Summer Has Arrived
Dear Diary (or Persons Who Are Dying To Know What I Am Up To),
Just recently, I enjoyed three straight days of doing nothing related to work. It was three straight days of doing only that which I felt inclined to do. On Thursday, I made my way to the Flying M for banana bread and a mocha. I took a book with me that I've recently become enthusiastic about. It's entitled Freedom's Ferment and it was written by Alice Felt Tyler way back in 1944. The author describes in a very fair, objective manner, the "Phases of American Social History from the Colonial Period to the Outbreak of the Civil War". It's really interesting to read about social experiments, religious and nearly-secular utopias, that existed as semi-successful communities in America at one time or another. We're talking about groups that might be considered cults if they existed today. But they were actually well thought out social systems; complete with their own economic and moral codes of conduct meant to uphold absolute equality, justice, and (in most cases) adherence to God's will here on Earth. It's interesting how many of these groups sprung up after the Enlightenment. And it's interesting to read about the ideas the founding members of the groups had. On their face, some ideas seem very good (like Brook Farm set up a system in which everyone was payed the same for their labor, and everyone was expected to engage in manual labor of some sort--even the children). Unsurprisingly, most groups failed economically (like communism tends to do), but its interesting to read about what worked, what didn't, and why.
So I read just a little of this book Thursday at the Flying M Coffee House before Edvin (Jennifer's best friend's husband) made an appearance. He sat down and we chatted for a bit before Jennifer showed up. Fern and I set off to get lunch at Pollo Rey moments later.
After lunch I decided to do more reading at the new Starbucks in the Boise State University Library. The Idaho Historical Museum is on the way to the university. There in front of the museum was a poster indicating an exhibit inside about Freemasons, and the history of Freemasonry in Idaho. I decided to nerd out and have a big museum experience all by myself. It's nice to take your sweet time to read all about things like guns and toys used by early settlers or stare into glass cases that contain things like the Freemason's handbook or an early picture projector made for their meetings. The exhibit actually featured a real (barely) living Mason sitting at a table with a sign posted welcoming visitors to "ask a Freemason". I really wanted to ask the guy some tough questions (like "what's the deal with adopting religious symbols like the cross?", or "why would a person want to join?", or "do the masons strive to affect policy making?"; and, "if I join, can I drive one of the silly little cars, or do I have to reach a certain level first, like High Master?) Alas, I didn't have the, how do you say, balls to ask. I just walked on by and nodded a hello.
Anyway, after reading and enjoying a vanilla latte at the library Starbucks, I nerded out in the map section of the library. There the library has some fantastic, wonderful, topographical maps of areas of the Owyhees that Fern and I have recently explored. I really really wanted to photocopy portions of the maps, but again I did not have the balls. I refrained from breaking federal copyright laws and just sat there and tried to memorize them.
That evening, when Fern became available, we had ourselves a nice mountain bike ride up Your Mom, Freeway, and Sidewinder, down Sidewinder and Red Sands. A short distance into the ride, we were on the scene when a rider going far too fast for his skill level crashed while descending down on Your Mom. It was both embarrassing and painful for him as he acquired some pretty large abrasions over various parts of his body. We asked if he was OK. He said he just needed to lie there a moment. It was apparent that he hadn't actually broken a bone, so we rode on.
Returning to town, we stopped at what used to be Lucky 13 in Hyde Park for a beer.
I cleaned away half of my Friday. The apartment had been neglected for a week or two and things were getting a little stanky. So it was definately time to clean. Also, that evening there was planned a get-together at my place and my apartment complex's swimming pool. Leah, David, and Amy showed up first around 6pm. Fern showed up a little later, followed by Elizabeth and Edvin. After some small talk about some large subjects, most of us jumped in the pool. There was a lot of splish-splashing and otherwise child-like behavior going on. I felt very proud of myself for coming up with a super fun contest. Two people stood facing each other across the short length of the pool. They stood in the water where it came up to their necks. On the count of three, they would see who could "walk" or "tip toe" to the other side of the pool the fastest, without using their hands or arms. It was a basic race, but a very very slow and funny one. Funny that is, until I realized how rubbed raw my toes were from scraping them on the rough bottom of the pool.
