hot, humid day, it was nice and breezy in the park. I passed by a flock of Canadian geese poking around the blackberry trees for smushed berries for their lunch. There were a couple of cute fuzzy goslings with them. A couple of especially protective geese hissed at me, but I assured them I had no desire to harm their children and hurried on. A little further down, I watched a sweet little chipmunk dart in and out of a pile of broken branches.

I swung by Uncle Ken and Dad's on the way home to see if anyone was around. Uncle Ken was the only one home, watching the Phillies-Cardinals game. The Phils were losing 4-1 when I was there. I wished Uncle Ken a happy Memorial Day, watched the game with him a little, and moved on. (And alas, it looks like the Cardinals did go on to win the game 8-3.)

I was sweating bullets when I got home. It was too hot to go anywhere else. I spent the rest of the evening cleaning my bathroom and watching wartime Looney Tunes cartoons and Three Stooges shorts. I had a quick dinner of leftovers before hitting a nice, cool shower.