It's Not the Heat

I realize we're in a bit of cool spell in Wisconsin (before next week's heat wave). I was complaining until we received this text from Carter today with the temperatures down in Selma, Alabama, where they're visiting his girlfriend's dad this week.

FEELS LIKE 111? Wow. I can only imagine how humid that is. Like step outside and you're instantly sweaty and sticky... and stinky, of course. Now I understand why the old timers always said it's not the heat, it's the humidity!

Here we are at golf league tonight wearing long sleeves in July because it was cool and windy. Makes me realize this is a pretty big country we live in. In central Wisconsin we finally got rain last night. Mostly a ton of lightning, but some rain. My family Up North got hail, so I'm OK ours was just rain.

Still, based on my limpy hanging flower baskets out front, we need more. Or I just need to take a break between golf rounds and work and actually water them.

Meh. Summer priorities.

If you're outside, just be careful out there. Hydrate and appreciate this brief season we call summer!

How Sundays Differ

Another day with no plans. What is happening?? Well we had church and I had choir so that was per usual. Then a friend from work stopped by and picked up those bunkbeds! Only took a month to give them away. 

This stage of the Empty Nest Shuffle is now complete!

Then I did my Saturday choirs – actually a week and a day late since I was gone last weekend – and thought maybe I should start tackling the clutter in my office (aka Oh My God Room). There were things on our night stands and on the headboard shelves that we moved off when we got our new bed.

And by "things," I mean books...

This is now fact. I mean I have been picking some up here and there at Goodwill, etc. Didn't realize I have plenty to read now. But I am right in the middle of "The Measure" for Book Club, so that pile will just sit there. I mean I did relocate the pile to the basement. So I guess it's more like another shuffle versus decluttering.

I know, I know. The shuffle only is effective if something is shuffled out the door. For the record, there ARE some already-read books in a box now that we'll price for our friend's garage sale in April. Teeny tiny progress.

Meanwhile, the source of our empty nest had quite a different Sunday.

Carter and Mamie have been down in Selma, Alabama, the last few weeks visiting her dad. So by happenstance, for the second year in a row they were there for the observance of Bloody Sunday – the day a civil rights march turned deadly there in 1965.

Last year, they heard VP Harris speak and today they got to see and hear...

Yup. They got to see the current president. That's pretty cool no matter what your political beliefs are. Obviously, he had to zoom in quite a bit, but Carter was excited about the whole experience. 

Can you pick him out in the crowd from this borrowed news photo? Uhm, yeah. I couldn't either.

But I think this is them. Based on his photos from where he was standing! A bit of a crowd, yes. And pretty neat. (P.S. Carter just corrected me. He was even with the third building – the white one with the black awning. So dang, we've got a sweet zoom on our smartphones.)

My Sunday seems boring by comparison, but maybe my book will be good. Gotta start making progress on that pile! Have a good week, everyone. And...

Based on this lovely photo... Be careful out there!

Logging Some Miles

Lest you think I'm the only with a busy travel life these days, our baby boy has been up and down and across the country (sort of) in the past few weeks.

Three weeks ago, Carter and his girlfriend drove south to Alabama to stay with her dad a few weeks. How quickly he learned that working remotely has its perks when you want to escape Wisconsin winters. So they enjoyed a nice visit and the laptop didn't melt in the sun.

This past weekend, though, was a whirlwind. On Friday, they drove the 907 miles north to Potosi, Wis., where Mamie's brother lives. Got there in the wee hours of the morning. Then on Saturday, Carter drove from there the 192 miles over to Chicago, where a college roommate lives. He parked his car there and his buddy drove him to the airport to fly out to Washington, D.C., for work. Definitely a whirlwind because he just texted 2 minutes ago that he landed back in Chicago already.

So how is adulting going?

He says pretty awesome!

First, working in Selma, Alabama, was a neat experience because their last Sunday there was the Selma Jubilee to celebrate the civil rights movement and historic walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge there.

So yeah, he was hanging out with Vice President that Sunday...

And somewhere in the crowd was also such notables as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of Martin Luther King's family.

One weekend with the VP and the next weekend in DC. Quite the presidential traveler! 

Carter said the work trip was cool because he finally got to meet many of his co-workers in person. Plus folks from Asia and Africa. He is in the study abroad industry, after all. He said he met a guy from Kenya and it turns out he was an exchange student a few years back at nearby Wausau. That was his small world moment! 

He had to do some presentations, which went fine, and now he is set continue adulting – with confidence. Proud of him and excited that he's taking advantage of opportunities along the road trip of life.

Glad we've both been bitten by the travel bug! 

Warning: Flake News

Remember when we were whining about our subzero temperatures a few weeks ago? Sorry about that, Siberia. (And the South.)

There were news reports that temperatures in parts of Siberia plunged to a "how do they breathe?" 88 degrees below zero yesterday, prompting even eyelashes to freeze. And probably any exposed body part!

I thought the picture was fake news, er flake news, but no, it's real. I would guess – like us Midwesterners – they are accustomed to record-cold weather now and then. But uff da! Or, as they say in Russia, ncNx!

I have some friends and family saying their equivalent of uff da this week, too!

My poor sister and brother-in-law opted to "winter" two months down in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Oh, they should never use "winter" as a verb! Today, as snow and ice blanketed the South, Rayna and Paul were basically locked out of their car. Iced out, to be more specific. Two snow brushes on hand couldn't chip through it enough to get in, see out of the windshield or go anywhere. At least for a good chunk of the day.

Uff da, right?

And our dear friends Mike and Christine were so looking forward to a week in Florida visiting her "wintering" parents. Well, it is sunny. But they have to bundle up to walk on the beach... in the 26-degree temperatures. At least it was nice enough one day to golf.

Hopefully the sun will actually bring warmth to both their beaches soon. Very soon.

I guess I'll have to refrain from bragging if the mercury reaches the projected 39 degrees here Friday. Mum's the word.

Or is it numb's the word?