As Howard Cosell might have opined, what a spec-TAC-yuh-luh weekend this was.

Saturday, Rebbie and I enjoyed a few early morning moments with coffee before she shot out the door to manage the Mt. Pleasant Farmer’s Market. On cue, the kids were up just a little bit later, and by 10 a.m. I had the Donkey (or whatever it is we’re calling it these days) loaded up with the kids, bottles, an extra tank of milk. Off we rode to join her, under crystal blue skies and marching clouds, at the market.

A Beautiful Day at the Farmer’s Market

The market was bustling and the kids found other children to run around with in short order. Rebbie had put out an appeal in the market newsletter for anyone that wanted to come and provide entertainment, and a couple of enterprising jugglers took up the challenge. They were excellent and had the kids attention all morning.

Jugglin’ Up A Storm at the Mt. Pleasant Farmers’ Market

(Before you start pointing and yelling and asserting that I photoshopped the defocused background in the image, it’s not true. I use The Gimp. The bird is real, though it is not freakishly large, nor is it threatening the juggler on the right.

We rode home after the market to relax a bit before preparing for the Grand Opening of the PG Pool. Shortly after moving to D.C., several folks we met independently suggested we join this pool that we knew nothing about. Pressed as to why, they’d rarely elaborate more than saying, “You just have to join. Just do it. You’ll see.” Of course, they were right.

It’s a community co-op pool, large and inviting, surrounded by a couple acres of grassy meadow and large shade trees. It also has a pretty big toddler pool, lots of play equipment, a couple sandboxes, a volleyball court, and propane barbeque grills.

Best of all, the whole thing is wrapped in a fence high enough to keep the kids inside. But it’s mostly symbolic, since the place if full of other parents and older kids, and they all keep their eyes open for toddlers who think they can make a break for it. Not that many want to, they love being there.

Last summer, I had a recurring pleasant experience of taking a long pull off a beer, realizing I didn’t have a precise bead on either of my kids, and knowing that it was okay. Occasionally I’d look around and notice other parents having the same realization. It’s a real good feeling, I suspect from my mother’s descriptions of growing up in West Peoria that it’s what entire neighborhoods were like in the 50’s.

We lived there last summer, leaving only to attend to unimportant things like work or laundry. The day after Labor Day, when we realized that there’d be no more pool until May, was marked by howling laments, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. So on Saturday, after the kids had woken from their naps, we loaded up and rode over to the pool for the first time this year. Glory, glory, hallelujah it was good to be back.

Sunday we actually got in the car, which is becoming a rare and strange occurence. We drove up to Baltimore to visit the big Farmers’ Market, and to watch the Indy 500 with my Dad. Pop doesn’t get into most sports, but he loves open-wheel racing, so Indy is his SuperWorldSeriesBowlCupChampionship. My little brother graciously brought his little television out to the deck, where we cooked brats, watched the race, and made the occasional ritual adjustments to the antennae to make the fuzz look different. We also had salad made with lettuce from Gramma Tawny’s garden. Outstanding.

On the way back to D.C., we stopped by Jo-Ann Fabrics in Columbia for foam and batting. We don’t make it up to that neck of the woods often, and it’s a little like docking in the Fabric Quadrant of the Death Star of Consumption. Columbia Circle’s real big, yeah that sucker’s huge.

Foam? Yes, foam! Check out the new pads on the Somethin’R'Nother!

White pads? Wait… are those… is that… it is! It’s Sparkle Vinyl! The seat pads still have to be done, but man those make me happy.

From the very beginning, when the Family Bike of Indeterminate Moniker was just a gleam in my eye, that gleam was sparkle vinyl. I was pretty sure that it was going to be Candy Apple Red. But as the bike came together, the black-and-white look started to assert itself, and it became pretty clear that Pearl Sparkle Vinyl was the way to go.

I can now add “shitty upholsterer”, as well as “inexperienced woodworker” and “inept finish painter”, to the list of skills I’ve acquired building this bike. Man, I can’t wait to add “dangerously unqualified welder” to my skill set.

So on Monday, we had perfect weather. We had the joy in seeing familiar faces, as well as the mostly-familiar faces of children grown 3 seasons older. We had a sweet sparkly ride. What could be better?

2 racks of spare ribs (pre-baked slow and low), asparagus to grill, a big salad, and a pie that I wish I’d taken a picture of before we ate the livin’ hell out of it, that’s what. Three-quarters cherry and one-quarter blueberry, with pastry stripes over the cherries and stars over the blueberry. It was the most delicious flag pie I’ve ever eaten.

How was your weekend?

Tags: bicycling, DC Urbanists, Karate Donkey, snapdeck mods, The Point, upholstering, xtracycle

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 5:04 pm and is filed under Food, The Point. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.