Year Without A Summer

The Eskimos have a legend about a year without a summer some time ago. The birds did not migrate north. The fish did not come home to spawn. The spring grasses did not sprout because the sun never shown through the clouds. Many people and animals died.

Escape to LA

I went to LA to get out of the cold foggy summer weather that has been plaguing us for months now but it was cold and foggy in LA too. So much for my summer vacation. So much for summer. School starts again on Tuesday. At least they have Balboa Bars down in So. Cal. A Balboa Bar is a block of vanilla ice cream with a stick in it. They dip it in chocolate then roll it in any topping you want. Crushed Oreo cookies, gummy worms, sprinkles, etc. I like the chopped peanuts. It was worth the trip.

Christmas

I woke up yesterday and thought, "It's so cold I'm going to go out and get a Christmas Tree and have a tree trimming party with egg nog and mulled wine." I think there is a Christmas tree farm just outside of Half Moon Bay. I'll have to be sure to take the coastal route just incase the pass is closed.

Winter Soup Recipe

Hi Everyone,

Since it is colder than fucking hell here in San Francisco this summer I thought I'd post the Winter Soup Recipe. Sorry I can't supply you with violent wind and the sound of an annoying neighbor dog yapping in the background. I'm sure that would make it taste all the better. Put on your wool scarf and break out the red wine (You'll need some for the soup too).

Winter Soup

3 teaspoons butter
3 medium onions, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 pound ground beef
3 cups beef broth
28 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 cup cubed potato
2 celery stalks
3 medium carrots
1 cup green beans
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Cook onion in butter. Add beef and garlic and cook. Add remaining ingredients and cook. Goes well with buttermilk corn bread but you can find your own damned recipe for that.

Fuck It

Tonight I gave in and turned the heat on. It's July 20th and I have the heat on. Cold, windy, foggy, and dark. Summer in San Francisco.

Rapids

Over the 4th of July weekend I went on a 4 day canoe trip down the Eel River. There were 27 of us. 20 adults and 7 kids. My friend has been making this an annual trip for about 30 years. At this point it is so well organized you don't really have to think about anything except when you are going to have your next beer. I got so relaxed on the trip that all of my ailments went away and my sense of humor came back. On one of the days we only saw one other person besides the folks in our group. We also got to see a bald eagle. He was looking stoic high up on a branch of a big tree above the river. On the first day of our journey people were running into rocks and having to bail water from their canoes. I told my brother that we were NOT going to let that happen to us. The day after that we came into some rapids and hit a rock broadside and flipped the canoe. My brother grabbed his 3 year old son and I went after the canoe. We are still blaming the incident on someone's 40 lb. watermelon that ended up in our cooler.

Before I left for the trip I cleaned out some items from the pantry that I knew I was never going to use even if there was an earthquake. Like the non-dairy creamer that has been in there for years. In my neighborhood you can put anything out on the sidewalk and someone will take it away and use it. So, I gathered a box of food from the pantry and set it out for people to take. They took everything but the non-dairy creamer. I took it back inside and thought, "Well, maybe I should take it on the camping trip just incase we run out of milk."

When we flipped our canoe we were just around the corner from where everyone else had stopped to set up for lunch. As they were organizing lunch they noticed some mash mallows go by. Then a hat. Then they swam out to collect the rest of our stuff. It wasn't until later that night that my brother and I realized that a bottle of Maker's Mark and two bottles of wine had been lost to the river. But someone had managed to save the non-dairy creamer. It floated downstream upright in it's half empty plastic container.

It has been two weeks since our trip. Some of my ailments are back and I have forgotten what a sense of humor is. My brother came by today to drop off some things I had left in his car. Some sunscreen, a towel, and the non-dairy creamer. It is safe and sound back home in its place.

Go USA!

I hurt my foot and can't play soccer for 8 weeks but at least I get to watch it. I haven't had enough sleep since the World Cup started. I have to get up early to find somewhere to watch it. I don't have a television anymore and my old computer won't support it live. Sometimes I watch the games at Lynn's house, sometimes at Bill place, but, most of the time I see the games at the new Hispanic rocker cafe down the street from my house. It's called Rock Nation. Usually it is just me, a huge leather couch and a big screen TV. Oh, and Sergio or Angelo. At first I thought they were the same person. They look almost exactly the same and they wear the same headband. The one who used to be a competitive bicyclist is the one who doesn't ride his bike to work. That's how I remember who is who.

Yesterday the US played like Brazilians against Algeria. Not the Beautiful Game but the exciting game. They pushed it right up to the end. Just to make everyone a little nervous and keep folks entertained. That's how the Brazilians I know play.

I heard that the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were very invested in the US vs. Algeria game because Algeria is a muslin nation. They wanted to see the muslims come out ahead just this once. The guards were ordered not to respond to the outcome in any way.

On the world's soccer stage the once prevailing mullet seems to have been replaced by the gay mohawk. At least that's what we call it here. It used to be a gay signature but now even the muslims are sporting them. Do they know? Should someone tell them? No, it's funny. Like the Tea Party folks calling themselves "tea baggers." It gets a chuckle from us here in SF every time we hear it.