Weekend in the Rural - away from Urban

the weekend so far at my parents' upstate been dandy. guaranteed good food. Friday night, we went to Albany to meet my brother for some tapas at a wine bar. I don't even remember when I last ate out in Albany. 10, 15 years maybe. took a glimpse at my bro's new house - a cozy house with not one, but TWO back porches. One upstairs and one on ground level. *sigh*. And there's the large and insulated basement where my brother can bang away at his drum set and pick at his guitar without bothering the neighbors.

weather's been insufferable outside. Least it's a large and old Victorian house with fans on around the clock and curtains drawn shut during the day. Much more comfortable than my cramped apartment in Hell's Kitchen where not much air can move around. I'm only happy that I'm experiencing the weather out here in the valley with free moving air and trees as opposed to fuming NYC sidewalk and sharing CO2 with folks at the Central Park.

Today we celebrated my grandfather's 91st birthday. He still looks good and has been weathering some physical ailments for several years now. Course some of his organs are getting older and slower. Need some tweaking here and there. He's like the Energizer Bunny with some parts fixed. Several winters ago, mom went up to Saratoga to visit him and found him on the roof of his house shoveling some snow. Spry old dude. He's now banned doing those tasks and my uncle who lives nearby is on the standby should my grandmother report grandfather's jonesing to fix something.

Some relatives came over with their usual yummy dishes and I didn't chat much. Mostly minded my nephews and kept myself cool in the pool swatting at the gnats. Ate and swam so much that I passed out on the couch after everyone left and slept soundly for 3 hours. Afterwards, watched some TV (caught 'The Terminal'. Has an awww factor. Sweet movie. awww) and now this before I hit the sack and read some of Lucy Maud Montgometry's short stories. It's refreshing from reading scripts for the community play and research for my upcoming MET tour. I tried to wrap my head around Issac Asimov's Foundation series. I think my head is still with Dune and Harry Potter. I finished "Heretics of Dune" and is skimming "The Order of the Phoenix" before the sixth HP book is released on July 16. I promised self that when August rolls around after the MET tour and the play ends, Ill treat self to "Dune Chapterhouse". Then will try to read Foundation again (mainly cos I liked I, Robot the movie. I know, I know; movies derived from novels are nothing like the original).

Stay cool - don't wilt.