Had a long weekend. 1st with the “Midsummer Nights Dream.” Then with a Saturday/Sunday trip to Fresno w/the fam to hang with the Chums… Made the trip in 4 1/2 hours both ways – 300 miles from doorstep to doorstep – lots of time driving, but not too draining.

MND – the play – was 3 hours long. Fortunately, we had arrived at the Lake around 2, hung in the sun, swam in the not-so-chilly waters, & ate all we could get our hands on… entered the amphitheatre around 5:30 p.m. & made our way to our seats – right in the front of the Lower Gallery. Nice. Good people watching time, coupled with great vino, cheese, & salamali (some call it ‘salami’ but hey, when Weezer made up the word “Salamali” it stuck as a staple at the house.)

It started right on time, & was set in the modern day, with Oberon & Puck (& the other fairies) represented by American Indian-themed characters. Very nice. It was hard not to hear Opie’s “Brother Elk” voice talking about diseased blankets, but overall a good time was had by all, & it was a great time with the family & friends. We received a small dose of culture. Don’t know if it will sink in.

Fresno was hot; imagine that. Our friends have a pool. I don’t think our kids got out of it. OK, Pasty did, but only to shower to get the chlorine smell off of him. Gotta love it.

We had good food, good conversation, & a good time with our friends – & with their church family on Sunday.

Looking back, I see I’ve known Chum for 17 years – & we’re still friends. Talk a couple times a week. Celebrate life’s joys. Cry together over the crud. Deep talks. Shallow stuff. Sci-fi. Movies & popcorn. The works. The more time passes, & the more I see/experience what passes for faithful friendship, the more I appreciate him… Integrity. Maturity. Faithfulness. Grace. Forgiveness. Perseverance. And he’s still my friend after all these years, which says something.

The Dark Knight is on my list of things to do this week. Now I just need to find a couple of free hours & some buttered popcorn goodness.

GSR has a special right now: $7.77 for a stay in the hotel any Sun-Wed between July 1 & 31. What? No info on their website, but if you call, you can get the rate. They even advertised it to us Locals via a postcard.

The political doublespeak that accompanies the presidential election is in full swing. Hearing ‘stated truth’ presented to one group of people, while at the same time “ground-level truth” is given to a ‘group of insiders’ is pretty nauseating. Guess that’s why I never wanted to get into politics… or something like that.

Softball game tonight at the Golden Eagle fields – at 10p.m. How is this a good idea?

I’ll let you know…