Absolutely stuffed, and hot as hell. According to my mother, there are two rules regarding the air conditioning. It goes on when it is over 90, or whenever my dad is hot. Neither happened, so you had 40 Coles sweating all damned day, walking listlessly from room to room to porch looking for a breeze, any breeze.
The food was great- grilled tenderloins, grilled mushrooms and zucchini and squash, turkey, ham, pasta salad, stuffed cabbages, mixed fruits, bread, stuffed grape leaves, a bunch of different torts, etc. My favorite was my Aunt Cherie’s stuffed cabbages, but I am just a sucker for any kind of cabbage.
Saw my first butterfly this summer, and some of the younger Cole cousins from the desert portion of Washington just saw their first lightning bugs. Seems like there are just so few of them compared to when I was a kid and we would collect jars of them.
This was kind of cool- my cousin turned me on to this Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood watch guide that you can use to make better choices about what seafood is better for you and the environment. I think that is a real handy tool. I did not realize the real extent of the problem of bycatch. Humans suck. We really, really do.
As far as politics go, we all decided that Keith Olbermann drives us insane and thinks he is Edward R. Murrow, but he is the only one out there saying anything, so we tolerate him.
At any rate, it was fun. I am stuffed, sweaty, and pooped.
Ted
The whole fam thinks Bush sucks as well? Wow. I’ve still got die-hard wingnut Bush-apologist Rush-listening parents and other relatives.
Barbara
Wow, even I would turn the air conditioning on for a party of relatives!
I concur re the lightning bugs. It seems like there are fewer of them than even a decade ago, though a few weeks ago I went into a very rural place and was treated to a true show of lightning bugs. Sigh.
Ted
Anyway, the food sounds great. By stuffed grape leaves, do you mean the Greek/Macedonian kind stuffed with a rice/meat mix and simmered and basically pickled?
nightjar
I do miss the lightning bugs from back east. When I was young and stupid (or stupiderer), me and my buddies would collect jars of them and turn ’em loose inside my Camaro and drive around town smoking dope. Ah, the good old days.
srv
She single?
Mornington Crescent
Here’s Allan Sherman’s classic about family reunions.
JJinSF
The seafood guides are made for each section of the US and I keep them in my wallet for when I go out to eat. One thing I’ve found is it causes me to get creative with what I make for the wife and I.
Joshua Norton
40 Coles sweating all damned day, walking listlessly from room to room to porch looking for a breeze, any breeze.
Ugh! Sounds like a courtroom scene from “Inherit the Wind”. I’m soaked just thinking about it.
Narcissus
I was just talking about this with my parents. Down here in south west W.V. we’ve seen hardly any lightning bugs this year.
bend
my cousin turned me on to this Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood watch guide
She single?
What makes you think she’s a she?
Is he single?
w vincentz
Golly John,
Thanks for sharing your life.
Mine is doing fine as well.
Plenty of lightning bugs around the Catskills. Most of the hay crop is in and put up. I’ve gotten another nice horse to ride. This one is named Whisky, but I call him Red. He’s gorgeous.
Arizona, the retired polo pony mare is also a joy. She neck reigns and leg turns. I’ve never put the bit to her.
Anyway, the garden is popping. There’s so much food that we all just try to give it away to each other. The bass and panfish are biting like crazy.
Well, I’ll just sum this message up by saying that there’s so much “abundance” to be found.
It takes effort but the pay off is huge.
Oh, I should ask…did anyone see Ginger Punch in the Diana or Commentator in the Whitney? Gosh, they keep running,
never quit. What a great day of racing at Saratoga!
Who needs a car when there’s a horse?
Thanks for sharing your life, John.
jake
Cole Furnace!
srv
All fish environmentalists are chicks. A lot of them are hot, too.
jake
Eh John, if you’re just now seeing butterflies you might want to check the water and soil in your town.
Or tell Tunch to stop eating them.
w vincentz
@ srv,
I’m a “fish environmentalist”. I live at the head waters of the waters that supply New York City’s needs.
The trout that live here are beyond belief. Also, quite tastey.
So, yes, I’ll continue to protect them.
And, no, I’m not a “chick”.
But I’m very “hot”. At least that’s what some of my alternative gender friends tell me.
BTW, join Trout Unlimited. They’ve been at the forefront on preserving river systems for a long, long time.
There are really somethings that demand our efforts and worthy of preserving.
Trout Unlimited is one of them. Join up.
Just Some Fuckhead
Out of context, folks might think you’ve gone back Republican. :)
Glocksman
Heh….
From this tale John sounds as if he’s a more educated (only one year of college) version of my Hoosier self.
Ziliak family reunions are dedicated to music, food, alcohol, and Catholicism, but not necessarily in that order. :)
Don’t worry, the stuffed feeling goes away.
gbear
Ummm, has anybody tried to find your dad’s price yet? Can you offer to pay his next utility bill? If he’s a republican you should be able to find some kind of ‘accomodation’ (wink wink).
