random thoughts – Day 2,344 (Saturday) – water, sunshine, and food

Rippling pool water.

The forecast was for nice weather and that was good because it was the day of one my belly dance groups pool party pot luck. Dance bestie picked me up and we headed to the destination -- a lovely backyard oasis with a pool, massive dining countertop, beautiful plantings, and lots of seating.

We live in several different towns and some of us hadn’t seen each other since our show on June 16^th which now feels like a very long time ago. In September we will start our classes again, in a new venue as the old place was sold. That has been the situation with both dance groups I’ve been in over the past couple years.

It was a bit cool and cloudy at the start of our gathering which made it comfortable and perfect for eating. There was so much food we could have fed the navy with salads of the vegetable, bean, pasta and antipasta varieties; assorted veggies and fruits; multiple varieties of hummus; lemonade and iced teas; and desserts. So many desserts, including carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting made by dance bestie to continue the celebration of my birthday earlier in the week. The carrot cake cupcakes were far superior to the store-bought carrot cake earlier in the week.

Poolside prettiness.

The water rippled and sparkled in the pool. After a couple people went in the water and came back out, the clouds split up and scattered and the sun came out stronger. I’m not really a pool person (the chlorine wreaks havoc with my skin) and was content to sit at the edge of the pool with my feet in the water.

We sat in the shade near a tall pink variety of hydrangea (I had to look it up in PlantNet) and chatted. During the afternoon our multifaceted group covered all the important topics -- food, a couple local murders, looking for houses, state police department horses, an upcoming dance show, various styles of dance classes, children and grandchildren, sleep and waking up, knee problems and surgeries, and a thousand other things. It was fun.

The evening walk was taken earlier than usual and it was quiet. There were none of the usual critters and very few people in sight at 5:30. A cookout was underway at one house and the smell of smoke filled the air.  After walking off the caloric equivalent of one potato chip from the afternoon party, I dove into some bean salad, followed by carrot cake muffins. Life was extra good today.