Potatoes in the Mist

I just walked along the High Line. It's very hot and sticky out, but I always enjoy that walk. I also took this picture of the sun through fog.

I read an article in the Times about Lake Michigan. The writer said if you stand on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, you can never see across to the other side, because Michigan is 75 miles away. I like that a lake can be so big. I dipped my toes in it once.

So today I finished the ribbed hem of a sweater. Then I had to switch to larger needles. They were size 10.5 circular needles (basically a long piece of plastic tubing with six inches of metal on either end). Unfortunately, they were so twisty and bendy that it would be difficult to avoid the dreaded "twisting" of circular knitting. I remembered reading a tip - boil the needles. So I filled the pasta pot with hot water and boiled them. It worked wonderfully. They are nice and pliable now. Interestingly, the plastic tubing didn't get hot at all, though the metal tips took a while to cool down.

My sister-in-law had a cute baby in early July. I saw the baby, L, when she was in the hospital, and then one more time. Since then, nothing. (D only saw the baby in the hospital.) SIL invited us to brunch this Sunday. I am hoping L will be there. (I texted SIL to see if she would be, but she is one of those people who doesn't check her phone constantly - an anomaly in this day and age.) I know for sure that L is coming to an in-law gathering at D's aunt's house in late September. It got rescheduled several times, because whenever someone couldn't attend, D's aunt would reschedule. I wonder if all in-laws do this. Update: L is coming to brunch! Yay.

I love the new panda cubs at the Smithsonian. We have not been to see them; last time I went to DC, they were not yet born. I can't get over how cute and tiny they are. Yep, that little pink guy is a baby panda. The Smithsonian has a team working around the clock to feed the twin pandas. Right now, the mother won't let go of the larger cub. So the team is focusing on the smaller cub. The bigger cub is thriving in its mama's care :)

Saw two movies this weekend...The Minions with the whole clan, and Inside Out with Zoe. Before Inside Out, there was a cute animated short about two volcanoes looking for each other. When the credits flashed, I saw a name I knew - a girl from college - in some technical role. The movie itself was about the human brain and how it processes emotion. The emotions in the brain were Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust. (Disgust was voiced by Mindy Kaling.)

Just finished Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner. It was one of her best books in a while. Slow start, but then it really pulled me in. I like it when an author comes "back."

Eric and I were on the subway this morning and he was denouncing Windows 10. "They monitor every keystroke!" he exclaimed. "Every user ID, every password." (Did I mention that he is 7 going on 35?) A wide-eyed man was listening to him talk. I told D about it and he said, "Maybe that guy worked for Microsoft." I explained that the guy had big bags and a tattoo of a topless mermaid. "A messenger for Microsoft," he mused.

I'm reading I'll Have What She's Having , a food memoir by Rebecca Harrington. In it, she tries the diets of various celebrities: Gwyneth Paltrow, Liz Taylor, Karl Lagerfeld, and Marilyn Monroe (so far). Karl's diet is the most spartan, Gwyneth's the most modern (raw almonds soaked in milk, kale juice), Liz's the most disgusting (sour cream and cottage cheese mixed as a dip for fruit). For breakfast, Marilyn liked two raw eggs whipped in milk; the author reports that this is delicious, "like bland eggnog." Marilyn would skip lunch and have steak with five carrots for dinner.

So I got a bike to ride when I'm in Massachusetts. There's another bike in the shed but it badly needs a tune-up and my mom doesn't have a bike rack. Turns out my brother (in another town) does so maybe someday he can take it in. Anyway, the new bike is great. A Trek, silver and black. I rode it to my high school, past the turnoff for my elementary school, down random side roads, and finally replicated my favorite ride from childhood. I used to do this ride with a friend, starting when we were 8, and lasting at least until age 11. It consisted simply of riding around our block, over and over. Oddly enough, not boring at all, even now. A bit meditative, with a hill at one end to add variety. As a child I called it "Music Hill," because of its soaring quality. (I also remember a path I walked with the same friend and her mother - we called it "the hidden trail." I think it was just a trail behind our elementary school with some goldenrod and abandoned trai...

I got to Massachusetts yesterday and started driving for the first time in years. (My license had expired and I renewed it finally.) Tonight, driving in the dark to CVS, I noticed a motorcycle behind me in my rearview mirror. With its single headlight glowing in the darkness, it reminded me of a Cyclops. Then I remembered how it always reminded me of that. Funny how these things come back to you.

Sometimes I start out reading one book and end up reading something entirely different. I decided to check out All The Light We Cannot See (Pulitzer Prize winner, recommended by my mom, Reese Witherspoon and lots of others). The first 100 pages fairly flew by. After that, the plot squeaked to a halt. I might revisit it - the writing was definitely poetic and skilled - but it just wasn't holding my interest. So then I started reading My Paris Dream, a Princeton alumna's memoir of her year in France. I was pleased to see her "Princeton playlist" studded with 80s hits...my only regret about going to college in the 90s was that grunge was not as fun to dance to.