Movie night

Something new and different on Saturday - our neighbor down the street asked us to come over for a movie. That's not new, we've done it before, but this time she was having a movie in her back yard. 

Backstory: the theater in our town mostly does live music, but they've got two movies on the schedule, Blade Runner and Rocky, both of which will have live orchestral accompaniment. My neighbor and her partner wanted to see both, but it was too pricy, so they bought tickets to Blade Runner and put on Rocky in their back yard. 

Picture a small suburban back yard, maybe large enough to park three cars, if it wasn't tucked in behind a hedge and the garage. (I can fit 13 raised beds and a hammock in mine, with almost everything touching). Now picture a white sheet hung on the side of the garage, fifteen lawn chairs, and a DVD/projector hookup balanced on a ladder at just the right height.

They ordered pizza, made popcorn, bought movie theater candy, and had coolers of wine and beer. There was also a handy table of various mosquito sprays, bandaids, etc. (She's very prepared).

The show started with a video clip from a 1970s local TV news show. Everyone knew the theme music and sang along. Then a short film that was shown at the IMAX theater in Philly, and finally two previews, one for a movie about the making of Rocky, and then the original theatrical trailer. By then it was after 9, and full dark in the yard, and the movie started.

Now Rocky having its 50th anniversary makes me feel old, because it was the first movie I went to see with a girlfriend without any parents along. But you know, it holds up. And there's something to be said for tight editing and 90 minute films. (No I haven't been to see the 3 hour Odyssey yet, why do you ask?)

Everyone loved the whole experience and wants to do it again, but they aren't sure - they think it turned out as well as it did because it was relatively unplanned and no one knew what to expect.

But we still have a lot of weekends left to summer. We'll wear them down.

Summertime

The garden is coming along nicely. Tomatoes are finally turning red and I went out day before yesterday and found one of those stealth zucchini, the weapon-sized ones. 

Ratatouille is what's for dinner.

The horrible heat wave has passed, but on Saturday we got a popup storm that came with 70 mph wind gusts and all the rain at once. We got almost 2 inches in under an hour. 

Our town lost a lot of old trees, several electric poles snapped, a transformer blew, and the low-lying area by the railroad flooded like it always does, and the police had to do two water rescues. Like they always do. (Does no one read signs?)

Sometimes the celebration finds you

I wasn't really feeling it this year. The heat's been really bad, and the idea of leaving my house for any reason... no. Just no.

Plus a lot of our local activities were canceled. There was still a parade on the 4th, but at 9 a.m. and with only an abridged ceremony after, not the Field Day games at the school field which I volunteered to help with last year. We no longer do fireworks because the group that organized and funded them for decades was volunteer-run, and all the volunteers aged out and weren't replaced.

But Saturday night, at around 9:00 p.m., I heard fireworks and went outside. They were the ones in the next ttown up the road from us. Almost literally up the road, because they lookd like they were happening at the end of our street. Most of the neighbors ventured out of their air conditioning and we stood in the street and watched - close enough to see, far enough that they weren't noisy. 

As we watched, a breeze began to blow. We looked at each other - what is this strange thing? - and by the time the fireworks concluded, the lightning started. Within ten minutes, there was a soaking rain and the temperature dropped 20 degrees. It was glorious.

So that's how I ended up spending our country's 250th anniversary standing in the middle of the street, watching fireworks with a bunch of other people who apparently didn't make the effort to leave home either.

Sometimes the celebration finds you.

Heat Wave

 So this is what we're experiencing this week. I'm not up for writing much because my desk area is hot and I am sweaty and the combination is, shall we say, not pleasant.

I've slept a few nights in my hammock because I really don't like sleeping in air conditioning, but I may have to give in. If we do have a high of 107 tomorrow, it's not going to be below 85, even at night, and with 100% humidity, the mosquitoes will be feasting.

I have a net, and I'm not usually their favorite flavor, but these are exceptional circumstances. I can survive a few nights in AC.

Hope it's more pleasant where you are!

