2045 and the mowing is done

We engaged in a marathon mowing session this afternoon, the first time we've managed to do the whole yard in one day. In an ironic twist of fate - or just a weird role reversal - David mowed while I fixed supper. Fortunately supper consisted of leftover Belgian beer stew and its accompaniements or we'd still be hungry. As for the yard, you gotta strike while the iron is hot or at least while the sun is shining!

National Day

Tomorrow is Belgian National Day. It's kind of hard to tell how big a deal it is because when we mention it to Belgians, they go, "Oh yeah, I guess it is the 21st." Yet stores will be closed, and our village is having a 2-day do. Tomorrow noon is the National aperatif, and tonight is le bal aux lampions - the ball under the lanterns. Sounds romantic doesn't? Rita and I walked by a little while ago, and, except that it was 8:30 and still broad daylight, it was pretty much exactly what I had imagined it would be: a huge tent on the town square, a dance floor, tables, waiters, food, beer, wine, and a band playing in the band stand. The band was a keyboard, a horn, and an accordian, and they were in the middle of an entrancing piece that I know but couldn't quite put my finger on it. Maybe "Spanish Rose"? After a day of rain, it has turned gorgeous and cool, so it was a nearly perfect moment. It was like the first night we went downtown when I was a student in France and we smelled the smells and heard concertina music coming from an open window, and I thought, "Damn! I'm in France!" This wasn't a revelation, but it was that nice.

Summer

Summer arrived this past weekend. It got up into the mid to high 20s (Celcius). You all back in the States are going to laugh at such summer temperatures, but we have gotten so used to the cool weather here that it actually felt hot. But the rain was back yesterday and last night, so all is back to normal. The days are getting shorter; last night it was dark at 10:30. Bedtime in broad daylight at 11:00 PM took some getting used to, but I'm already dreading the very short days of winter to come. In the meantime, the grass grows, the cows moo, and we cherish each hour of sunshine we get.

The Tour in France

I'm home with the electrician and watching the Tour de France. It's bigger than normal here in Belgium this year because the second stage ended in Ghent, and the third stage started in Waregem (Belgian towns). You can find Tour coverage on at least four channels: a French channel, Eurosport, and Dutch and French Belgian channels. I have chosen the Francophone Belgian coverage. The riders are in a corner of Champagne today headed for Burgundy, so the announcers just spent 10 minutes discussing the wines of these regions and the unusually high number of Michelin starred restaurants in the exact spot the peleton was riding. Now they're going on ad nauseum about the prospects for African cycling. They have lots of time because there aren't too many commercials.

Les Soldes and cider

Well, David stole my thunder by mentioning the semi-annual sales in his last posting. You have to have been here for a while (like longer than a week) to understand what a big deal the semi-annual sale event is. The sales themselves don't seem to be too much to write home about - seems to be the kind of clearance sales we see in the Target or Kohls every day - but what is a really big deal is the fact that the stores were open until 10:00 PM on Saturday!! - and the two malls in our area were open today, a Sunday!!! Sarah and I took advantage of this exraordinary happening to go to the Cora Shopping Center in Quaregnon today. We didn't buy much but we sated our American commercial souls knowing we were shopping on a Sunday in Belgium!

Now for the cider part. I think David promised to tell you more about our trip to Normandy. I'll let him describe our visits to the various battle fields, cemetaries, and museums. But in keeping with our quest to build up our wine cellar, we took advantage of the artisanal offerings in Normandy by bringing home various bottles of cider, eaux de vie, and Calvados. He opened a bottle of cider just a few minutes ago that was obviously ripe for opening, as it delivered a very satisfying "pop" along with about a cup of cider on the kitchen table. We continue to be awestruck by the many alcoholic blessings God has bestowed on us in Europe.

Bunny ears, T-shirts, and byte counts--more Europhenalia

It's starting to look like the guy in the devil costume got off easy (see our long-winded posting "Beer with Satan"). Last night we were in downtown Mons because the semiannual sales were starting and stores were staying open until 10 pm, and we saw a couple of brides-to-be. One had on a modified Playboy bunny costume and was wearing a sign on her back that said, "I'm getting married on 14 July, so I'm not responsible for my look." She seemed to be going around town making speeches and collecting signatures. At one point we saw her in the Chi-Chi's (yes, the US-based Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant) wearing a sombrero and dancing with the mariachi band.

The Francophones will be interested to know that the sign the girl was wearing used the English word "look." And Europe observers should know that T-shirts with meaningless English are still rampant. My favorite so far has been the one with the fake city seal for "Carson City, Hawaii." It had a picture of a buffalo in the middle. But since we have the mirror phenomenon in the US--T-shirts with meaningless French words--I guess it's all good.

I've complained a couple of times about our slow ADSL connection. I discovered the problem: we hit the limit on our monthly ration of 12 megabytes of transmission. It's because they're socialists and think that the world has a limited supply of electrons.