Thursday, July 10, 2003

I see that M.C. Hammer has found work: as one of the judges on the new version of "Dance Fever."

Hey, if M.C. Hammer can find a job, surely I can find one.

Wednesday, July 09, 2003

Here I am, newly unemployed, hanging out at home, contemplating shampooing the carpets. But in an effort at procrastination, I shall blog first.

We had a lovely Fourth of July weekend. We spent most of it at the Taste of Minnesota, which was held this year for the first time on Harriet Island in St. Paul, rather than on the state capitol grounds. It was very nice -- we went two nights in a row, Friday and Saturday (we intended to go on Thursday too, but it was so poisonously hot that we decided against it).

Earlier Friday we walked down the street to watch Eagan's Fourth of July parade. We spread out a blanket and parked ourselves, and Tim and Eric collected pocketfuls of candy while Andrew jabbered about the numerous fire trucks (we were a little concerned that there might be an actual fire somewhere while the parade was going on, and the fire trucks would have to make an unscheduled departure. And would the bands and floats get confused and follow the fire trucks to the fire?). He marched on the blanket when the bands went past and begged suckers from his brothers (at one point he had two in his mouth at the same time). He thinks parades are fine.

That afternoon we went over to a small carnival that Eagan sets up every year for the Fourth. Tim and Eric rode on some vomit-inducing rides and Andrew rode on a little motorcycle, the merry-go-round and a flying dinosaur. He liked the motorcycle (or, in his words, the "li-lycle") the best.

On Friday night we parked in downtown St. Paul and trekked across the Wabasha Street bridge (the same bridge from which that sad woman would fling her two 14-month-old sons and then herself in a few hours, but that's another story), viewing all the Linuses lined up on one side. It was Andrew's inaugural ride in his new Burley, which we found at a rummage sale a few weeks ago for the unbelievable price of $30. He LOVED it. He bounced along like a little prince, grinning at everyone and jabbering away. It's going to be great at the Renaissance Festival this year.

We arrived in time to park ourselves on the asphalt and listen to a few songs by the Temptations, but it was such a horrible setup that we quickly decided to head for the main stage, which faced a huge, shady, grassy area. We set up camp with our canvas chairs and the Burley, and everyone headed off in search of food (except for Tim and Eric, who headed off toward the midway to ride on more horrible rides. We listened to Maynard Ferguson and his band (I interviewed Maynard 20 years ago and he was old THEN -- it's amazing to me that he's still performing) and munched on a bucket of Sweet Martha's chocolate-chip cookies and watched the fireworks.

Andrew fell asleep on the way home and was too sleepy to walk to the house, so I picked him up and carried him. He let his head fall on my shoulder and I walked along, thinking of all the times I got carried into the house late at night when I was little and feeling humbled and privileged that I got to carry my son the same way.

On Saturday night Kip and Andrew and I headed out again. This time we parked on the other side of the island, paid less than half to park, walked less than half the distance and found a better spot to listen to the music: the Knack and the Romantics. It was Andrew's first rock concert. He spent it climbing in and out of his Burley, drinking lemonade ("mellade") and dancing with a little boy whose family was sitting on a blanket next to us. We also found a better spot to watch the fireworks. :-)



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