Got back from a visit to Dubuque, Iowa, where, on Saturday, we attended one of the coolest weddings ever. Also a little envious; Rick and I mused that we wish we'd been self-aware enough at the time of our own wedding to have put together a celebration that so well reflected who we were. It was amazingly wonderful -- great dance music, a home-cooked vegetarian feast chased down by many glasses of wine -- and being able to wear shorts to the reception (as did the father of the groom!) was a big plus. It's also very funny to go to a friend's wedding and realize that the parents of the bride and groom are your age. On top of everything, we managed to get seated at a table at which three of us (all women) had either just finished a Ph.D. or started writing the dissertation, and two others (one man, one woman) were recent M.D.s embarking on residency. So, both Rick and I had plenty of camaraderie flowing along with the wine. Rian and Charmaine: We promise to bury the invitation in our yard so that the embedded wildflower seeds will grow.

I also realized that despite having driven or flown over the Mississippi many times, I'd never stopped to actually look at it, so on Sunday Rick and I hiked through a park to the top of a bluff, and we relaxed and took in a great view of the river from beside the Julien Dubuque Monument. There was a time in my life when I could read historical plaques without squinting at the stuff between the lines; I'd love to know what it meant that Julien Dubuque "used the Indians to work in the lead mines". Actually, I'm fairly sure that I do know already, although perhaps my generalizations aren't fair given my lack of knowledge of the story. If the land could talk it would speak in many tongues. Someone with a good ear might even be able to understand the whole history.

Took the Country Quiz on Joe's recommendation. Problem is, there are several points on which I can go either way, so the program can't decide whether I'm Mexico, India, or Canada. Perhaps the fact that I speak just enough French to get me into serious trouble in Quebec, just enough Spanish to get me into worse trouble south of the border, and love spicy vegetarian food has added to the confusion. If I were going to actually select a country to be, it would probably be either New Zealand or Costa Rica, but that's only because the Duchy of Grand Fenwick isn't actually available.

I swear: Someday I'm going to have to write a "Which insect are you?" quiz. I suspect I'd turn out to be either a fire ant or a bumble bee. Or maybe a tiger beetle. Or an earwig. Or a giant silkmoth. Or a green darner. Or a cave weta. Hell if I know. Anyone interested in doing the HTML programming for my text whenever we can squeeze this into our schedules, please contact me via the comments line. So many bugs, so little time ....

(Postscript: There is a "Which insect are you?" quiz out there, but I think I can do better. This one told me that I was a bee. It didn't even specify what kind of bee! I mean, really ....)