This week marks summer's last gasp and the first anniversary of the Katrina catastrophe. At Terra Nova, it's another scorching day. Five frogs have taken refuge behind the porch fountain, an encouraging upsurge in population following a recent visit from a handsome, doe-eyed garter snake with a species-wide reputation for eating small reptiles and amphibians. The dogs are napping away the day as usual, while I continue to chip away at my writing.
It seems this summer went more quickly than usual, punctuated as it was by travel, the latest junket to North Carolina to visit my dad and attend my 35-year high school reunion. Good grief. It was a trippy experience, like falling into an alternate universe peopled with characters who all vaguely remind you of someone you've known in an alternate life. Lauren met me in N.C. and escorted me to the event where she turned quite a few hoary heads and prompted numerous comments about our resemblance to one another. One woman even mistook her for me. Had I thought of this in advance, I would've just sent her in my place and let everyone believe I still look 27 and fabulous.
EK spent a month in Australia, interning with a vet there and then traveling up and down the eastern coast of the continent. She arrived home laden with gifts, memories and photographs of kangaroos, koalas, wombats and the Sydney Opera House. Fortunately, her little Cavalier spaniel had survived his month with us at Terra Nova, despite ongoing efforts to off himself. (Hello, Mr. Rattlesnake. Wanna play?)
In world news, the globe is still warming; Iraq is still in chaos; Iran is still rattling nuclear sabres; and Israel is awash in bad press following a 3-week war with Hezbollah, which resulted mainly in revealing the faction's real strength, and re-reducing Lebanon to ashes and rubble. Fortunately, according to the White House, none of this is anything to worry about, just the birth pangs of a new Middle East. Thank goodness. Oh, and you can't take your bottled water along or wear a gel-filled bra when you fly anymore because of a foiled Al Queda plot to blow up a few more airplanes with liquid explosives. The Brits figured this one out; it seems their intelligence agencies are still functional. On to autumn!
It seems this summer went more quickly than usual, punctuated as it was by travel, the latest junket to North Carolina to visit my dad and attend my 35-year high school reunion. Good grief. It was a trippy experience, like falling into an alternate universe peopled with characters who all vaguely remind you of someone you've known in an alternate life. Lauren met me in N.C. and escorted me to the event where she turned quite a few hoary heads and prompted numerous comments about our resemblance to one another. One woman even mistook her for me. Had I thought of this in advance, I would've just sent her in my place and let everyone believe I still look 27 and fabulous.
EK spent a month in Australia, interning with a vet there and then traveling up and down the eastern coast of the continent. She arrived home laden with gifts, memories and photographs of kangaroos, koalas, wombats and the Sydney Opera House. Fortunately, her little Cavalier spaniel had survived his month with us at Terra Nova, despite ongoing efforts to off himself. (Hello, Mr. Rattlesnake. Wanna play?)
In world news, the globe is still warming; Iraq is still in chaos; Iran is still rattling nuclear sabres; and Israel is awash in bad press following a 3-week war with Hezbollah, which resulted mainly in revealing the faction's real strength, and re-reducing Lebanon to ashes and rubble. Fortunately, according to the White House, none of this is anything to worry about, just the birth pangs of a new Middle East. Thank goodness. Oh, and you can't take your bottled water along or wear a gel-filled bra when you fly anymore because of a foiled Al Queda plot to blow up a few more airplanes with liquid explosives. The Brits figured this one out; it seems their intelligence agencies are still functional. On to autumn!
