Friday, July 7, 2017

Beetle in Easy-Bake Oven


My mom, brother and I all went to breakfast yesterday at a neighborhood restaurant. The last time I went there I was appalled at the portion sizes, so I kept joking about having a "nine-pound omelet," but then when the food came it wasn't as ridiculously portioned as I remembered. Maybe I was hungrier this time. I had a two-pound omelet, and I ate the whole thing. With toast and grits.

Still, I was surprised when Mom insisted on eating lunch about two hours later. I let her make me a tomato sandwich. That was about all I could handle at that point, but Mom is on a schedule.

Other than eating, yesterday was pretty low-key. The three of us sat for a while on a covered dock over Julington Creek, a tributary of the St. John's River, where we chatted and watched the distant specks of boaters and rowers out on the wide, silvery water.


We found this nearly motionless beetle on the walk back to my mom's apartment. Apparently it's a triceratops beetle (Phileurus truncatus), and it was soporific. Could have been the heat, or as my brother suggested, maybe it got into some bug spray. We moved it from the sidewalk to a shady spot beneath a shrub.

Later in the afternoon my mom and I went to Starbucks, where I had the most godawful cup of coffee. It was so strong I felt like I was drinking asphalt. Of course, it was 95 degrees out, and I was probably the only person to walk in all day and ask for hot coffee, so who knows how long it had been hanging around. And it was their Pike Place Blend, which is supposed to be the mild one, I thought. The experience was mitigated slightly by hearing "Vacation" by the Go-Go's on the in-store music system, but still...we'll probably make afternoon coffee at home today.

Queens, my brother's dog, has decided that I am her personal chew toy. Every time she sees me she gets so excited, and before I know it she's gnawing my arm like rawhide. They're just playful puppy love bites, but I hope I'm not encouraging bad behavior!

11 comments:

37paddington said...

I love that Queens gets excited to see you. Nothing like a puppy's excitement to make a person feel special. So, are English portion sizes smaller than American ones? Because American ones are huge.

e said...

Starbucks regular coffee is strong...Foamed milk and syrup make it bearable...As for portions, why do you think most of us are fat?
Glad you rescued the beetle. Say hi to your mom for me.

ellen abbott said...

how else can americans be the fattest people on the planet without serving sizes big enough for two? I read somewhere that the biting/chewing by dogs shows ownership. whatever. Minnie does that to me, my hands mostly, sometimes I have to remind her no biting so she just play gnaws. doesn't do it to anyone else but then I let her and no one else does. as for Starbucks, I don't go there, too pretentious for me.

Ms. Moon said...

I just got a breakfast that could have fed a family. I did not finish it. We were just discussing Starbucks yesterday and I think their coffee is purposefully too dark, strong, and bitter so that people will order their stupid fancy coffee drinks. Some of us just want coffee with nothing in it and for us, Starbucks is just not good.

Anonymous said...

Ah, you remind me why we hardly ever go out to eat, and on those rare occasions when we do, we split something. Now I'm wondering what a served meal looks like in England. Queens sounds like a very cute pup. Enjoy your visit there!

Jennifer said...

I hate Starbucks coffee. It always tastes burnt and horrible to me. I usually get an Americano if I'm forced to get a caffeine fix there.

You've only been in Florida for one day and you've already had a tomato sandwich and grits! Good for you!

Elizabeth said...

What a remarkable picture of the beetle! I love that you actually moved it!

As for Starbucks -- their coffee does often taste burnt. We have this brand-new spanking upscale Starbucks in our neighborhood that is called Reserve. Oh brother. I have to admit, though, that for a bit more money, the coffee is a whole lot tastier. The whole coffee biz is such a racket, no?

Sharon said...

95 degrees in Florida is pretty hot. Probably about the equivalent of our 110 here. That tomato sandwich sounds pretty darn good. Growing up in Illinois, I ate tomato sandwiches all the time. I wish I could find tomatoes these days that were good enough to eat that way.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

The triceratops beetle was probably waiting for a bus. How would you like it if you were at a bus stop and a massive finger and thumb came down from the sky to move you well away from the bus stop? You'd be what Americans call "pissed".

Red said...

Good times to visit with relatives and be back home.

Radish King said...

Thank you for rescuing that gorgeous beetle. Portion sizes in Seattle are minuscule but when I visited Chicago I was served a baked potato the size of a mastiff.
Cheers!