I gloat! Hear me! It looks like tomorrow we will get to meet Melissa. I expect to fnd her fascinating, as her writing always is – we can talk about her roots vs our footloose ways, parenting vs not, and how odd to think that the things we will most have in common is discussing our differences, though of course she and Rudder do have Oregon in common – but opposite sides of the state. But I have just warned Rudder not to go into his Meat Monologue(TM) which always seems to happen just before he realizes he’s speaking to a vegetarian.
The Needlecraft Center in Davidson, NC, is such a very nice knitting store that even Rudder (who does not knit or crochet) commented on the quality of their product lines. I bought Rowan Calmer, which the patter calls for, to make a Shedir chemo cap for my uncle. I’m up to row 31 of 83, and it begins decreasing on row 53, so I think there’s a good chance of finishing before we ship out a week from today. I also bought Koigu and Lorna’s Laces sock yarn, because I couldn’t resist. Maybe the baby-in-law on the way needs socks. Eeeeensy socks. And a wee hat, to match. (Or maybe I should check if Koigu is machine washable, first. Baby can’t have the Lorna’s, because that’s green, to make Embossed Leaves socks in a grownup size. No biggie, I’m sure I have some appropriate yarn.)
The things we are enjoying most about being in the US are language, weather, and food. The first is self-explanatory. The weather has been glorious for the past couple of days, with cloudless blue mornings and temperatures that defy winter. It’s been a rare treat after Taiwan’s constant hazes and greys. We’ve enjoyed the food for different reasons. Rudder says that his digestion is much happier with American food. Mine certainly isn’t. I think part of the problem is that I eat much more beef here, but another part may be butter. Tonight we went to the Flatwater Grill, which has a wonderful location in Oak Ridge TN, right by the start of the course where we raced Master’s Nationals a few years ago. The food was tasty,, but my meal consisted of bread and butter, Caesar salad with creamy dressing, grilled salmon rubbed with pesto and with a literal scoop of herb butter on top, scalloped potatoes, and grilled asparagus which for some odd reason was also dripping butter. It was good but I found myself getting nostalgic for Boston’s Naked Fish restaurant chain, or even our own old grill where we could let the taste of grill and fish and asparagus stand on their own. I feel like I’m still wiping butter off my chin.