Happy Summer

Hello, all,

Was that really me that was complaining about the weather just a couple blogs ago?

K and B picked me up after work on a Friday - what better day? - and we all went down to the lake to enjoy the fine weather and the end of the week.

(Fine weather, yes! It wasn't long after my gripe that the weather turned for the better - proof again that the only thing more worthless than today's weather forecast is yesterday's! - how that applies I have no idea, but it sounds good as a pithy thaying, and I'm not lithping, either. As I type this it's 32 blazing degrees -that's Eurospeak for 90, the first such day this year here. Booyah! Summer's here!)

Now back in Minneapolis I may have gone by myself to the lakes - but what's the fun in that? Yeah, sometimes it's fun to get away for some alone time, but just as often it's fun to have someone with to enjoy life, and times like this that I appreciate my family. Just the week before I had gone down to the lake myself and saw how many people were down there with there families. So I says to myself, I says "Self, you've got to get the fam down here to enjoy the surroundings with." And there's plenty to enjoy, posters along the boardwalk (see above), food stands, outdoor restaurants, people watching, statues...


and a kid's beach...


...benches to sit on and take it all in...


K strolled with B in one direction, and I bladed in the other, taking pictures. Then we rendezvoused (that's French!) back at our starting point, where's the beach and the statue and the restaurant with straciatella ice cream cones and croque monsieur sandwiches and benches to relax and take it all in.

So what else did we do to enjoy the summer? Glad you asked. Last night we went to a church picnic. Tonight we go to another outdoor BBQ put on by some other CMS students. This weekend also all the surrounding communities including Geneva have some version of the "Fete de la Musique". After the picnic last night I strolled into downtown Ferney and took in a reggae band singing in French - they were pretty good too (see the video snippet on our dropshots). Reminded me of the old days back in Minneapolis when they had the Uptown Jazz Festival (would have been this weekend too) and also the Battle of the Bands along Nicollet Ave. in downtown Minneapolis on the first night of the Aquatennial. Of course, back then, I would have been by myself...

Hope you're enjoying your summer, wherever you are!
Take care,
-PKBD