I'm glad I was able to leave Pop5 in Evan's capable hands for the duration of my trip. Evan, even if Pop5 temporarily becomes a monologue, at least it is not only my monologue.

I thought that I was going to be able to get internet service high up in the Adirondack Mountains, but I was wrong. I also wasn't able to get cell phone service - at the cabin at least. [BTW - the "cabin" is not at all as rustic as the term implies. Except for the lack of cell service and internet, we had electricity, washer and dryer, microwave, dishwasher, and all of the modern amenities. Except air conditioning, which we didn't need, since it never got above the low 80s, and this was described by the locals as a "heat wave." I may need to move there. It was also right on the lake.] So in any case, I was plannning to provide updates on my vacation (and welcome Laura - Evan's lovely wife - to Pop5 as well. Hi, Laura! Post!). Since that didn't work out, here is what I did on my vacation, in convenient bullet form:

• Sleep
• Eat
• Read

In roughly that order. Then the sequence repeated itself. Everyone at Pop5 probably knows that I don't have the skin for sunbathing, but what you may not know is that I am also extremely picky about swimming. When I was a kid, I would swim in the muddiest, seaweediest, fishiest pond, but now I prefer my swimming water highly chlorinated. I even avoid swimming in the ocean, although that might not be so strange, given the condition of the Jersey shore.

Wildlife Report: Several deer, swarms of butterflies, one drunken bird that repeatedly hit itself on the head flying into the glass windows of the house, a bat, masses of objectionable and unidentifiable insects, and roadkill, mostly on the way up. We did not see a black bear this year - last year, a bear and two baby bears frequently wandered through the yard.

I need to start planning a new vacation to take my mind off of going back to work.