Scarlet Pimpernel

Yup, that prep drink is disgusting...and the "flavor packs" don't help!! I'm sorry to hear you had to go through surgery for Crohn's, I have heard that's somewhat common for the condition. You may be biased by your own personal situation...everyone is of course. But that's not a bad thing. It's when others cannot even try to understand the larger picture here. While personal choice is something we pretty well can all agree on, fact is that a virus doesn't give a damn (any more than it cares about one's politics). If it were a situation where you could take a "risk" without doing anything to anyone else, that would be different. That's not the case with this. And like I said, I know enough people, family and friends, who have varying degrees of potentially at-risk conditions. So I'm biased as well in my view on the whole going back to school or re-opening stuff. I can see how the more remote counties in MD would be better able to "re-open" or even have back to in-person school this fall to whatever extent. I don't have any issue with that, if it's done safely and in a reasonable manner. The areas near DC and Baltimore are a totally different situation. Thus, different decisions, depending on the county (and number of cases, how under control it is, etc.).

First...oh, man, that sucks about Crohn's. And I can empathize, because I've had a history of colitis myself (going back to when I was about 11-12). Ugh! I've had enough of those endoscopy tests that I can almost have a drinking game with that God-awful nasty prep solution you have to drink the night before!! I can deal with an all-liquid diet for a day, and can deal with the procedure itself (they knock you out for it anyhow). But in the number of times I've had to go through this, I've *never* gotten used to drinking the gallon of that metallic salt flavored s*it!! More on topic, I definitely agree with you and get the concern. I know enough people and have enough friends (including family) who have any variety of "risk" conditions. I think we'd all like it if schools (and anything else) could reopen and we can get back to some kind of normalcy. My own daughter will be a Senior this upcoming year, and MoCo just announced it will begin the year with virtual learning through at least the first *semester* (near the end of Jan. 2021). All fall sports and whatnot are canceled of course, with that. Does it suck, especially since she's a Senior? Yeah, and I feel for the fact that her last year in HS will be marred by this crap. Maybe, with some luck, they'll have some in-school instruction come the 2nd semester but I'm not sure. And who knows if they'll have a "live" graduation or do something remote like they did for the class of 2020 this year. So yeah...a drag. BUT...I totally get it and for the most part support the decision. MoCo, just by nature of being highly populous and within the DC metro area, has the 2nd highest number of cases (I think PG has the most in the state?). So it's a different animal than other parts farther out in MD. I'm sure some areas of the state can more safely open earlier or start up some kind of blended in-person/remote kind of deal. Yeah, as much as I totally support being very cautious on re-opening, especially in some areas, some of the rhetoric gets over the top. You're right, the real threat is spreading the disease rampantly through the community by having thousands of kids in school (even if the younger kids might be at far less risk for severe reaction). And there are probably enough kids with at-risk conditions, as well.

Whoa...I guess I missed it. So yesterday was @stormtracker's birthday, and today is @mappy's? Well happy (somewhat belated) birthday to you both!! I hope you have a wonderful day!! Party hearty!!!

Ohhh, tasty!! Is that tsztiki dolloped on the top there? (not sure I spelled that correctly, but I do like the stuff!!). Rice cookers are great, by the way! Had a roommate in grad school who had one. It made just about perfect rice every time!!!

Is that chilled for a short time after baking? Not that it would be bad either way (hot/cold)...for the fish.

Cool...and thanks for sharing! One thing...I wonder if a few slices of avocado would be good, adding to that (or would that be too much). I'm a fan of avocado!

Dammit, Mrs. J...that is quite the dinner! And yeah, perfect for a hot day!

This is a great story, @H2O. Obviously not saying that because your dad was a racist as you say, but because you grew up beyond that with your own experiences and realized how that was just not right. I'm sorry to hear that you started hating your dad due to this, but I can understand (I've got my own crap family issues!!)...if that makes any sense. It's good you are drawing a line in the sand based on your experience; I find myself doing that as well. I've known people of various backgrounds, men, women, boys, girls, etc...and yes, you learn to like or dislike them based upon who they are, not because of some superficial aspect about them. I grew up in a fairly mixed neighborhood in the '70s and '80s, and knew black and white people who would treat me well and were friends, and those who treated me like shit. I didn't base that treatment on their race. Assholes transcend any cultural or racial barrier. As do people who are kind. I've lost some friends whom I've found over the years were not willing to be accepting of people for who they are...they objected based on their religious views or racial views (even if they thought the person was "nice")...and I just simply cannot go along with that.

Some clouds at sunset, between storms, this past Friday.

That's Cool, Mrs. J! My daughter has been taking riding lessons (and before that, summer camp sessions) at Meadowbrook Stables near Bethesda/Silver Spring. Really likes it! This summer they're allowing makeup classes for this past year (they were closed from March until now), so she's begun that again. And she's doing work there as an assistant to some of the half-day camp sessions too (that started up last week). She's a long way from jumping...right now her lessons have been walk/trot/canter.

