Hazy, Hot, and Humid Spring Morning

6:20

Patio at Southern Tier Brewery

Waiting to watch The Dictator

It's already 63 degrees, sun burning through the haze over the lake, a slight breeze, with a high of 85 degrees later in the day.  No rain in sight for Memorial Day Weekend and as of yet, no big plans.  Before it gets too hot, I intend on watering a couple o spots where we put down new plants and some grass seed.

Yesterday was a busy day for Evie because we are having three couple over tonight for dinner and she wanted to get must things done early, keeping Friday a more leisurely day.  She made my favorite new dessert, a Turkish semolina cake, one that you bake then pour sugar syrup over, add a dab of  creme fraiche on top and it's heavenly.  We are also having pork chops, so Evie brined them and baked the eggplant and squash for putting together a ratatouille later today.  I went to yoga, probably for the last time in awhile, stopped at Weggies to pick up a few items for dinner, JC Penney to look for summer dresses for the girls (no luck) and then came home to help out with kitchen.  It was a strange day, a warm but strong wind, so strong it blew the plastic Adirondack chairs off the dock.

At 5:00, we went off with Ron and Linda to see The Dictator.  We were seduced by the trailers on TV and though it's not a great movie,  it is funny.  As Ron said, once you thought they had reached a level of vulgarity and crudeness, they surprised you by going even lower.  There is not much of a story, mostly funny scenes, crude humor, mostly sexual or bathroom in nature, what else.  Sasha Baron Cohen does bring politics into it, of course, and has a very funny diatribe at the end which skewers the current conservative republican point of view ( I don't think it will be reviewed on Fox News).  I constantly surprised myself by laughing at the crude and disgusting language and behavior.  Maybe I am rediscovering my adolescent self?  A student of mine from Reserve, a class mate of my son Tommy, was one of the co writers and producers, Jeff Schaeffer.  He was a marvelous English student in my AP class, a Presidential Scholar, but this antic side was rarely evident in class.

After the movie, we went to the Southern Tier Brewery for a few drafts and a sandwich. It was a beautiful night to sit out side on their patio, have a beer, and munch on chips and dip.  The barbecued beef sandwiches, however, were dry and not worth getting again.  For a Thursday night, we were surprised at how crowded it was, lots of people of all ages, one family with kids, and lots of bicyclist, just returning from a ride.  It would be a fun place to go with our kids this summer, especially on a nice summer night.  Tonight, local favorite Jackson Rohm, plays for three hours, no cover.  A friend of my daughter Jill dated Jackson in Atlanta, probably fifteen years ago, and she was surprised to see him up here for a weekend.  Small world.