Tuesday, July 12, 2011

A Brief Experiment in Yuppieness

I'm sitting at a Panera Bread restaurant, typing on a Mac Book (not mine). My sister-in-law is sitting across the table from me, on her laptop. We're sharing a cinnamon roll and reveling in our temporary childlessness.

I'm very, very far from Blackrock, obviously.

So! Hello from beautiful Delavan, Wisconsin! We've been here for a few days now, after a few days in the car.

We drove across Canada to get here, crossing the border into and out of Canada in the same day. On the way into Canada, we were questioned on any guns, mace, pepper spray, or tasers we might have in our possession. On the way into the United States? Not a bit of concern about weaponry, but the border patrol agent confiscated our grapes. The grapes that we bought in New York, transported across Canada, and then had taken away from us by the U.S. Border Patrol because they were grown in Mexico.

I have no further comment on that ridiculousness.

Anyway! Those few days in the car were not the most fun I've ever had, although Cubby once again demonstrated his superiority by being surprisingly stoic at the reality of sitting in a car seat for hours at a time. Only a couple of hours at a time, though. We saw a lot of parks between home and Wisconsin.

A. has spent most of his time here fishing off the dock of the house my parents rented. My three-year-old niece, bless her, has spent a lot of her time out there fishing with him. In fact, I think she's caught more fish than he has. We even ate some for lunch the first day we were here.

You can take the woodchuck out of Blackrock, but you can't take Blackrock out of the woodchuck. Or something.

My brother has been working this whole time, but he arrives this afternoon, so we'll have the whole clan together for at least part of one day before we all disperse tomorrow.

It's been a nice trip so far, but I bet the sheep miss A. and I'm sure the weeds in the garden miss me, so back on the road again we will go, Blackrock bound.

Catch you on the flipside, poppets.

11 comments:

  1. Why is it that half the country somehow ends up in Wisconsin for a day or two every summer? I hope it's cooler than the rest of the Midwest right now, and that you have a safe trip home.

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  2. This is working for me....the men gainfully employed, the kids quiet and fishing and you.....sitting in an air conditioned restaurant tapping on the keys.

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  3. Good to hear from you again. Those weeds can wait. Enjoy your time away. And thanks for thinking of those of us who can't start their day without peeking into Blackrock!!!

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  4. Only a couple more years until Cubby is the 3 yr old fishing with A. Think of the free time you'll have!

    The grapes made me laugh. The journey they went on only to end up in the trash. Regulations have reached a new high for stupidity or maybe irony. Did you see the story in Oak Park, MI about the woman that is facing a possible sentence of 93 days in jail for growing a garden on her lawn? Throw away the illegal border crossing grapes and outlaw visible food producing plants. What a country!

    Ditching the grapes was probably for the best anyway. I believe grapes are on the dirty dozen list of pesticide contaminated fruits and veggies. I've quit buying grapes from the store and only eat them in the fall when the local grapes are at the Farmer's Market. I'm hoping the local farmer isn't so liberal with the sprays since he is eating the grapes too.

    Hope you are getting some swimming in and the AC in the car works all the way home.

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  5. Delavan!! You're quite a ways south of me. My daughter is either in Whitewater or Milwaukee today, so she's closer to you and the family. Enjoy the trip!

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  6. Panera Bread is one of my most FAVORITE places to go on a whim. We have one about five minutes from our house. I love the Fontega chicken sandwhich and for breakfast, the three cheese soufle. Yum-Yum. These things are bandaids for having to still live in the city since we cannot yet live on our farm land full-time. Almost! Sounds as if you've been having fun, that is always good!

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  7. They took your grapes. Now tell me that's not a government operation.
    Whimps. Scared of some fruit. Ha.
    Have a good trip back!

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  8. @Charade
    Checking Weather Channel.com it says that tomorrow's high is supposed to be 75 with a low of 57 in Delevan, Wisconsin. Compare that to a high this week of 103 in Dallas and I ask myself *why* am I NOT in Wisconsin? So what if I know no one there.

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  9. So how did you smuggle Cubby into and out of Canada? Doesn't everyone have to have a passport these days?

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  10. Aw Glenda take your toys and go home won't you? B.

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  11. RLS: For Canada, at least, children under I think age 15 only need a birth certificate. And a letter of consent if they're not with their parents, or a letter from the absent parent if they're with only one parent.

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