Aw, yeah!

Since you're all waiting on baited bated breath, I will confirm: Yes, it's very, very hot here today. It's currently about 95 degrees, and our air conditioning is dutifully numbing us into a cocoon of, "Lalalala! The outside weather doesn't affect us! Lalalala!" The blinds are tightly closed and the only reminder of the outside world are the occasional squeals of kids splashing around in the pool. Were we not as lucky, we might have stopped off at a city cooling center today for water and some more pleasant artificial temperatures, but we're lucky enough to merely laze around our place in peace. Just think of all the weather complaining you would have been subjected to if we'd stayed in Tucson!

Also, there's currently a mosquito awareness campaign happening around town, as if we were ever unaware of the mosquitoes... Thanks, C'ville. Kill 'em dead.

In other local news, we took a very hazy trip along Skyline Drive yesterday took a trip along the hazy Skyline Drive, beginning in Elkton, VA, and following south to the Waynesboro area exit at the head of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was after a brief stopover in Harrisonburg, home to James Madison University, which has, for obvious reasons, taken on a new significance in our world. Despite the looming heat and desolate campus, we did manage to enjoy ourselves near the enormous statue of JM's head. About half the week, I am trying to get into JM's head, reading his letters, considering his relationships and circumstances. And wouldn't you know? It's impenetrable.

Anyway, along Skyline Drive, we saw lots of trees, lots of bugs, lots of haze, and lots of Quebecois tourists with expensive camera equipment. I felt pity, knowing how poorly their shots would turn out, which launched Ben onto a 10-minute lecture on the failings of landscape photography in the first place. Because of this, I'm posting two very hazy landscape shots, just to tick him off a little and find some solidarity with my northern brethren.

As we ambled back into Albermarle County, we stopped at a quaint country market for bread, cheese, and overpriced, imported beer from Holland, just to appease the landscape-irritated Ben. [Ben's note: they had my favourite Belgian-style Ales. And if that's what I get for voicing my irritation, be on the lookout for more rants a-comin'...] We capped off the day with the beginning of a great, if unanticipated, documentary, When We Left Earth, about early NASA missions and the development of the space program. I feel much better versed in extravehicular activity today than I did yesterday.

Of course, all of yesterday's activity was merely preparation for today's main event: listening to Sue live on the radio! She was the esteemed guest of a local call-in morning show, sharing her experiences with the University oncology center's integrative offerings as part of a panel. How cool! Thanks to modern technology, we streamed the show in real time on iTunes, though (also thanks to modern technology) we also looked awkwardly at the walls, wondering, like Jim Gaffigan, what we were supposed to focus on while we listened. ;-)