Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Brown, Fat and Happy


We are just back from a superb flesh-and-blood weekend that somehow still kept the real world at bay. When we weren't riding all over Southern Delaware waters in the boat or driving to our favorite junk/antique shops, Michele and John and Steve and I spent our time sitting in our little outdoor living room, pictured above, looking out at at the water, talking, laughing, and putting away more wine than our bodies have had to deal with in many months. And the food! I was a cooking fool for my captive audience, in my element, and if we weren't eating homemade food we were taking our friends to our favorite eateries--the 2nd Street Grill in Lewes (by boat) for lunch and to Bev's in Rehoboth for Sunday breakfast. We reminisced, we caught up, we patched a few holes created by long absence. Michele and John are exactly our age and have lived the same sort of life we have, a two-earner childless couple with similar experiences and outlooks. They've done house rehabs, and they garden. They even have cats. When you're with people of such like minds it's so easy and comfortable to pretend for just a while that the world is perfect. It was only a weekend but it was a true vacation. We did realize, though, that we would never survive too many good times like the ones we were having. The joy that comes from overdoing everything is the very knowledge that you can, at least for a few days. Soon enough you'll be back to your disciplined, healthy ways--which make the occasional blowouts possible in the first place. If you ask me, that's not a bad way to live!

My mind is still filled with not much, although I have spent a couple of hours this morning catching up on all of my e-family's musings and music, getting some chuckles and inspiration, and being reminded of the joys to be had here in the ether. Unfortunately, the only thing that really keeps returning to my mind is a job I have to do outside and the coming beastly heat in which to do it. (Nobody needs a vacation more than someone on the first day back from a vacation!)

I'm sorry for the long absence and thank you regulars for faithfully stopping by. I've written so much since January. I have a secret hope that some of you who have arrived more recently will take the opportunity to dig back in the archives for some of the interesting stuff. Sort of close your eyes and point your mouse at something. You never know what you'll come up with. As I settle back into life here in the comfy confines of 12th Street I know some ideas will present themselves. A few are bubbling in the background already.

15 comments:

Kat said...

Ralph,
I'm glad you had such a good time with Michele and John, and I'm sure anything you cooked was appreciated as they love good food. They knew all the best spots in Cleveland.

Blow-outs, friends, laughs and memories are the best ways to live.

nan said...

Missed you, Ralph -- but knew you were off having fun! You know, I think I've followed you from the very beginning. Isn't it weird that in blogging, new readers do not tend to go back into archives? Sad but true, some of my early stuff was better and deeper than the stuff I am writing lately. When I go on vacation, I think I'll encourage the same . . . to the archives we should all go!

Ralph said...

Kat, it was great reunion. Maybe one of these times we can all do it all together!

Ralph said...

Nan, I'm thinking of taking the time, my next vacation, to go through the archives and re-publishing some of my favorites using blogger's delayed publishing feature. There'd be no music, but I could get some of my best stuff out there....

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Ralph! Tell me more about Bev's in Rehoboth Beach. There seems to be a dearth of breakfast places in town; there's the Royal Treat and then, well, uh... not much else. At least, that's the way I remember it from the last couple of years.

Thanks!

Ralph said...

Glad to, Danno! "Bev's" is really the restaurant connected to the Hampton Suites Hotel on Wilmington Avenue. (It has no name of its own--don't confuse it with Sammy's, which it shares the sidewalk with but is not the same place.) (The hotel has a website but there's no mention of the restaurant.) It's open only for lunch and dinner and Bev runs the place. She hosts, takes occasional orders, busses tables, and will strike up a conversation with anybody. If you strike back, she's your friend for life.

The menu is big and reasonable, the portions generous. Design-your-own omelets, a whole series of frittatas and Benedicts, wraps and sandwiches, plus the carb stuff--pancakes, waffles, etc. And the kitchen knows what you mean when you say you want your scrapple fried "crisp"!

If you go, tell Bev Ralph and Steve from DC sent you.

Anonymous said...

That's a great Nat King Cole song, really good selection for a time when we just past the Solstice. Welcome back blogger and I really enjoyed the photo of your lanai. It looks inviting.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Ralph. We're going to be in town the week of July 21st and we'll make it a point to stop and see Bev! I'll mention your name. [BTW, you meant breakfast and lunch, didn't you?]

Ralph said...

Hi, Z&M. "Lanai." Spoken by a true Floridian in the real estate business! We aren't screened in--we are candy for the bugs. (Those little buckets are insect repellent candles...)

Promise a good recipe for you Friday. Glad Kat came to the rescue with her curry.

Ralph said...

Danno: oops! Yes, breakfast and lunch.

Cuidado said...

Blow-out is an apt description to these occasional lapses of restraint. I find it harder and harder though to stay up late for more than two nights in a row. I'll be having a blow-out in August. I'll rest up till then, LOL

Ralph said...

You said it, Cuidado! I'm still recovering.

Anonymous said...

You know, Ralph, the world is perfect when you just sit back and allow everything to fall into place! It sounds as if you and Steve had a wonderful time, and I know what it's like to be with people who are of a like mind. These are the kinds of trips and occasions to be cherished.

And, I will go back and check out entries from a while back, as I'm just getting into reading your blog. I'm truly enjoying it.

Ralph said...

Peggy, I'm so glad you're enjoying it here. Thanks to you, and to Mark for sharing this space with you.

Mim said...

Well the friends food and wine all sound sublime!
Good summertime fun.
Mim