Goodbye Summer

It's been so long since my last post, I almost forgot my password. The past few days have been spent sipping the sweet nectar of the fading summer sun (and a few other bibations as well. Perhaps I will enlarge upon sweetness of absinthe later, although I have to admit, I'm a little curious about how this liquor brought so many artists to their buckets.) Our swan song Va Beach Labor Day Weekend celebration with the New York Cooks was definitely a highlight of the summer, as well as a farewell. Good bye, Ghent Square Pool. Good bye, Busch Gardens. Good bye, Lagoon Pool, even though we didn't make it there... Good bye for now, Beach. Husted Family, just look at the fun you've been missing by not coming to see us during the summer. Although the visit started out with gloomy weather, the last couple of sunsoaked days provided all the proof needed for why this place is a vacation destination for those without time and/or money to go to the Virgin Islands every year (as long as you don't have to go through a tunnel):

Some indulgences: Fun at the pool: Great form on field trips: And The Beach: Brian has a really great photo of the boys and dolphins I'll post, if he sends it, in order to make you truly sorry you didn't get out here during the summer.

So you can see why I felt sort of mopey this afternoon, suffering from PPD (post party depression). After fond farewells to our wonderful house guests (kids got along great, were cute and polite, Mikko washed dishes and provided wonderful conversation, Brian cooked and did projects with the boys when not belly busting waves), I spent the afternoon doing laundry, trying to organize the office to maximize the great new shelving system Brian installed, and catching up on email and late library books. The Doldrums were settling in as I realized the work that lay before us in the fall. That is, until Dan turned on the TV for the Republican Convention. I have had so little appetite for this election that I didn't even know Obama chose Biden for VP for two days even though it was spread across the Sunday front page. The primaries wore me out before they even began, and I didn't have any confidence in the offerings. So why trudge them out again, I thought. Then Sarah Palin came out: WOW! I might just have to put a sign on my door that says PALIN POWER! Her first son is named after Track season; I've got to respect that. Could anything be cuter than her youngest daughter licking her palm to rub down the baby's hair? And step aside, Hilary: it looks like she can play politics with the best of them, even if -or because - she is small town. Those who thought Obama was a shoo-in must be quaking. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out, - I'm sure the woman has some dirty laundry to uncover besides a pregnant teenager -- but there's finally something to get excited about! Some drama, plus some commentary on clothing, hair and childrearing. (Bangs have got to go.) She has self-confidence w/o the bitchiness of HClinton, and has a working man hubby w/o the smarm of BClinton. The question is, will she be able to stand up to the attacks to come? This could be a particularly vicious election season with all the bitterness that has been percolating the last half decade.