PARTY.

strawberries,
and blueberries,
and lemon,
and coconut,
and oatmeal,
and frosting.
woooooord.
y'know what that is?

it's a party.
right?
i thought it might be,
but i'm not sure.
is it a party if you're the only one there?
i'm not sure it counts.
however,
there were also four pizzas and a dog in attendance,
so maybe that can pad the numbers a bit,
and keep me from seeming like such an antisocial shut-in.
awwwww.
the crust on that tarty treat is a combination of crushed coconut and oatmeal,
drenched in butterish, brown sugar, vanilla, and almond milk.
it's macaroonish, and it's magical,
and i'm glad i made it.
the filling?
pastry creme.
it tastes so much like the old italian pastry shops' in new haven,
and that had me happy to help myself to a whole lot of nostalgia
as well as a diabetic coma.
yikes.
lemon, almond, and vanilla extracts are the key.
the creaminess comes from a cashew-almond combination,
and cornstarch, arrowroot, flour, and powdered sugar whisked in.
i've gone over the recipe before,
and i doubt today is the day you wish you had it in front of you.
fresh fruit,
lemon zesty sprankles,
and that coconut frosting swirled in abundance,
to make sure you get a toothache?
i doo-doo that cavity creepin' sh!t, kids.
yeah!
fourth of july hottness that took forever to cool off enough to cut,
but once it was ready,
it was SO ready.
no joke.
**********
guys,
for real-
it's just no fun to go to see fireworks by yourself-
nope.
it's not.
and,
it turns out,
it was good thing i didn't go see and be seen in town,
as crabtree wanted to fight the invisible explosions in the atmosphere.
uh-huh.
he couldn't see 'em,
(neither of us could)
but ohhhh MAN could he ever hear 'em,
and strongly dislike the cacophonic crapwaves of shock and awe;
so much so that he barked himself silly,
while i tried to retain some solidity in my cerebellum,
as his barkfest threatened to melt my mind into a puddle of pudding.
so,
to recap,
fireworks happened in the woodlsy goodness,
just like they do on every 4th of july,
and i'm sure they looked like glittery pom-poms in the air,
just like always...
my dog hated the whole idea of this new noise,
and routinely came in to check and make sure
that it wasn't me doing all the kabooming outside.
...it wasn't, not even once.
there was too much pizza, and dessert,
and we took to the hills two times on long walks to the wee waterways
that trickle down around the rocks of my neighborhood.
oh,
and there were at least two other tattoo studios' staff up here-
people i've known for years ....over a decade, in fact;
but,
we didn't meet up or anything-
i mean, c'mon,
there are certainly other other things and people to see,
and places to go that aren't my kitchen or the trails around my property.
ha.
really, everywhere else, with anyone else,
while i stay home and bake.
uh-huh.
like i said,
it's no fun to go see fireworks by yourself,
but the only thing that'd dip that down even lower than the nadir of no friends?
old acquaintances all hanging tough together with your estranged ex-friends
and/or exes in general.
awwwwww, man.
thank goodness for crabby.
ha.
sorta.
we spanned a whole bunch of time,
and traveled a whole lot of the depth and width and breadth and length
of these woodsly roadways,
on foot, and by car,
as we trekked around in the daytime listening and looking,
hearing and seeing,
and generally being awake and aware of there being just us two,
and counting on each other for attention.
it worked,
and we hung out so super hard he slept on me in the car like a little (giant) baby.
awwww.
i s'pose, all truths being told, that i really appreciated his company.
a free day off, essentially,
and i invested it in making food.
baking and broiling and stretching and stirring and everything else.
that's the best part about celebrating freedom, isn't it?
you're free to do what you think is best,
and take that jaun up to eleven.
i did a lot all day,
but i ate most of it.
that's the other best part.
being free to make sure there's too much of everything.
i'm exercising my rights,
and exercising to burn off the calories from righteous shark-gluttony.
it's all really happening,
with or without fireworks,
with or without other people,
with or without sleep,
and that's the whole point;
never quiet, never soft.....