I’m not a particularly patriotic person in general and even less so than usual at the moment, so this is not a “Happy 4th of July!” post.
(Patriotism seems a little weird to me, no matter where you live, but the US version gets so close to nationalism sometimes that it feels real uncomfortable)
I will, however, note that I am an ardent supporter of myself have three day weekends, so yay for extra time for taking walks with a good friend, going to the pool with another good friend, hitting the movies with my family (F1, which we mostly enjoyed though my F1 fan son had quibbles with), and having time to sit on the porch and read. I’ll always take that.
Other than increased downtime, I here were some other things I was into this week:
This reflection on the joy of being a debut novelist in her 50s was a comforting read to me this week (hat tip to the person who shared it on Reddit and said they thought of me, I appreciate that a lot)
I got attacked by some mosquitos this week and was once again glad to have these patches on hand. I don’t know why they work but if I slap on one before I scratch, it totally takes care of the itch. The patches are waterproof (survive multiple pool/lake trips) and last several days.
When I was a kid, I idolized my oldest older brother. At the time, he was a serious cyclist and I remember spending summer mornings watching the Tour de France with him. At the time, I probably watched more out of a desire to get to hang out with my brother (who was 12 years older than me, so we didn’t really hang out a lot) than a real interest in the sport of cycling. I still have a lot of nostalgia for watching the Tour though, and I always enjoy a sports documentary so I was delighted that the the Netflix series Unchained is back for it’s third (and sadly final) season this week.
On a related note, this is a good explanation of how the Tour works and how and what to watch for as the race unfolds (other than crashes and spectaluar scenery, of course )
My interesting Zillow listing of the week! Pros: beautifully maintained and incredibly affordable for a legit mansion. Cons: definitely haunted, used to be owned by a Grand Wizard of the KKK and, no disrespect to Muncie, but it’s in Muncie.
Babies are such a delightful way to start people (sound on for this one)
If it is over 90 degrees, please assume this is how I am feeling:
Song I’ve had on repeat this week:
Thanks for the shoutout! Look up "Eat, Race, Win". It's a look behind the scenes to all the chefs making it happen to feed the teams at the TDF. Which is interesting because the couple of guys that I knew who raced in the TDF in the 90's complained about French food anywhere in the country outside of Paris.
Thought you’d like this house! https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1000-Park-Ave-Cayucos-CA-93430/15438460_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare