Random thoughts on a hot evening

The lovely picture at left is one of an obscene amount of photos that I shot of sunset while at Mt. St. Michel. This is low tide, of course -- when the moon is just right, high tide rushes into this area at about 2 feet per second. Pretty amazing stuff!

Anyway, I don't have a big theme for this entry, so I thought I'd just take a moment and rattle off a few things on my mind.

First ... apparently, Paris is operated on a series of switches. There's the tourist switch: flip it, and suddenly, there are tourists everywhere. There's the spring switch: flip it, and the weather suddenly becomes nice, albeit a bit rainy. Then, there is the June 1st switch, otherwise known as the summer switch: flip it, and the sun never goes away. (Photographic evidence aside, of course...) Don't get me wrong -- I am thrilled to see the sun instead of rain and cold. But, with sun comes heat, humidity, and allergies. So, I've spent the last several days in a slightly stuffy apartment, seriously considering having my face removed so that I don't have to itch so much anymore!

This brings me to random thought number two: have you ever noticed that, when you are getting ready to leave a place permanently, you suddenly start to see all of these flaws that were never there before? Well, I always tend to do this, despite my generally optimistic outlook on life. And, since our time here is quickly drawing to a close (we fly home July 20), I'm starting to think about all of the things I will enjoy back in the US. Item 1: Central air conditioning. Item 2: my HEPA filter. No sweat, no itchies. Ah ... it sounds too good to be true!

Speaking of moving home, I've actually started to make reservations for things back in the US. Totally weird. Everyone who has lived abroad keeps telling me that I'm going to have a rough adjustment period, or at least a bit of culture shock, but I find it hard to believe. How different can it be? After all, I'm moving back to the same town I lived in for four years prior to this move! I guess only time will tell. Maybe I've got a few funny stories left for this blog yet...

Random thought number three: I thought, for some insane reason that I was going to come to Paris and get in great shape. In fact, this could not be further from the truth. Sure, my legs are in good shape from all of the walking and stair climbing. The rest of me, however ... well, let's just say that I saw a number on the scale today that I didn't expect to see until I became pregnant. Ugh. I guess that means no more mousse au chocolat for me!!

OK, that's all I've got for now. In the meantime, if you've got any spare money lying around, consider donating it to lung cancer research:

http://www.lungcancer.org/

I'm providing this link in support of someone close to me, who I just learned is facing a battle with the disease.

To that person, my message is simply this: if anyone can beat lung cancer into remission, I KNOW you can. Think positive -- we will be doing the same on this side of the pond.