BIG BIRTHDAY

This one has a big-big number and I haven't been looking forward to this particular birthday. My dear friend Ruth always cushions the blow of another passing year with beautifully wrapped and generous gifts.

REUNION

Our family gathered this past weekend from Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Arizona--four generations of Jacobs. Some traveled on Friday to a small town in southwest central Illinois to wander through the streets and family cemeteries reminiscing and reliving. These small towns are barely breathing. Bowen

COOKING AND LIFE LESSONS

Meryl Streep as Julia Child

Julie and Julia, August 2009

I have been looking forward to this movie since I read the books, and especially since I learned that Meryl Streep would appear as Julia Child. I knew that Meryl would somehow become Julia, and she did not disappoint. How does she do it? I sometimes forgot that it was Meryl--she just was Julia. I loved that about the movie. And, Stanley Tucci was Paul. How fun to see love, lust, and romance in that unlikely pairing.

VACATIONING

Nina and Pinta

August 6th - South Haven, Michigan

CA and I are on a quick trip--short vacation--to southern Michigan. Our chair and ottoman have been upholstered in Battle Creek, so we are on a visit to JL. It is refreshing to go to bed and wake up early with the light reflecting off this lovely lake. It is a perfect day--sunny, warm, and breezy.

WAVING A CARROT

The agency I said I would never work for called today waving a very lovely carrot--a good job in a good location, with a very lovely salary.