A Day of Laboring

Well summer is unofficially over marked by the weekend where we honor all those (and ourselves if applicable) who do the work. And what do most of us do for this long weekend - we do a LOT of work to enjoy a little time off... is it ironic - not sure... maybe i'll go look up the definition again.

So despite not having to work to make plans to do nothing, I planned on labouring into my new digs. Yes people I now officially *live* in the District after moving about a bunch of the burbs in this city. So I spent a good portion of a whole week packing, moving, unpacking, re-organizing, etc... its more tiring than one would think. Taking a break Friday night I went to my friend Ali's Bday party intent to see what all the hubub about 1223 was.... well we had fun because the people - the club is over-hyped (2 out of 5) - for those that know it its a barely upscale Club Five .

(With Rebecca, Ali (the Bday girl), and Char Ann)
Not to make the weekend a total loss, I did 2 very last minute things. The most important was resuming my sereis of hikes about the area. Not having done any since the Amazing White Oak Canyon/ Cedar Run hike, I found it an easy re-introduction to get acclimated once again. Lots of ups and downs, on this one but with some nice views looking back from the foothills back to the flatter eastern approaches of what I believe is Loudon County. It was actually neat that this hike crosses state boundaries. Of an unusual nature was all the quartz strewn around the trail (I wanted to call it marble). Lots of shade from th trees also.

At the top was an strange feature - it looked like the area had been struck by lightning and part of it had burned. Apparently it is also frequented by rock climbers - I believe some day Jon might actually do this cliff face now that we discovered it, not that I see myself doing it though, that type of rock climbing is tough on my knees.



After the nice drive back, and a short nap - I headed to my friend Diana's little shindig of a BBQ. It was typical Diana BBQ - we go cause we know what to expect - friends - food - catching up - and interesting conversations like Abby's trivia on the ability to nail Jello to a wall (cant bedone under normal circumstances), or her collaboration of Eric's statement a few months ago that Graham Crackers (along with oatmeal and of course Corn Flakes) were all made purposefully bland to limit mens "excitability". Oh yeah - that's my type of conversation - weird and random.

Labor Day itself though meant a bit of labor (organizing/packing/unpacking again) but most importantly - The Return of Croquet ! And this time my first female partner, none other than Diana! Despite a strong start, eventually Jon (partnered with Matt) caught up to us on a good run and demolished our chances at wining. Actually it was quite closely contested, but Darren effectively gave the game away when he left his ball within easy striking distance of Jon's ball on the last wicket. Game set and match.

This informal group that gathered though brought a smorgasboard of amazing food - rather different from Jon & Darrens standard Big BBQ's. Mary brought cayenne pepper bacon encrusted shrimp, bangers (not sausages according to Jeff), Key Lime bars by Alexandra, Ann's amazing black bean dip, etc, etc.... Considering that no one planned anything, it was amazing. I brought some picadillo I had made and was overwhelemed at how everyone raved over the simplest of cuban dishes. I mean I didnt even make black beans to go with it. Anyway here is a decent recipe. A bit of a difference is I used diced tomatoes from a can (i'm a bit lazier) and use white cooking wine also.