At age 52, I am just now understanding the utility of non-chlorine bleach. That, I think, is called “growth.”

That was a nice birthday. It started with a nice dinner at the farm with my dear old dad and rebel girl mom, with bumpka stew as the meal, and it was delicious. The next day, I made the 3-hour drive to my own little Star’s Hollow for a visit with mom and my lake. As previously noted, they are doing this thing decorating street signs that’s pretty neat. Next week is some sort of arts even there, and the artists will stand by their works throughout lakeside for a little tour. I told you this place is like Star’s Hollow.

A lot of weird tech things happened while I was there. The local network at the house was interrupted, so we had to reset the Tivo and replace the remote batteries. I set up mom’s classic JVC tuner downstairs so she can blast her Norah Jones CDs. I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful this equipment is. I’ve harangued her for years after she once casually mentioned that maybe she’d be getting rid of this beautiful-sounding tuner. “Don’t you dare,” I’d bark. “That tuner is my true inheritance.” Now, it can provide tunes at the lakehouse. A good use for it indeed.

I also got my oil changed and cleaned up the sidebar of this blog. Much tidier ===>

I had to reset the smart plug, an hour of work just so I can tell Alexa to turn off a light. Worth it.

And, Apple Music on my Mac stopped recognizing my iPad. That one took me the better part of the day before I finally concluded it was a trust issue that could be addressed in the “location” area in the finder sidebar. I am pleased to not have to call Apple help for the first time in my life.

Other challenges of this trip: Can’t hug Mom. Can’t really go out to do much. Can’t eat at restaurants. Despite these, the trip was refreshing and, I think, necessary. I have brought a bit of lake air back with me. I can still smell it; I can still feel it. And it lightens me a little.