MeXscape

Or, at least it should be illegal to set it at a temperature below 80. I am not kidding. I don't know what people are thinking, and I can't imagine what it must cost for places like Walmart and Home Depot to keep their ginormous stores with high ceilings two degrees above frigid. I hate it. This time of year, I will favor the small tiendas and open air markets more than usual.

Chuck and I came home late last night. It was raining pretty good, and there was a bit of water in the streets. I opened the garage gates so he could back the truck in. He put on his emergency flashers and nosed out into the street to properly line up the truck with the garage, put the truck in reverse, started to back in, and we discovered why having a tiled garage is not always the great thing we think it is.

It was beautiful music. This morning I heard the low, flatulent bellow of a cruise ship for the first time since the swine flu freak out. There was a press conference at the docks celebrating the arrival of the cruisers after such a long absence. It's funny. I never thought I would find joy in the presence of something I have always found to be a nuisance, but absence makes the heart grow fonder.

You would think it deserved a name, but alas, we have to settle for calling it Tropical Depression 1E. Doesn't really roll of the tongue, does it? It was bad enough to watch from the safety of a sturdy, concrete house, but I had to make an airport run, so I was right in the middle of it – driving.

Friday, Chuck and I came home from grocery shopping. We unloaded the car and brought everything inside, then, because people were coming over, Chuck grabbed the empty case of beer and went to the Modelorama to get a refill. I came out to lock the gate behind him, and that's when I saw it: a big, ugly spider hanging out just over my front door.