summer in the south, part two.

having lately returned from a long weekend at the beach in coastal south carolina, it's funny how much i've forgotten about summer in coastal south carolina.

1. sand flies on the beach. they are terrible little buggers with fierce bites, the kind of bites that draw blood and cause grown men to cry. nothing keeps them at bay - not skin so soft, not deet, not lighting yourself afire. they are evil, truly.

2. it never fails, all these many years, that on the beach, i am a magnet for families with children. no matter where i set up camp - and i can walk hours on the beach until i get to a spot sans people of anykind - within moments of settling in, families with children suddenly appear. And the families generally have children who love to do thinks like run past me at high speed, effectively coating me in sand. Or, when I sit in the surf, book in hand, gather right in front of me to splash about or search for shells. My theory, of course, is that harried parents with lots of kids can't stand to see childless people enjoying a nice afternoon of reading, napping, or relaxing in sand and surf and must do anything they can to spoil the reading, napping, or relaxing since they can't. hmph.

3. there is lately an abundance of pink and green in the dresses/shorts/bathing suits/beach coverups/jackets on the beach. it's very much like 1984 redux. remember the preppy handbook? the lifestyle is alive and well on the southeastern shore.

4. despite number 3, i can't help but want a couple lily pulitzer dresses whenever i'm home. seriously. and, yes, i understand how sad this is.

5. aside from lounging on the beach, nothing beats lounging in a hammock, reading a book in the early evening breeze.

6. atalaya, atalaya, atalaya - without a doubt, the most beautiful place in south carolina.

7. and who could forget the fabulous coppertone girl-type tan i acquire when i'm at the beach? oh, wait. that never happens. okay, who could forget the lovely pinkesque color i tend to take on, despite an SPF of 30? i like to think of it as sunkissed, as in 'oh, my, lynda looks so healthy and sunkissed after four days at the beach!' not 'girl, you are burned.' sadly, i promised vegan no. 2 tan lines. i'm not sure what i have constitutes actual tan lines - more like 'slight variation in skin tone' lines.

vegan hummus.

at the local whole foods/wild oats, in the deli, is a large bowl of hummus with a sign proclaiming: Vegan Hummus!

but, if i'm not mistaken, isn't all hummus vegan? i'm fairly certain that eggs or cheese or, you know, steak, doesn't normally show up in hummus.

signs of summer in the south.

1. the return of fleas. gross.
2. the return of humidity.
3. sunflowers popping up.
4. farmers market.
5. lots of white wine with friends.
6. bug bites.
7. a beach trip.


1. fleas. they're incredible down here. seriously. we've been taken over. i spent a fair amount of time at the best pet store in memphis, pet star. the dudes there have lots of tattoos and hair, and they love them some talk about fleas and what to do about them. i heart them.

2. humidity. one morning last week i opened the door leading from the house to the porch and was hit by a wall of humidity. as i gasped for breath and wiped the sweat from my eyes, i realized something truly horrifying: it's not even august yet.

3. sunflowers. okay, maybe these aren't such a southern thing, but two of my sunflowers sprung up. and the weird people that the street who have turned their entire front yard into a veggie/flower garden? well, they're now not so weird in my book. they've got zillions of sunflowers in bloom.

4. farmers market. the memphis market is pretty kick ass. and huge. it's doubled in size since last summer. this past weekend i picked up lovely looking squash, two beautiful tomatoes (one red, one orange), a jalapeno, some fresh bread, farm fresh eggs, and a cuke. yep, summertime fresh fruit and veggies are the best. especially when you can buy them local and/or organic.

5. it's been a summer of white wine, i'm most happy to report.

6. bug bites. mosquito bites, check. weird random bites i can't identify, check. spider bites, most likely check. i have a freakish looking bite on my left pinky. betsy looked at it yesterday and said 'i sure hope that's not a brown recluse bite.' and i said 'oh, god, do you think so?' so of course i googled brown recluse bites to, you know, compare my bite to those. the good news: it's not a brown recluse bite. my finger would have swelled and burst by now. the bad news: i am scarred for life by the images i saw. anytime something needs to be lanced and drained, you know it's bad. especially when is swells to five times the normal size and causes unbearable pain. google it yourself, but you've so been forewarned. gross, gross, gross.

7. this weekend i'm heading to the beach - it's been almost a year. criminal, i know. i heart the beach. lastenia is coming, too. yay! sand, surf, friends, family...what more could a girl ask for? well, okay. there's obviously more, but you know. let's not be greedy.

surely this is a sign of...something.

yesterday i stopped at the local coffee shop with the worst name ever (cafe eclectic. for reals? could there be a worse name for a coffee shop? for anything?). i ordered a cafe au lait to go (kudos to the barista girl who said 'oh, sure! so medium? large?' i was totally on my way to ordering a small, but totally bought into her friendly-push-sell and got the medium). 

but i digress.

on my way into the local coffee shop with the worst name ever, i passed a priest. he was coming out, coffee in hand. as soon as i saw him, i went all 'eek' and totally refused to make eye contact. i mean, what's that all about?

but in amazing news, guess where i just came in from? belly dancing class. for real. and it was fun (save for the part on the info. sheet that said 'please refrain from bringing kids' ---- okay, so that isn't the part that bothered me ---- 'because it's often the one time a week our moms and wives in class get away from their kids and husbands.' oh, right...because we're all married. with children. of course). 

frankly, odd.

grr. i just lost this post! sigh. the bane of modern technology.

so. i opened my email this morning to find a new product available on flight oo1. i'm always happy for products designed to make travel somewhat easier and me less gummy upon arrival to my destination. at first glance, these new products seem pretty awesome in the 'refresh me upon arrival' department ... until you read the part about also being good for .... cleaning your cell phone ...and 'other personal gadgets'...uhm, eww!