snakes, glorious snakes

Yesterday John and I went for a run in the Arboretum and there, slithering through the grass next to the river, was a man-sized pale green snake. I guess someone decided to take her for a walk.

You surely don't see something like that that every day.

favorite line

"Tell me one last thing," said Harry.
"Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

squibs

I heard this twice today, on separate sides of town:

I don't care about Harry Potter!


Although I am reading it, considering almost all my favorite characters are dead, my care is also waning

The Great Womyn in my Life

Oh Alissa, i admire you,

for working for your family so long, both during the grueling day and those nights making something for a pregnant relative or your favorite nephew.

i love your raw independence, your unfamiliar wary of attachment;

and yet, your honest admission of melting again and again.

i love your intense faith, although sometimes it sets us apart;

how you followed your stubborn ambition to go back to school without support, then cursed it for wanting you to fail, then missed it when you had triumphantly left it behind.

i love your love for colors of earth and stone.

the secrets we keep

I'm the type of person who doesn't mind sharing things.

I may give you a bite of my favorite mint chocolate-chip ice cream. I may finish your water after you've left.

I may, if I like you.

Cherry season is my favorite time of year

when i was six years old i choked on a cherry because i decided that swallowing them whole was the fastest way to eat them. (note to future parents—when your child asks you if you can eat both the stem and the pit of the cherry, try to anticipate what's going to happen next.)

Everything you've been told

It's true. Europe is pretty small. One rental car over a week can in fact take you to four countries. Lunch in Luxembourg, dinner in Germany, just in time to get back to Belgium for a night cap. It is also true that there is constantly a cloud over Belgium. The sun may appear every now and then but it is sure to rain at least once a day. Luckily, we made a break for Normandy for two days and enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful scenery. Yes, our route may look a bit strange, but considering much of the right portion was done without a map, it's not so bad.


I got more than I bargained for on the language front. I thought I'd get a chance to practice my french, and I did. But I did not count on having to remember how to converse in basic german or having to speak bits of coherent dutch. (Yes, that's right, small countries like Belgium and Switzerland divide themselves up into regions that speak the nearest neighboring country's tongue). What I learned is you can still get by speaking german to dutch speakers, and for a lot of words they'll just think you have a really strange accent. Still, I couldn't help having the Swedish-chef like chant "ferdi fundi bundi" in my head all day.

down for the count

Nothing like an hour customer service call trying to fix my internet connection to take the creative spirit out of me.