Congratulations! You're Here.

Yesterday, I was working out.

So glad I'm able to type that.

Not to rub it in, but I also worked out today.

(Pass the jelly beans.)

Anyway, I was prolly 15 minutes into a 45 minute jaunt on the orbit - elipti - something or other machine when a man walked up to the woman 2 machines away and said,

"Congratulations, you're here!"

I thought nothing of it and carried on. I was just about to break a sweat - love that part.

But then, he walked up to the woman next to her and said,

"Congratulations, you're here!"

Feeling a little distracted by the scene, I let my brain wonder:

They must be friends. Friends with tentative plans to meet at the gym if they were able. And he's greeting them with congratulations because they were able. OR, are the post-Saturday-night-storm-roads in Ridgefield as bad as they are in Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan? Was it really that much of an accomplishment to navigate to the gym this morning? My drive seemed easy, actually...but perhaps I wasn't paying close enough atten...

"Congratulations, you're here!" The man with the belly said to me. To Me!

I smiled slightly but then was consumed by thoughts:

Do I know this man with the belly? Did I make a plan to meet him here today???? Dear lord who is he? Does he know that I wasn't paying attention to the roads this morning. Does he know I really shouldn't be here due to downed power lines and tree limbs - but got here somehow?

"Congratulations, you're here!" The big bellied man's words snapped me out of my stupor.

Just like that, he'd left me. Onto the next wide-eyed gym rat. Left me in a daze wondering just who that big-bellied man is....and left me feeling proud - proud that I'd gotten to the gym that day.

Congratulations! You're here!

The livin' is easy...

There are some things that define summer. Weeks and weeks can go by of the supposed season, and for me, despite 90+ degree days and late sunsets, summer won't offically have occurred unless a few key things take place. I think I crammed most of my things into the past 3 days.

• Candy AND ice cream at the bazaar
• The world's best french toast ever
• Putting my toesers into sand...that leads into a vast ocean
• Boat rides
• and last but not least, something that has been missing for a long time. Something that when I went today, I vowed NEVER to drive/walk by again. A lemonade stand. Right there in South Salem. Brownies, popcorn and lemonade, sold my two cute little girls. Never mind that they lived on what appeared to be the biggest horse farm on the road, and were looking very smart in their tennis whites. It brought me back, I swerved the car off the road, put on my hazards and bought some goods. The mom stood in the background, always making sure her girls were ok. It brought back some of the best memories. The things that summers were all about, carefree days, barefeet, screaming L-E-M-O-N-A-D-E to every passerby. Too bad it took me until the last day of August to get these things done, I'll have to start earlier next year.