Day Trip

A few months ago, I saw an upcoming show advertised on Facebook. (There are times when it advertises to me that I know it has to be listening to my conversations, because otherwise how does it know some of the things it does?)

Anyway, the show was called The Last Ship, and it was a musical by Sting. I'd heard his original 2013 concept album years ago. Maybe not 2013, but pre-pandemic, at least. I was curious.

Told my husband. He was not equally curious, but he loves Sting, likes New York, and was up for a day out of town, for whatever the reason. So I bought tickets and then started looking at how to get there. 

Back when I was more willing to suffer to get somewhere, I'd take the local SEPTA train to Trenton and then pick up NJ Transit. It was cheap, not too slow, and you were gold if you made your connections.

I often did not. Then there are buses. Surprise! They're not as cheap as they used to be, and you have to deal with traffic. So I went Amtrak, and buying that far in advance meant that the train tickets were less than the show tickets. (Show tickets were only $60, although, as it turned out, we were 3 rows from the top of the Met. But still an excellent view.)

We went up on Sunday, got in at 11:30, walked from Penn Station to Lincoln Center, had a lovely brunch, then went to the show. Which was fabulous. I regret being too high to see Sting's face, but his voice was as good as ever. The show is set in the northeast of England, in the shipbuilding town where he was born. Basically he feared going into that life so much that it pushed him to become something that would take him away, and The Last Ship is his tribute to that. Lovely ensemble cast, fabulous set, great music.

When it was over, we retraced our steps back to Penn Station, stopping at a nice little bar on the way for a glass of wine and to cool off for a bit. Then reverse journey, getting home at 10:00 p.m., just as a thunderstorm hit.

Between exhaustion (almost 10 miles of walking), the overstimulation of NYC generally and seeing a show, and the sound of rain, we slept WELL.

I can see (clearish) now

Last Tuesday, I went back to the retina specialist to have my sutures removed.

I was both looking forward to it and dreading it - one step closer to finally being past the whole event, but... suture removal. 

Awake, if numb.

Ick.

Before I saw the doctor, I had the usual pre-testing (history, eye pressure, basic eye exam). I asked the assistant if the vision in my right eye could possibly have improved, because it felt that way. I knew it was unlikely; just another case of my brain telling me what I wanted to hear.

"It did," she said.

"It did?"

"When you first came in back in March, your right eye was 20/200. Now it's 20/70. The vision in your left eye is 20/60."

The suture removal was not painful, but ick. Have you ever seen Clockwork Orange? The doodad that held my eye open while he snipped and tugged 10 sutures from my eye reminded me of that. When I told the doctor, he had to take a moment to stop laughing before he started working. 

He still recommends that I get a replacement lens on my right eye so that I have close vision, but I really don't want another eye surgery. My vision in both eyes is so close now that it can be easily dealt with; I didn't get cataract surgery to never wear glasses again. I just want both eyes to work predictably well and to never see my very nice, very good, and rather atractive retina doctor ever again. 

Is that too much to ask?

Audiobook Giveaway Announcement

I have 3 full sets of the Coming Apart, Coming Closer, and Coming Together audiobooks to give away. I've been meaning to do this since I got my full series author codes, the time just keeps getting away from me. 

Tantor Media, my production partner for the series, did a really excellent job. I have a hard time listening to them, because the voices of my characters are so strong in my head, but several trusted friends - who've read the books - have told me that they're good and I believe them. (I did listen to the samples, and yes, they are, but that's as far as I could go.)

This is an international giveaway because it's a digital download through Spotify (you only need a free account to access). Winners will be announced in my June 30 newsletter and on July 1 here.

Entry is only for those who've read and reviewed at least one of my books. Send me a screenshot of a review that you've left to be entered. (It can be recent, and because of the contest. No judgement!)

I know that leaving reviews can be a pain, but they are the social proof that lets new readers know that my books are worth picking up. Because time is precious, and life is too short to read the wrong books.

If you have a review to submit, please email it to me at karen @ karenheenan . com (without spaces). Thank you, and may the odds be ever in your favor!