There are fireflies hanging around in my yard at night this summer. I’ve got a garden of tall native perennials and they seem to like it a lot. Pretty cool. Across the Mississippi from my house there’s a lake and a native area that’s left as a flood plane. There’s one road thru the area and if you shut your headlights off at night the place looks like a Hennepin Avenue marquee with all the flashing fireflies. I’ve seen some Monarch butterflies around already but I’ll be getting lots more of them later in the summer.
Glocksman
Ghetto edit: to make it clear I’m the one with a year of college, not John.
That lack of edjamacatun shows again. :)
Bob In Pacifica
God, when I was a kid on the Jersey Shore catching lightning bugs in a jar was what kids did in the evenings. And suck the juice out of honeysuckle flowers.
We had a grape vine in the back yard. My mom made grape jelly and in September we cut and collected the grape leaves and froze them. My dad would make stuffed grape leaves.
Krista
We’ve had lightning bugs in our yard the last few summers. It’s fun to see them.
Sounds like the reunion is going well! Can you snag me Aunt Cherie’s recipe? My family doesn’t really bother much with formal reunions, but if more than two of us get together, it’s definitely occasion for an obscene quantity of food and wine.
Kevin
The aquarium is pretty nice, too. They have a really cool exhibit of jellyfish.
Bill H
Could not agree with you more on Olbermann. You summed it up perfectly.
My family never has a reunion, which is a major blessing.
Nylund
Ditto on the Olbermann. I love that he’s saying stuff, but his voices, theatrics, presentation, etc. all drive me crazy.
I live by Monterey and from the aquarium I’ve grabbed their wallet sized guide to seafood. It really helps to have it on you at all times because I find I always blank on the facts at the restaurant or store.
Oh, and Monterey with one R is the city in California with the great aquarium. Monterrey with two R’s (like you have it in the post) is a big city in north eastern Mexico.
Genine
Sometimes, days that end in “y” are occasions for obscene amounts of food. ;) lol
Phoenix Woman
Ah, older folk — the ones wearing sweaters when it’s 80 degrees. Drink plenty of fluids, and don’t avoid the salt — you’re going to be sweating it out of you.
Meanwhile, I thought you’d like to see this tidbit on how John McCain’s latest ad is, ah, a big bit of FAIL.
zuzu's petals
I was there recently. One of the funner interactive exhibits is the Real Cost Cafe.
You “order” off a cyber menu and a video of the chef or waitress or busboy tells you whether your choice is harvested by sustainable methods. Hmmm, more fun than it sounds, actually.
Chuck Butcher
I was raised in Ohio and have lived in OR for 25 years, I miss lightning bugs.
DougJ
John, that sounds like fun. I hope you all had a good time.
JGabriel
John Cole:
Yep. Makes you wonder why. And what might be going on with the environment to cause that.
.
Michael D.
In Canada, we always caled them fireflies. I never heard “lightning bugs” till I moved to the US.
Booger
Sorry to hear about the torts. Lots of lawyers in the family, eh?
Heshe
I don’t know where you’re reporting from, but here in southern NE, firefly season is just about over and it’s probably the same where you are too. It was a great year for them here and back in June I would sometimes see 20-30 at a time in one scene. It could be you don’t notice so many anymore for the same reason you just saw your first butterfly of the season and that’s because you spend too much time at that damned computer.
Punchy
Air conditioning? I figged y’all WVians would be estatic to be able to push the flush lever and see the yellow disappear.
cain
I grew up in Indiana, and I used to catch fireflies too as a kid. (we called them fireflies not lightening bugs) Fun times. I never see them in Oregon. I suppose they are around in other parts of the state..I guess?
My family reunions are always fun. I don’t know why you guys all have crazy relatives. ;) Must be the water!
cain
Doug
Just anecdotal, but in my part of Indiana the lightning bugs are having a good summer — better than I’ve noticed the past couple of years, anyway. Still not as many as I recall when I was younger. Then again, with adoption of Daylight Saving Time, combined with being in the Eastern Time Zone about 100 miles west of where the time line ought to be, my kids aren’t going to see lightning bugs until they’re teenagers.
Glen
Thanks for the Seafood Watch link. I just relayed it to all my seafood-loving friends.
I grew up in Ohio. My step-father was intensely allegic to all fish; my father hated all fish. When I moved to New York and discovered seafood, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven! Happily, I don’t have to give up salmon.
Thers
Could it be there are not fewer lightning bugs, just that they show up earlier and finish their season quicker? As a kid I remember them being around through mid-July but nowadays their big season is done by mid-June. It’s like a lot of plant and animal species around here (upstate NY). Of course global warming is a hoax, so this probably has more to do with the combined ERA of the Mets relievers or something. (Though I’ve also seen it speculated that improved mosquito control also takes out the firefly larvae.)