No Buy July

When I took my car in to get serviced yesterday, the shop informed me that I needed new brakes. I did a little research and found that 50,000 miles, 5 and a half years, with mostly in-town driving, was a reasonable lifespan for brakes, and so agreed to the extra work. The job was going to take extra time, too, so rather than have me wait, as I had been planning to, my service advisor offered me a free loaner. 

This convenience is one of the benefits of taking my car for maintenance and repair to the dealership where I purchased it, and I have enjoyed tooling around in a new Subaru several times over the years. Yesterday was no exception; when they pulled a 2023 Outback with only a couple thousand miles around to the front and handed me the keys, it was a little thrilling to climb behind the wheel. I savored the newness of the vehicle as I adjusted the automatic seat and mirrors and paired my phone easily with the huge display. The trip home was fun: the car was familiar, but the ride and the handling were smoother and more responsive.

Oh, they know what they're doing over there at the dealership; I'm sure more than a few courtesy loaner customers come back with a hankering for a new car, and I might have, too, were it not the 7th month of my "holidays" from things I might over-indulge in sometimes. This time? It's purchasing anything that is neither consumable nor a gift. Brakes fit the description, a new car does not.

Or does it?

Not Just a Kernel of Truth

I picked four little ears of silver queen corn from my garden and cooked them for dinner. The kernels were small, but tender and sweet, and based on our satisfaction with them, I already consider the corn-growing enterprise a win this year. 

I don’t grow corn every year; and I can’t say that it’s ever been a very successful crop in our garden. I’ve done three-sisters planting a few years, and while the beans and squash did pretty well, the corn has always been a little disappointing: weak stalks that tumbled in the wind, ears too small or too buggy. 

I did harvest a half dozen promising ears four years ago. It was near the end of July, and we were driving out to stay with my mom in Minnesota, so I packed the corn in a cooler for the 2 day drive. When we arrived, I offered to make dinner and eagerly put corn on the menu. 

Unfortunately, the kernels on those ears were starchy and tough. I did not consider the dish a total loss, though, since I had cut the corn off the cob and sautéed it with fresh lime beans for summer succotash. When our meal was over, I asked my mom what she thought. “Did you like the corn?” I said.

She looked a little stricken at the question, and I could almost see the wheels turning behind her widened eyes before she gave up trying to find a tactful reply. “No!” She shook her head.

I laughed. “Thanks for your honesty, Ma!”

Pick of the Season

Oh summer vacation and its choice choices! 

Today I spent my morning playing pickleball and my afternoon picking vegetables in my garden. Maybe next I'll pick a movie to see tomorrow.

Rings a Bell

After seeing the trailer yesterday for the latest Mission Impossible movie, Heidi declared that we should watch the previous six before catching the seventh on July 12. Why not? I thought, but as I searched our streaming options, I proposed that we watch number six first, and then work our way backward.

"I don't think we've seen that one," I said, "so there's that."

Heidi agreed, and as we watched the opening scene, I was certain I was right: there was nothing familiar about the primitive cabin Ethan Hunt was holed up in, or the messenger who came to his door. And I undoubtedly did not recall any of the exchanged codewords or the mission description on the reel-to-reel tape which predictably self-destructed in five seconds.

But when, in the next scene, the deal for three orbs full of plutonium went sideways because Hunt would not sacrifice a member of his team, a tiny neuron in the back of my memory fired, and by the time Angela Bassett and Henry Cavill were on screen, I knew we had seen the movie, and I even recalled several vital details about the plot. 

Soon I was recalling a hot summer day, and a third person with us at the theater, but when and who? Conveniently, my movie theater rewards membership keeps a record of all the movies I have seen in their theaters, and it didn't take much to scroll back several years to July 30, 2018, when we saw the movie at noon. Next, I clicked through the archive of this very blog to find that it was Josh who went with us. He was still living in the area, and having a flare-up of his chronic IBS, so we got him to come to stay with us for a week so that we could nurse him back to health.

I think I dozed off not long after that, secure in my refreshed five-year-old memories, but a little bored by the movie whose novelty had been negated.

Been Away Awhile

I struggled to manage my expectations as I slid into my swanky recliner seat in the Dolby-equipped theater. We were there to see the new Indiana Jones movie, but first, of course, there were the trailers. In the next 15 minutes or so we saw Tom Cruise destroy a train that he had built for just that purpose, Captain Marvel and a couple of her colleagues destroy several things, and lots of horror previews, replete with screams and jump scares. Each trailer boomed through the theater, shaking our seats.

"It's soooo loud!" I shouted to Heidi, who was sitting next to me.

"It's the movies, Babe," she answered with a smile and returned her attention to the screen.

Recovery Time

So often I have heard people sigh some variation of, "Oof! I need a vacation from my vacation!" 

I know what they mean: anytime we take an extra day or two during the school year to get away for some fun, coming back, without the downtime that a weekend usually offers, can be brutal. 

I thought about that this morning on our first day home from our recent vacation. As we walked to the farmer's market, the whole day stretched before us-- heck! more like the whole week, if not the whole summer-- and I sure was grateful.

And So It Grows

The clouds were heavy and thunder rumbled as I spun the numbers on the garden gate's lock this afternoon. In the first hours home from a summer vacation there are always a couple of must-dos, pet the cats, open the mail, unpack my part of the travel supplies (downstairs and the kitchen), and check on the garden. 

This time of year, being away is always a thrilling balance between worrying about the well-being of the plants and being eager to see what growth there has been in the time we've been gone. Today was a particularly rewarding check-in: I harvested a quart of green beans, a couple of zucchini and a yellow squash, and 10 cherry tomatoes. In addition, I clipped a pretty bouquet of purple coneflower, orange mini sunflowers, and red zinnia. 

As the first fat drops of the impending thunderstorm began to fall, I hastened to the gate, grateful for both the crops in my hands and the rain that was about to nourish my garden.