Lemonade, Road Travel and Billboards

I always just assumed lemons ripened in the summer - why else would lemonade be such a summertime drink? Now that I've owned a house with a lovely Meyer lemon tree, I see how much work it takes to give away all the lemons that actually ripen in the winter. This is despite the fact that I have three in-laws who love them and eat them by the bagfuls, and a mom who also appreciates a bagful now and then. So even though we give bags and bags away, as we approach May, our tree still has tons of lemons. Well, only one thing to do with lemons - make lemonade. We just squeeze 'em, boil up some water with agave syrup and crushed dried mint, wait for it to cool, add to the lemon potion, let it sit for a few days in the fridge, then pour into ice cube trays and freeze it. When frozen we throw them in a baggy and use them to make little glasses of lemonade. Yummy.

This morning we are headed on up the road to Portland. First trip in a while. Portland is our home away from home. Several years ago we decided we would eventually move there, now that's a little up in the air - but we still love the place. Usually we fly but since we last visited our son passed the two-year mark and you all know what that means for airline prices. I thought 2-year olds flew half price but apparently I thought wrong. That means we're driving. My son is looking forward to it because it's the only time he gets to watch t.v. - on long car trips. We have a Caillou and Elmo video for him to watch - I know, I know. I'm a hypocrite - but lordy what else to do to keep him in his car-seat for 10 or more hours? I suppose it would be less of an issue if car-seats were not the law, if it were 1950 and he just went sliding about on the pleather bench seat and dvd's were non-existent. Oh how I wax nostalgic for a time when people could drive without being bombarded by media, advertisements and billboards. I think there are some scenic byways where billboards can't be found, but be sure the billboard lobbyists are looking for ways to change that. Besides, what would it matter that there were no billboards if I'm listening to Elmo's computer say, "Elmo has mail, Elmo has mail." Ugh.

Have a great weekend!