I'm sorry to hear all this, PSU! I hope your son and daughter will be OK after all that. Funny (that's funny strange, not funny ha-ha, as a teacher I had once used to say)...your mention of your 2 year old crawling into Lily's bed by the window reminded me of how my daughter used to ask if she could make a "floor-bed" in our room if she felt scared or when there were thunderstorms, or after a movie that made her sad, or after a bad dream...years ago when she was younger. Your son is asking some questions almost beyond his years...and I cannot blame you for not knowing exactly how to answer. How does one explain that to a 5 year old, really? I don't know if I could do it very well, honestly. It's not easy to explain to someone that young that sometimes, people just simply suck...or explain a long and not very pleasant history of events in this country. But he's got the right idea, simple as it may sound from someone his age...why would anyone be mean to those based on how they look?

Ha! Maybe so! Of course, I was just joshing you a bit on the hot/humid weather stuff! Well, the 5 foot cockroach remark wasn't really a joke, I swear you could ride the ones in Florida!! Or at least lasso them.

I'd think having lived in Louisiana, the heat here would be nothing to you (can hear you saying, "meh...95 degrees and 2000% humidity? Y'all should see what it's like on the bayou, wimps!!")! You should laugh at us "northerners" wilting in heat and humidity!! I'll be honest, I never could deal with oppressive heat/humidity as well as I could with cold. But I grew up in northeast Ohio...if it got to 90+ degrees, fetch the smelling salts!! I lived in Florida for about 3 years (northern part, while in grad school, at FSU)...and *hated* the summers there! Oh, and the 5 foot long cockroaches.

Oh my...I am so sorry to hear about this, EJ!! I hope for the best for your friends and their relatives, whatever it's worth for me to say that. Take care, OK!!

Couple of photos for some Friday cheer!! A rose by any other name... A silky fall of water...

Congrats on your oldest kid graduating! Yeah, given the times I know most schools have not conducted "live" ceremonies but at least many tried to do something. My daughter graduates next year, guess it remains to be seen how that will work out by then. I don't even know if/when they'll attend school in person come September or how they will accommodate that. But regardless, I'll just feel that much older!! Now GTF off my damned lawn!

Haha! I actually remember the days of the old "traveler's advisory", ranging from icy conditions to a light/moderate snow event. Personally, I think the current "advisory" that they use is fine for the most part, it has a pretty wide latitude which I think is good. Including criteria for rush hour impacts. It essentially means an alert for a low to moderate impact event. One thing I'm glad they got rid of a few years ago was the "heavy snow warning", never seemed to quite fit in and was a bit confusing why that would be different from a "winter storm warning"...which itself already covers heavy snow (among other things). I swear sometime I once saw a map that had some areas with a heavy snow warning, others with a winter storm warning...for the same event and snow amounts (though winds may have been more the criteria for that).

So cute!!

Similar thing here for MoCo. They'll give kids in middle/high school a Pass/Incomplete for 4th quarter, but you have the option to have a traditional grade or a Pass/Incomplete for the entirety of the 2nd semester (grades were given for 3rd quarter, so some combination of that and 4th quarter P/Inc). School ends I think the end of next week if I remember the date correctly. We've opted for the actual grade, too, for 2nd semester. My daughter also took 2 AP exams, which were all online and shortened to like 45 minutes (normally they're a couple hours). There's some disgruntlement with the process, as those APs are not cheap and you're getting basically a "lite" version this time around due to the current situation. Also, there have been issues with submitting your final answers/essays but not getting recorded, and having to re-take it again later (this happened to my daughter, she took the AP Language and Composition a couple weeks ago, but the submission failed...so now she's having to re-take it this Friday!). It's been a bit of a cluster, for sure.

Go back to sleep, come back about December and see what's what by then! (Sneak preview: people complaining how we suck, winter is cancelled, fringed, etc.)

Oh wow...very sorry to hear that, PSU! I hope you are doing better and recovering OK, take care of yourself!

Oh...my...does that look TASTY!!

Maybe we flattened the curve of useless posts? Besides, it's summer, doesn't it normally get kind of thin in here unless there's anything severe going on or a tropical system? (ETA: Oh, and there's not much in the way of sports going on now either...) (ETA more: Personally, I think that wiener/Spaghettio image way back early in the month killed the thread!)

SNOW IN MAY!!! Holy cow, this is more that we got all season during actual winter!! . . . Nahhh, just kidding! It's only a coating of cottonwood seeds that are collecting all over the damned place. But it sure looks like snow, and actually did "accumulate" more than what I saw this year! (ETA: I slant-sticked about 3/4 inch total, and it's still falling!)