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Getting into the water on your birthday

Is this specific to water signs born in the dead of summer? Maybe! Does the body of water matter? No! Swimming hole, lake, the ocean, the YMCA, your friend’s pool — they all check the box here. Why? I’m sure there’s some deeper symbolism here but to me it’s just an ideal way to spend a day (bike ride + swim), which is cause for celebration. Get in the water!

A yearly jam-making ritual

Every July for the past eight years I’ve made @Samin’s apricot-noyaux jam. It isn’t the strictest ritual — the timing can vary by a week or two depending upon when I can get the fruit locally, and sometimes I can’t find enough for a full batch so I halve the recipe, and the past four years have required bringing on a small sous chef who steals apricot quarters when I’m not looking (pictured here). But it’s as sacred as it gets for me, and my favorite way to mark the passage of another year. Every time I return to the same jam pot, the same recipe, the same rhythms. Plus, you’ll likely end up with enough jam to pass a few jars off to friends, its own ritual met with more reverence and anticipation than you’d expect. The people love to receive jam! https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019387-apricot-noyaux-jam?unlocked_article_code=1.2VA.iwq4.Y7f5_WwO_BiB&smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share

The McDonald’s Quarter Pounder Statue

A few years ago we took a trip to South Dakota with family to visit Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park. Oh, and this 23,000 lb. bronze testament to meat and cheese that stands in the parking lot of a Rapid City McDonald’s. I dragged the group there after a long day of sightseeing but no sight was greater than this, IMO. Per Wikipedia, the Quarter Pounder Statue was erected in 2020 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Quarter Pounder. It was designed by sculptor Raymond Gibby and resides in Rapid City because it has "the most Quarter Pounder with Cheese fans per capita". I love this statue and the people of Rapid City. Nothing else like it. calidum et deliciose succosum!

Fargo

“And for what? For a little bit of money? There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don'tcha know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it.” Normally not one for a law enforcement protagonist but I make an exception for Marge Gunderson. I love her completely and as she is.

Getting into the water on your birthday

Is this specific to water signs born in the dead of summer? Maybe! Does the body of water matter? No! Swimming hole, lake, the ocean, the YMCA, your friend’s pool — they all check the box here. Why? I’m sure there’s some deeper symbolism here but to me it’s just an ideal way to spend a day (bike ride + swim), which is cause for celebration. Get in the water!

A yearly jam-making ritual

Every July for the past eight years I’ve made @Samin’s apricot-noyaux jam. It isn’t the strictest ritual — the timing can vary by a week or two depending upon when I can get the fruit locally, and sometimes I can’t find enough for a full batch so I halve the recipe, and the past four years have required bringing on a small sous chef who steals apricot quarters when I’m not looking (pictured here). But it’s as sacred as it gets for me, and my favorite way to mark the passage of another year. Every time I return to the same jam pot, the same recipe, the same rhythms. Plus, you’ll likely end up with enough jam to pass a few jars off to friends, its own ritual met with more reverence and anticipation than you’d expect. The people love to receive jam! https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019387-apricot-noyaux-jam?unlocked_article_code=1.2VA.iwq4.Y7f5_WwO_BiB&smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share

The McDonald’s Quarter Pounder Statue

A few years ago we took a trip to South Dakota with family to visit Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park. Oh, and this 23,000 lb. bronze testament to meat and cheese that stands in the parking lot of a Rapid City McDonald’s. I dragged the group there after a long day of sightseeing but no sight was greater than this, IMO. Per Wikipedia, the Quarter Pounder Statue was erected in 2020 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Quarter Pounder. It was designed by sculptor Raymond Gibby and resides in Rapid City because it has "the most Quarter Pounder with Cheese fans per capita". I love this statue and the people of Rapid City. Nothing else like it. calidum et deliciose succosum!

Fargo

“And for what? For a little bit of money? There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don'tcha know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it.” Normally not one for a law enforcement protagonist but I make an exception for Marge Gunderson. I love her completely and as she is.