Some Notes from Sandstone

Hello, there! It’s certainly a summer’s day here, but even the hot sun doesn’t feel too bad outside the cabin, with the breeze blowing across the yard. Some bits and pieces:
– I bring a cooler full of food when I visit the cabin, so nothing from home goes to waste while I’m away (and to save money, generally). I found a little tin of Heinz beans in my cupboard at home, so I made myself a fairly traditional veggie fry-up for lunch, mushrooms and tomato included. I guess the eggs were scrambled instead of fried, but it’s still pretty good for the middle of America.
– I went outside last night to try to catch a glimpse of the Perseids meteor shower. I’d heard it would be best between 3:00 and 4:00am, but I settled for 11:30pm and saw a few little fizzly ones and a brighter one streak across the sky. Perhaps even more impressive was just the night sky itself. I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I hadn’t gone out at night before (although it HAS been overcast a lot of the times I’ve been here). It’s not like being a million miles away from civilization here, but it’s far enough away from the cities to make the stars stand out. It’s hard to even pick out any constellations when there are so many stars! I’m no astronomer, but I think I saw the Milky Way directly above — does that seem right?
– I suspect the woman who works at the deli in the supermarket here (where I internet from) is not a trained barista, because my Americano was wincingly strong. But, like a potent cocktail, it seemed less and less shocking the more I drank. I’m actually hovering about two inches above my seat, now. In related (supermarket) news, did you know that Chris’ Fairway was home to the ‘Best Bagger Champion’ in 1992, ’93, ’94, and ’96? I assume they’ve won more since then, but that’s all the further the poster goes. Say, did you know there was such a thing as ‘Best Bagger Champions’?
– With my most recent crop of cucumbers, I made Alton Brown’s bread-and-butter pickles. They’re pretty good, although you shouldn’t be tempted to sample them before they’ve had a chance to sit in the fridge for a good long while. Warmish cider vinegar is exactly as bleaurg as you’d think.
– What else, what else? That might be all. Check out those black bear salt and pepper shakers in details, though.