I had provided some smoked sausages with sauerkraut and mustard, as well as cheap beer. Fun was had in the pool, despite a few minor injuries (Leah scraped the top of her toe and David got a charley horse). Elizabeth, Edvin, Fern, and I finished the night off with some energetic bouts of Smash mitten.
Saturday has been Fern and I's adventure day the last few weeks. And we've had some good ones. But this last Saturday was extra hot and we were a little tired of driving a few hours on our day off, so we opted to stay in Boise and have as nice of a day close to home as possible. To this end, we got on our bikes early, after a brief Flying M experience, and rode up Shanes and Three Bears. Three Bears features a succession of three or more very hard climbs (the whole thing is actually climbing). Fern dug into her suitcase of courage and performed excellently on some very strenuous climbs, despite the temperature heating up quickly. I was impressed.
After a shower, we went to our favorite spot for lunch on Saturdays, Tacabi (used to be named Koi), and had some tasty eats. I got my usual, Tom Yum Seafood Ramen, which is a ramen noodle soup with all kinds of seafood--mussels, scallops, shrimp, squid?, and something else. It's like dipping your soup spoon (or chopsticks) into the ocean and pulling out the best it has to offer. Fern ordered a bento box that had all kinds of good things in it.
Next, Fern and I chose to beat the mid-day heat by doing a little shopping. We stopped by our favorite Youth Ranch in Garden City. I found three very intriguing books ("Reasoning from Scriptures" [an oxymoron], "The Birth and Death of Meaning" [an ambitious book explaining why we are the way we are by tapping into the cummulative wisdom/knowledge of science], and a Christian book that focuses on the end of days and the antichrist.) We then checked out George's biggest competitor, Bob's Bicycles on Fairview. Afterwards, we visited the mall to find Fern a swim suit that wouldn't fall off her body like her old one tended to do. Upon arrival, I outlined the goal--to find a swim suit that fits absolutely perfectly, that is sexy, and which Fern feels 100% comfortable and confident in. Jennifer did not start off with a whole lot of enthusiasm for the mission because of all the difficulty she anticipated having finding something acceptable. The last store we tried, Macy's, had a pretty extensive selection of women's bathing suits, and some were actually stylish. I helped Fern search through the racks for something that would fit (I'm a good boyfriend). I found a top and a short-style bottom that both looked like the perfect size and went well together. Fern tried them on and they looked absolutely amazing on her. I gave my enthusiastic approval, she liked it as well, and this is how she ended up spending almost a hundred dollars on a bathing suit. Like I told her, it could be a long summer and we would make sure she got a lot of use out of the suit.
Did I go on about that? Sorry. Well, we got so excited about bathing suits, that I started shopping for one for myself. See, I really don't like the baggy board shorts that basically every guy wears. I envisioned myself getting something Speedo-like. Something much smaller and snugger that would show off my nice toosh, see. Long story short, that is exactly what I got at the Swim and Run Shop. I didn't get the tiniest Speedo, but one with a more short-like fit. Still, what I bought is very small and snug, which I like. Fern approves as well. I anticipate having one of the nicest tans of my life this summer, thanks to those shorts.
Of course Fern and I had to go straight to my place to try out our new swim wear in the pool. Neighbors were packed in the pool for some birthday party, so at first we sat in the sun reading. There were some extraordinarily trashy people at the pool. One lady sat in the water smoking a cigarrette with one hand and holding a beer in the other. Some guy made a big scene by loosing his temper and knocking over a chair. He was actually loosing his temper for a good 5-10 minutes-swearing up a storm. Several people left the scene for fear of being involved in some sort of domestic incident. He was a fire cracker, that guy. It was like watching an episode of Cops, just that the cops hadn't shown up yet. Fern and I just chuckled and continued floating around on our noodles.
And that was my three day weekend, what seemed like a real start to summer 2008.
posted by Josh @ 8:13 PM
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