It's not yet summer, but we did not really have a winter and the heat started some time ago.  It's getting more intense now.  It's my fourth year owning this house.  I've learned to be a bit more hard-hearted with my approach to the garden.  For example, I am now much more inclined to give-up on a plant or shrub that is not thriving.  All the care in the world will usually not help.  It's best to move on quickly and try something else in that spot.  The same goes for my time commitment.  I now garden in much shorter (but more frequent) bursts.  Following the lead of a few of my more seasoned neighbors, I also now use weed-killer on occasion.

Like most other things in life, gardening is all about the products one can buy.  I have a nice collection of shears, rakes, loppers and shovels.  Gloves are the most important.  You'll need some vases too!

If you fly into Heathrow Terminal 5 on BA you are entitled to use the arrivals lounge if you flew first or business class.  (You are also entitled to a little card that gets you to the front of the line for the immigration counters.)  Anyways, the lounge (and Terminal 5 itself) had just opened and everything was chaotic, but my arrival was smooth and I went to check out the lounge.

If you flew overnight like I did, you can have a shower, a newspaper and a hot breakfast.  The lounge had everything you could imagine, including a small spa.

And there I saw Boris Johnson standing in front of the desk where they assign your shower cubicle, hand you a towel and whatnot.  He looked as confused as I did probably, because the showers were brand new and high-tech and of course one would have not slept much on the overnight flight.  Anyways, we both bumbled around, got showered and pampered, and then headed for the breakfast buffet. 

The only amusing feature of this encounter was the complete lack of curiousity from everyone in the lounge.  Here's the mayor of London in our intimate setting and no one approached him or even acknowledged him.  He seemingly had no aides or people traveling with him.  He sat down at the table and buried his head in his breakfast and newspaper like the rest of us.  It occurred to me later that the lack of recognition in the room was probably due to the fact that only foreigners -- people with no home in London and who have landed too early to check in to a hotel -- would be likely to use the arrivals lounge.  I suppose people also just aren't in the mood to chat that early in the morning after the overnight flight.

I'm sure Boris found it odd!

This littlest library is amusing and perhaps a bit of nonsense, but it does not surprise me.  In Decatur, we are surrounded by communal offerings.  There is a church-owned kiddie park a block away loaded with toys that just stay in the park and are shared by parents.  My back deck overlooks the community garden.  Even the local coffee shop is a community gathering space, full of Emory grad students at all times... abusing the free wi-fi.

*My recent pattern is that I don't read much at all when I am physically active with sports.  I read huge amounts, though, when I travel.  We've booked five weeks of travel in southern Poland for July and August, so I'll immediately visit Empik bookstore in Crakow when I arrive.  I try to read anything remotely concerned with central and eastern Europe.  Timothy Garton Ash edited a series of CEE-connected novels and I've enjoyed nearly all of them.

Nicaragua (Pacific), Feb 2010:

North of Tel Aviv, June 2007:

Turks and Caicos, Feb 2009:

Quiet afternoon at the club...

-- We head for Florida on Tuesday.  It's the same trip -- or a variant thereof -- every year.  We drive down the eastern side of Florida with Key West as the ultimate destination.  Our hotel in Key West is an absolute gem.  It will be my 7th year back.  The place is so lovely and quiet it undoubtedly gets the better part of its clientele to come back year after year.  A few years back I was boasting by the pool that I had been five times and the various people lounging around start offering their credentials:  '5 years!'  '9 years...'  And last February I think I found the record holder:  A man having breakfast in the courtyard told me it was his 24th year coming back.  I've vowed to one day pass his mark.  I see no reason not to try.

-- Every drive to Key West has the same feature.  You pass over 7-mile bridge and there is a state park on the left.  Bahia Honda.  If the sea is calm and the sun is out, the beach there is postcard perfect.  Crossing 7-mile bridge is symbolic of letting go.  Changes in latitude, changes in attitude...

-- Twenty-five or so years later, I am re-reading The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.  The first time around I thought it had so many unintended parallels with the AIDS crisis, which was then unfolding to great drama in the U.S.  Now the book is harder for me to categorize.  A novel of ideas / allegory?  What some have amusingly called sick-lit?  I'm enjoying it.  It's Downton Abbey in Davos.

-- I just finished The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West.  I was unimpressed.

The Varsity is a broad-shouldered American stereotype:  enormous, shouty and full of fried goodies.  Stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap.  What'll ya have?  I still find it endearing, though.  People from all over the world eating the ultimate peasant food in a very friendly, communal setting. The Frosted Orange and onion rings are worth the trip.

This was my first visit to HD1, which is much closer to my house.  The menu was fantastic, varied and unusual.  My hot dog, shown below, was the 'classic'.  Outstanding.

+  On Friday, eight of us will see A Christmas Carol.  We saw it last year and it was exceptional.  I suppose it's the counterpart to the English panto, something I enjoyed every year while living in Oxford.  The jokes at pantos are so well-worn, but always amusing, particularly if you are drunk.  The lead (always a cross-dressing, flamboyant actor) warms up the audience:

You sir, where are you from?

Abingdon.

Sorry?

Abingdon!

No, I'm saying I'm sorry for you...

+  We've recently purchased an extravagance:  a Mercedes SUV.  In just a few weeks we've cracked the windshield and dented the running board.  I suppose it's part of the family now.

+  I'm reading We by Yvegeny Zamyatin.  I just finished House of Silk by Horowitz.

+  I'm downloading this holiday gem right now: