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I've been away--first, for a few days on a little vacation in the Midwest, visiting an old friend who lives on a farm. It was lovely. Quiet. There were stars in the sky. I swam in a river. Then, last week, during our heat wave here in New York, I fled my unairconditioned apartment for a cooler place, housesitting for my nephew who was away and who has air conditioning. That was like a little vacation, too.

I'll have more updates soon.

Made Me Laugh

The hot dog guy, that is. Today at lunchtime I picked up a sandwich at Starbuck's (yes I like their sandwiches, I know it's weird) and was going to go sit outside near the water and eat it. But I also wanted something to drink, and not from Starbuck's. So I stopped at the first hot-dog stand I came across, just across the street, in front of the Museum of the American Indian. There were tourists bustling around, cobblestones, construction, bright sun. Some tourists in front of me were taking too long and I was impatient. When I finally got to the front of the line, I pointed to the red Gatorade, and said, redundantly, "Red Gatorade."

Without missing a beat, the hot dog guy said, "To stay or to go?"

I'm so used to being asked that when I buy my lunch at, for example, Starbuck's, that I had to think for a minute. I looked around. Was I staying or going? Then I thought, wait, I can't stay, there's nowhere to stay. I laughed out loud. "I like that," I said. "To stay or to go. That's funny."