Perfect Summer Weekend

This past weekend was idyllic...the perfect summer weekend.

Saturday I roamed Bloomington and found a great place to live for the next year. I'll be taking over the basement of a house where two other graduate students (and a dog) live. It's incredibly spacious, allows me privacy or community as I desire them, and isn't in the ghetto! At least, I don't think it's in the ghetto. :) The weather for this search day was just beautiful - sunny, warm but not scorching, and with a great breeze. Lovely.

In the evening, when I returned, Neubia and I went to the Indianapolis Italian festival, where we ate some GREAT food, did a lot of people watching, and danced to silly songs. I love this season of cultural festivals. Indy does them really well.

Afterwards, a game of Trivial Pursuit with new friends. And my team won. You KNOW how much I loved that. :)

Sunday afternoon I helped a group of friends work on improving a community garden. Gardening is not one of my favorite activities, but it felt good to be outside, and it felt good to do some manual labor. Then, I headed to the lake with these friends and spent the evening sailing, kayaking, fishing, and cooking out. I had never been sailing or kayaking before, but I enjoyed both experiences. And I caught two catfish! I keep trying to act like we could have cooked them if there hadn't already been too many burgers, but Maike keeps calling me out...I guess I now have a Big Fish story of my own. I suppose this evening on the lake is really what I am referring to when I say it was "idyllic."

Next week I will be in Pennsylvania helping set up for a community revitalization/rehab project. My travels will take me to Reading and Pittsburg for sure, but I'm hoping to get a little Philly in too. Perhaps I'll take a moment to tell you all about that journey when I return.