so much sweat
[Alt text: A big window overlooking a meadow or field, with a stream, trees, and railroad tracks in the distance.]
Hi from the Delaware River Valley, where I'm taking care of a sweet but fearful dog for a couple weeks while his family is on vacation. Like me, the dog needs more exercise. Three times a day I pack a water bottle with ice cubes, a Tupperware container (makeshift dog bowl) and some freeze-dried beef liver dog snacks, and we head out for various adventures. He is not a water dog. Has no interest in the water at all, even in 98-degree heat. And there is so much water here: the Delaware River itself, lots of little streams and creeks, and a disgusting canal covered in bright green algae that Paddie would have jumped into so fast.
(I was today years old when I learned the path along a canal is called a tow path, not a toe path, because people/animals once had to tow things down the canals.)
From the breakfast table (image up top) I can watch deer, geese, and a great blue heron in the meadow/yard. I am a five-minute walk from stores selling CBD, vaping supplies, crystals, Wiccan accoutrements, and other crap that must appeal to all the tourists who descend on Main Street on weekends. To be fair, this town also has an independent bookstore, a surprisingly good vintage clothing shop, and tons of bars and restaurants. I even walked by a Drag Brunch a few days ago. Drag makeup in this heat? I admire their commitment to their art.
Six months ago I would have been excited about all the antiquing around here. Now I'm excited about the multiple indoor tennis places that offer drop-in group lessons for beginners like me. Today's class included a 68-year-old woman who just returned to tennis after a 45-year break. She was killing it. The teacher, who looked a lot like Bull from Night Court and had a mini speaker to blast all his '90s jams (JLo, Deee-Lite, the Macarena), kept us running. Expecting my feet to be sore as hell tomorrow because I'm still stumbling around in Sambas. I used to have fantasies about going to an adult fitness summer camp. I guess I'm doing a half-assed version of that now.
Luckily I know no one here, and the dog doesn't care how sweaty and gross I get in this heat wave. I've got a rotating rinse-the-bra-out-in-the-shower system, but wouldn't be surprised if said bras just upped and walked out of here on their own.
When I was in middle school, my mother bought a stationary bike for the basement. The seat was too hard for her bony ass, so she put a throw pillow over it before she started riding. She must have been going pretty hard on that thing because you could always see the salt rings on the pillow the next day. I wonder if she would have liked the Peloton. And if that would have helped her take better care of herself in her later years.
That got dark fast. OK enough. Hope you and your pets are managing to avoid heat stroke.
DNA testing
Last week I asked if you'd done the 23-and-me thing, and if it was worth it. A few responses, with names changed to initials in the last one:
"I haven’t taken one of those DNA tests offered from Ancestry or 23AndMe yet, but as a Black woman I have wondered what they would tell me. My maternal grandfather and one of my cousins worked pretty hard before my grandfather died to figure out our ancestry and managed to find at least 2 plantations our branches started at. I don’t know if Ancestry or 23AndMe would necessarily have information like that for me, but I did hear about a company called African Ancestry which is Black founded/owned and their mission is to help the diaspora find their roots going back to Africa. A friend of mine did one of their tests (there are 3 – one based on matrilineal dna, one based on patrilineal dna, and one using both) and her results included the tribes her ancestors came from and a map. It’s very expensive, which is why I haven’t tried it yet, but as a person whose ancestors were enslaved, I’ve been curious to find out more about “me” and who I came from. I think if I’m going to give money and DNA to one of these companies, I may do the African Ancestry one."
"The health stuff is bullshit. Except for like 1 or 2 things. Like BRCA. The genetic marker mutations are actual things though. And can help someone figure out their true genetic relatives if they are not already known. Even the ethnicity guesses are really just guesses - they are constantly revised with new data. Though the data is self reported so still not that accurate. Each service will give you different ethnicity results. The big news for me was that my “birth father” is not related to me. He’s a different person - who I was able to identify with a lot of work and other digital tools and databases and family trees. Also I found out that my adoptive parents are actually my distant cousins. So both those things are interesting. Oh also I found a first cousin who actually will speak to me. You might get interested in the family tree stuff one of these days? It’s way more interesting. Even if your ancestors are Puritans - I’ve found it to be a very interesting way to understand history."
"The biggest benefit of DNA testing was that it solved the mystery of what happened to the baby boy my aunt had at age 17 after being impregnated by an older married man. She gave up the baby and was forced to spend the rest of her life in a nunnery (!). She was able to leave long enough toward the end of her life to visit us in California for a week and spend an overnight in Hollywood, the stuff of her dreams, even though we warned her Hollywood was mostly seedy. I used to cry about that baby, wondering what happened to him. When Ancestry informed me of a new match, a First Cousin, I immediately knew she was related to Aunt M. The lovely blonde woman was skeptical, and shocked her then-40-year-old grandfather would have impregnated a 16-year old and that her grandmother was a nun. But she supplied her father M's birth date and city he was born. She said he was adopted and raised by his ACTUAL father and his wife. Which, if true, would be wonderful. At first no match came up for a birth certificate. Then, using a clue from my older sister that our aunt used to refer to the boy as B, I reversed the first and middle names on the application and tried again. Bingo! Using online research tools like old City Directories, I discovered the boy and his parents lived directly across from our OTHER grandmother's grocery store that had living quarters in the back and on the second floor--no relation to Aunt M except through her brother's in-laws but still shocking. And that our family lived NEXT DOOR to M and his family across from that grocery store for possibly a few months, until we had a new home built. The best part was learning he had a happy life, raised by his real father and by all accounts wonderful wife - no other children - and had four children of his own. In [a] photo his daughter L sent me, he looks so much like my father and brothers. L has four gorgeous and talented daughters. They plan to visit us in California soon. I couldn't be happier. DNA testing yielded other valuable results as well, but this is the best."
Links
The Bear made everyone horny for the sexually competent dirtbag cook. (Bon Appétit)
Just sign the damn ERA already. (Lyz Lenz's Substack)
People in Republican counties have higher death rates than those in Democratic counties. (Scientific American)
Don't use the Dyson hand dryer thing in a public restroom. It basically blows poo particles all over the place. Covid too, probably. (Boing Boing)
The new iOS is going to identify duplicate photos on your phone, hallelujah. (Lifehacker)
There is a band called The Smile. They sound a bit like old Radiohead. If you liked Peaky Blinders then you need to see their new video. (YouTube)
The size, shape, and colors of this couch. (Instagram)
Chandelier earrings that look like actual chandeliers and light up. (My Modern Met)
One way to work your abs and get out some aggression. (TikTok)
I am staying in the home of someone who went to cooking school. Amazing things I have discovered so far: This knife, which apparently is for kids (Brand site), Perrier in cans, and granola so good, I thought she made it. (Brand site)
Woman uses freshly plucked chin hair to restring guitar. (Hard Times)