My Own Personal Auto Bahn

I admit it. I have favorite words, and lots of them. In Czech, one of my favorites is kniha-book (and another, knihovna-library). In Spanish, it's mariposa-butterfly. And in German, well, nothing rocks my boat like auto bahn. I like to pronounce it like this, ow-toe baahn when I pretend I'm on it. I was thinking about this word on last Monday as I cruised along I-85 at a happy 155 kmh to get to Athens to the dentist. I thought about other words I like the sound of like ryby-fish, and trascocina-closet, and pamplemousse-grapefruit. The dentist trip wasn't as bad as it could have been. I nearly fell asleep (yes, he's that good, and that is why I drive two and half hours for him to fix my teeth). And to make my life ever so much better, I spent time before the dental appointment with Nancy and her son Anthony (an absolute charmer, whose self confidence is not only endearing, but enviable), and later, had coffee and more time with Nancy to talk. I forget how good it feels, how positively soul-reviving time with a friend can be. I've felt better all week because of it, even though I got a speeding ticket on Wednesday. And that time, I was thinking only of words like time, and late, and hurry.

Yo-Yo Weather

It's rainy and dreary here again today, but let's not talk about that. A couple of weeks ago, the weather was perfectly wonderful for a few days. On a Saturday, we went to Greenville, about 65km away, to the zoo, which was unbelievably crowded. Thanks to the sunshine and warm temperatures (26C), I didn't mind it at all. Or maybe I was just desperate to get out of the house and out of town for a few hours. In the zoo, I asked myself the usual question, "what's my favorite animal here today?" In fact, my favorite zoo animal hands down is the hippopotamus, but they don't have any in Greenville. And I played the game of trying to figure out which of the animals looked the most like I felt. The anit-social elephant covered in red mud, her backside to the crowd? The other one, clean, facing the crowd head on and up close? The chimpanzee seated against the bars of her cage, her outstretched hand imploring visitors to offer her a cracker? The small leopard lying along a long in the sun? The turtle, too cold now that the sun had moved to find a warmer spot? I never did decide on a favorite for the day (Really, what can compete with a hippo?). And as for which animal was most me, maybe the leopard, feeling nothing more than gratitude for the sunshine.
After the zoo, we drove downtown for dinner at Sticky Fingers Rib Shack, where they serve, you guessed it, ribs barbecued any way you want them (and the best wheat beer on tap I've had since Brno). All I can say is you come to visit, I will take you there; you will eat great ribs, you will learn your blues name and you will love it all.
After dinner, we walked a few blocks to Reedy River Falls Park, where besides water rushing over massive rocks, the river winds through miles of paved pedestrian paths dotted with grassy areas, woods, and flowers.
There were children (and a few grownups) rolling down grassy slopes, blossoming hyacinths, daffodils, crocus. People lolled about on the grass or on blankets, reading, enjoying their feasts of picnics and private music or kisses (though none for me). We watched two boys good-naturedly try to retrieve their football from a whirlpool at the base of the falls, and for a half hour, maybe less, all of my hopes were fastened on their success and I lost sight of my own troubles. I wasn't the only one who cheered with real enthusiasm when they finally got the ball and launched it back across the river.

It's No Big Deal to You, but

for us, even a tiny bit of snow is a thrill. And this much, well, this much means no electricity for about 18 hours and no school or work for two days. And for me, a lovely reminder of my Brno, though in Brno, the white silence wasn't devoured by the sounds of gasoline-powered generators.

Sunday

I had to go save these from being further beat down into the ground by the rain and the precipitation expected tonight.