Tomatoes

After our recent heat wave, the tomatoes are all ripening quickly, but the sungold and cherry tomatoes are ready right now and best eaten straight off the plant, still warm from the sun.

I decided to skip the Mono Monday challenge today, even though the idea of a mono photo of the American flag seemed strangely appropriate in the poisonous political climate in which we find ourselves. But this is supposed to be a day of celebration and fireworks, so I will refrain from ranting. We are fortunate indeed to have freedoms which many people in the world are not fortunate enough to enjoy, but I would prefer them to be equally available to all who live here….

We went to the annual 4th of July party given by our friends in Sebastopol. Many there are people OilMan has known since he was in high school, and having attended for several years now, I no longer feel like an outsider and have actually managed to learn quite a few people's names. 

I particularly enjoyed talking to one woman who is now a neighbor of our hosts, but who spent many years as a concierge for a condominium association in San Francisco. Now she has a dog sitting business. Alas, she is already booked for the time in September when we will be on vacation. She told me she worked in the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley for ten years after she graduated from high school and hated it so much she swore she would never again have a nine to five job.

We are now settling in to watch day 3 of the Tour de France. We have watched it faithfully since we stumbled across it on Sky TV in Italy and watched it ibecause 1) It was the only thing on television, although only in French or Italian and 2) it was too hot to leave our hotel room at Malpensa airport. (Milan). We have watched it every year since,  for reasons even we don't fully understand. The strategy, the scenery, the commentators, the participants all fascinate us, despite the taint of doping that hangs over the event. Isn't that true of any sporting event these days. Perhaps they should ban all bans and see what happens….