Where's Dr. Write?

I know you have been fretting, thinking to yourself, "Where's Dr. Write? What could have happened to her? Why isn't she blogging?"
Well, I hate to tell you, but nothing exciting has been going on. For one week I was in Pinetop/Lakeside Arizona at a condo with my mother and her husband, my sister, ErinAlice and her family, Middlebrow & Son. It was great fun hanging out in the pines where it was very cool, it rained nearly every day, I wore the same sweatshirt for a week, we over-hiked (meaning we thought we were going to hike 6 but really we hiked 9.5), we engaged in all kinds of sports (miniature golf, fishing, swimming, ping pong, basketball, pool, hiking, tennis), and the liquor flowed like water sometimes as early as noon! Unheard of! We also watched our share of cable, including "Deadliest Catch" which is strangely addictive, and plenty of HGTV.
Then we stopped, too briefly, at Otterbutt's, where we hung out, ate, did some hiking, and adored her beautiful and amusing daughter. Also drank sufficient amounts. Also experienced more torrential rain. Also watched "Flip This House!" Vacation = Cable.
What else? I read the first in the His Dark Materials trilogy. (Loved it!) Finished Cloudsplitter. Finally!!
Also saw "Mamma Mia." Ridiculous and totally entertaining. How could you not love a movie that has Meryl Streep AND Pierce Brosnan AND Colin Firth AND Julie Walters? I tell you how: it's impossible. You can't.
I also started running again and am running two races in the next two months. I started swimming again, and I went to the tennis workout. (News flash: my backhand still sucks!) Also I went for a hike (not too long) with Sylvia and Gus (who was very well behaved! He's a champ!).
Next week we are going to Island Park, which as you know from our friend Hightouchmegastore, may or may not be heaven. I'll give you my verdict when we return. So much depends upon the density of the mosquitoes and the quality of the margaritas.
Pretty soon, I'll have to face reality and work on my syllabi. But for now, there's a Corona in the freezer with my name on it.

Another Wordle

A Wordle of my story collection: In The House

Of Watermelon, Peas & The Farmers' Market

This is a picture of the delicious Watermelon Margarita I made this week. I made them three times, and my advice is to freeze the watermelon for at least 24 hours and to add a dash of superfine sugar. You can put sugar on the rim, but it's unnecessary.

I bought some peas at the Farmers' Market this weekend, mostly because they were there and because Melissa told me about them. But then, when I got them home, I asked myself, what will you do with these? In the past, I have purchased vegetables which have languished in the crisper drawer because I'm not sure how to approach them.
The solution, my friends, is to google "peas" and "recipe" and then sift through those to find a winner. Which I did. Witness: Pea, Mint and Avocado Salad from Nigella Lawson's cookbook. At first I was dubious about the combination of mint with peas and avocado, (I kept thinking about how the British like corn on their pizza....) but it was excellent. It was even better the second day. I actually just tossed the peas with mint dressing, then added avocado and minimal greens. So tasty!

So now I'm really off. Well, Thursday. I guess I'm taking my computer. I might do some writing. Or something.

Memory Meme & I'm Off on Vacation

Thursday, MB, Son and I are heading south to the cool mountains of Northern Arizona. I'm not sure what adventures we will have there, but we're meeting ErinAlice & Co, and my mom and her husband. So it's sure to involve meat, some fishing, and some hiking. Perhaps some tennis? I bid you farewell until the end of July. (yikes!!! the summer is almost over! I'm having an anxiety attack!)

And, thanks to High Touch Mega Store, this meme.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I shared. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! If we're only blogging friends, write about a post that is most memorable. If you don't have a blog and don't know how to sign in, please comment as anonymous.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your own blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's a lot of fun to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I promise to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!

and . . .

3. If you can't say something nice, shh! Say nothing.
(just as a highlight: this song reminds me of music class in Morning Sun, Iowa, when I was in kindergarten. We sang this song, and even then it gave me the heebie jeebies. I think I foresaw my future of hostile silence wherein I said nothing and seethed. As you all know, that didn't come to pass)

Sometimes You Talk About Idaho

Dog in Field. Serene.

Fleur.
Le Taco Truck. Yum.
Literary Paver in downtown Pocatello.
An old sign. And a sign of dying downtown.

(FYI: the title of this post is taken from my least favorite Pam Houston story. It's about New Yorkers who talk about Idaho as if they understand it. I think the line from the story is "It [Idaho] is something you can talk about with certainty." Or some such bullshit. It's always grated on me. So here's a bit of Idaho I don't think she means: the taco truck, the dying downtown. She means the rivers and the rest of the stuff she can romanticize because she never lived there. Maybe I should write a story entitled Sometimes You Talk about California. It might include a wildfire that burns down a cabin belonging to a writer who lives in the city, but likes to "get away". Or maybe not.)

Son Reads MB's Mind

MB stubs his toe on an outdoor table in Idaho, yells nonsense, and sits down.

Son: I know what you're thinking, Dad, and it's the F word.

Recent Happenings in Dr. Write-ville

Back to lists:

1. I went to the Utah Arts Fest, where I read, friends of mine read, and Hightouch got a much deserved Arts Award from the Mayor (actually she got it from the Mayor's Chief of Staff who happens to be dating a friend of mine, but that's another story) and I had some important sightings. Let me list them here: the woman who punched another woman at the Son Volt concert last year (I saw her twice! with her kids!); the lead singer of the Purbats; a comedian with tons of tattoos that we recognized from Last Comic Standing. He's from West Jordan, but whenever he was on screen it said he was from West Jordy. Now that's comedy!
2. Went to Idaho. It was hot, but less hot than here, and fun. We did some hiking, and some swimming, some tennising, and more important, some eating of burritos from the taco truck and some drinking of the beer at the local brew pub. Also saw a grad school friend who just bought a house for $98,000. Anyone want to move to SE Idaho?
3. Two other cool things from Idaho: in downtown Pocatello they put pavers around downtown with quotations by local authors on them. They are about to do another round, but I missed the deadline. Maybe next time! I walked in to a coffee shop and there, there!, behind the counter was the man who had been my boss at the Starbucks on Queen Anne in Seattle. What, pray tell, was he doing in Pocatello? He opened a coffee shop there. His sister and brother live in Pocatello. Weird!
4. Middlebrow finished a big backyard project. He dug and hurt his back and sweated a lot. I helped a little. It's almost done (we need more gravel), but already I have that feeling of accomplishment, though I didn't really do anything.
5. Tomorrow: tennis! (playing. and maybe some watching. Wimbledon is nearing conclusion...)

And that's all for today.....